Metro Magazine, July 2018

in mixed environments with pedestrians and other vehicles Established routes or separated facilities Operationally at Heathrow Airport Las Vegas Dubai and University of Michigan Use cases and services First last mile service around a hub Circulation for campuses residential developments and central business districts Current planned automated vehicle shuttle projects Other pending projects Airports APM replacement access to airport landside services Treasure Island San Francisco County Transportation Authority Southwest Business Improvement District District of Columbia Department of Transportation Many other vehicle types are being automated for transportation use Michigan is testing an automated lane stripper to remove the risk to the driver from frequent rear end collisions Mercedes has demonstrated automated snow plows in Frankfurt Germany United Rentals is automating construction equipment for safer work zone applications In addition to passenger shuttles airports can use automated vehicles in several applications One significant application will be the automation of ground support equipment Much of this equipment performs routine tasks between specific locations in the air field One major manufacturer of GSEs TLD is actively deploying automation on their vehicles equipped with automated sensors as shown in the figure below TLD has worked with EasyMile to demonstrate automated operation of these vehicles and also applying the technology to cargo loaders Automated vehicles are a rapidly exota have now entered the market While bus manufacturers have been late to get into the market there is increasing interest in their development groups Motor Coach Industries and New Flyer have expressed interest in working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on the Lincoln Tunnel deployment to retrofit existing buses with automated technology With the procurement release in June 2018 demonstration of five buses is planned toward the end of 2018 to demonstrate cooperative adaptive cruise control automated merging and precision docking The vehicles being deployed come in several sizes with most interest in 10 to 15 passenger shuttles due to their flexibility and ability to adapt to various deployment scenarios 2GetThere EasyMile and Navya have all deployed around 100 vehicles each Below are some of the vehicles being deployed AV APPLICATIONS The current state of automation has allowed the following application areas Low speed multi passenger vehicles 16 mETRO mAGAZINE JULY 2018 metro magazine com AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES Automated shuttles and buses are adding new vendors on a regular basis WATSON TECH EQUIPPED DRIVERLESS SHUTTLE TO SERVE THOSE WITH DISABILITIES In April 2017 IBM and ground mobility company Local Motors announced the development of a self driving electric shuttle bus using IBM Watson IoT technology to serve people with vision hearing physical and cognitive disabilities We spoke to Local Motors Brittany Stotler to find out more Explain the features of the AccessibleOlli AccessibleOlli is a project we partnered with IBM and CTA Foundation on We brought in technology from 17 plus companies for the final showing at CES Consumer Electronics Show The top technology that we showed pertained to one of three personas mobility vision and hearing One of IBMs engineers who is legally blind and still works for IBM participated in the project and offered valuable guidance and insight Mobility We utilized an automated wheelchair ramp and securement device inside of AccessibleOlli provided by QStraints Quantum Your app preferences notify Olli that you need a wheelchair ramp deployed then the user is able to move into the vehicle and press a button that secures their wheelchair Vision We worked with Ultrahaptics a mid air technology company that is able to create invisible buttons that you feel with the mid air technology or create an invisible wall to direct a person to an open seat inside of Olli IBM Watson is able to converse with Olli riders suggest restaurants or events nearby and answer questions Hearing We worked with T Coil loop which connects via bluetooth to hearing aids as well as with KinTrans who provides bi directional translation ability translating sign language into text as well as voice to text What is the status of the project The AccessibleOlli project is still a current project that our R D team is working on proving out different technologies and how they can be integrated and utilized which make the most impact for persons with disabilities We are submitting proposals for many municipalities through the RFI P process as well as working with smart cities groups and transit operators to develop plans for implementing Olli and creating a more holistic transportation ecosystem