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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday January 14 2017, @08:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the will-it-have-a-bikerack dept.

A company is testing an autonomous electric shuttle bus on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, and intends to fully deploy shuttles later in the year:

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman took a cruise down Fremont Street Tuesday afternoon that made history. Goodman rode in the first completely autonomous, fully electric shuttle to ever be deployed on a public roadway in the United States. The driverless vehicle — called Arma and developed by the Paris-based company Navya — will be making trips down Fremont Street from today to Jan. 20 as developers test the product. "What a wonderful day for all of us to witness this," Goodman said. "Being the control freak that I am, I was very nervous to get on this vehicle, but it is clean, has beautiful air and moves sort of swiftly but so beautifully down Fremont East."

The vehicle holds a dozen passengers and operates safely at up to 27 miles per hour but will be limited to 12 mph during the trial period. [...] While the trial will last only two weeks, Cervantes says the driverless vehicles could be in full effect by late summer to early fall. "It's a matter of fine-tuning the technology to make sure it's safe," Cervantes said. "The last thing we want is for something to happen." The vehicle uses radar to detect and avoid obstacles in the road, as well as GPS technology to navigate the roads. Keolis, a world leader in public passenger transport, has partnered with NAVYA in the endeavor.


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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday January 14 2017, @08:36AM

    by frojack (1554) on Saturday January 14 2017, @08:36AM (#453740) Journal

    Worst place to be operating any automated machinery is around pedestrians, who stop on a dime, turn on their heels, and slither directly under your wheels.

    On Fremont Street in Vegas, already full of drunks, noise, dazzling lights, and the occasional scantily clad ladies.

    What could possibly go wrong!?

    Lawyers: get your ticket here!

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 14 2017, @08:41AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday January 14 2017, @08:41AM (#453742) Journal

    So if it can survive Fremont Street, it can work anywhere!

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @10:06AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 14 2017, @10:06AM (#453751)

      good point. nothing ever gets proven in a clean room environment. eventually you gotta go out and get dirty

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:44PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 14 2017, @12:44PM (#453773) Journal

    ... and slither directly under your wheels.
    ... and the occasional scantily clad ladies.

    Well, using a bus to do it may be a bit extreme but, if I'm not mistaken, usually those ladies expect to get laid.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:11PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Saturday January 14 2017, @07:11PM (#453871)

    If you have ever played with robotics, you would know that robots can easily designed to have faster than human response time.

    robotic vehicles also have to potential to constantly monitor all directions at once. A human driver has to multiplex their high resolution sensors by scanning their mirrors.

    I think a bus route is ideal for testing self-driving vehicles. The route is fixed, so can be mapped in high detail.