The autonomous startup, May Mobility, has arrived in the city of Columbus, Ohio.
The startup May Mobility has been around December 2018 also in the city Columbus in the US state Ohio represented. A fleet of automated vehicles can be used for sightseeing tours. The pilot project leads interested people to parks, museums and more.
May Mobility Shuttle in Ohio. Source: spectrum.ieee.org
The project is part of the city’s efforts to promote mobility, reduce environmental impact and increase traffic safety. In addition, Columbus has a competition in 2016 for the so-called Won Smart City,
The company May Mobility is so far in Detroit and soon in Grand Rapids represented. Furthermore, plans to continue to expand. Columbus wants to establish a second route for the shuttles. It focuses on the district of Linden, where there is hardly any public transport. This is especially intended to bring commuters to the next bus station.
The green and white vehicles are autonomous e-shuttles that can carry up to six people. They could travel up to 40 km / h and travel on a given distance measuring 2.4 kilometers. For safety, a supervisor is aboard the shuttle. This can intervene by means of a joystick and an emergency brake. In case of snow, the shuttles are steered manually. The vehicle’s sensors include cameras, radar and a range of middle and short range lidar sensors.
At the center of the driving project is the software of the startup: “Multi-Policy Decision Making”. It allows the vehicle to move autonomously through the city. A Artificial intelligence is part of the system that is constantly learning. The focus is not on “recognize and react”, but on “understand and plan”.
With the use of autonomous e-shuttles one wants to replace the travelers in bus lines. Because the shuttles cost less in comparison.
source (English)
About David Flora
I’ve been writing about the topic of Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and talk about it on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de