In a media interview last week, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had just stated publicly that they were conducting closed-door trials of driverless taxis in Pittsburgh, and are expected to be open to the public this month. Unexpectedly, in the past two days, the nuTonomy company from Singapore has been openly testing its own research and development of driverless taxis for ordinary people in the local area. People can easily make online reservations through smart phones. nuTonomy Taxi It also officially became the world’s first publicly piloted driverless taxi.
As a small company that has just been established for 3 years, nuTonomy was not previously known, but the "big brothers" behind it are unusual. In addition to technically supported by the United States MIT and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, nuTonomy has also been able to cooperate with Renault and Mitsubishi in France in the production of automobiles. In addition, even the economic development department directly under the Singapore government is also The company provided financial support and policy facilities.
So far, nuTonomy has measured only six taxis on the road, and its driving distance has been limited to less than 2.5 kilometers of vehicles in Singapore's "One North" industrial park. This has no practical significance for ordinary people. Fortunately, the service is currently not chargeable. Users can make an online appointment through nuTonomy's App as long as they pass the review in advance. Now that 12 people have passed the review, the company plans to expand this number to more than a thousand people in recent months. At the same time, it will gradually increase the number of vehicles and driving distance according to the test conditions.
Although it is a driverless taxi, nuTonomy is not completely separated from the staff. Currently, nuTonomy is equipped with a safety supervisor for each vehicle. They are mainly responsible for real-time monitoring of the operation of the driverless software system, and when necessary, switching to manual driving mode to ensure the absolute safety of passengers.
nuTonomy company said that the company's current testing activities are mainly to collect driving data and passengers' opinions and suggestions on driverless cars. A large number of users' actual measurement data will serve as a strong support for the company's future development. The company plans to build a fleet of unmanned vehicles covering Singapore as a whole by 2018, helping to reduce the current saturation of car ownership in Singapore and greatly ease traffic and travel pressures. This is one of the motivations the Singaporean government is willing to support.
Doug Parker, chief operating officer of nuTonomy, said that they predict that eventually the popularity of self-driving taxis will reduce the number of cars in Singapore from the current 900,000 to 300,000. With the reduction of vehicles, the area of ​​road construction will also be reduced and the parking area will be smaller than before. This will change the way of life of Singaporeans in the future.
Regarding Singaporean public opinion on driverless taxis, please click on the link .
Related Reading:
Denis Sverdlov : Man Driving Behind Driverless Race | New Driving
Driverless Business: Uber and Other Partners
Can autopilot make money for automakers? | New Driving