Check out world’s first self-driving taxis

A nuTonomy self-driving taxi on the streets of Singapore. Picture: nuTonomy via EPA

A nuTonomy self-driving taxi on the streets of Singapore. Picture: nuTonomy via EPA

Published Aug 25, 2016

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Singapore - Select members of the public can now hail a free ride via their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an self-driving vehicle software startup.

A number of companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, but nuTonomy says it is the first to offer rides to the public.

Its launch in Singapore has also beaten ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by a few weeks.

NuTonomy is starting small - six cars now, growing to a dozen by the end of 2016. The ultimate goal, it says to have a fully self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018, to help cut the number of cars on Singapore's congested roads. Eventually, nuTonomy hopes, the model could be adopted in cities around the world, .

For now, the taxis only run in a 6.5 square kilometre business and residential district called “one-north,” and pick-ups and drop-offs are limited to specified locations. Riders must have an invitation from nuTonomy to use the service. The company says dozens have signed up for the launch, and it plans to expand that list to thousands of people within a few months.

The cars - modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electrics - have a driver in front who is ready to take over control if necessary and a researcher in the back who monitors the car's computers. Each car is fitted with six sets of Lidar - a detection system that uses lasers to operate like radar - including one that constantly spins on the roof. There are also two cameras on the dashboard to scan for obstacles and detect changes in traffic lights.

Creating possibilities

According to nuTonomy CEO Karl Iagnemma, the testing time-frame is open-ended, Eventually, riders may have to start paying for the service, and more pick-up and drop-off points will be added. NuTonomy also is working on testing similar taxi services in other Asian cities, the United States and Europe, but he wouldn't say when.

“I don't expect there to be a time where we say, 'We've learned enough,'“ Iagnemma said.

Doug Parker, nuTonomy's chief operating officer, said autonomous taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore's roads from 900 000 to 300 000.

“When you are able to take that many cars off the road, it creates a lot of possibilities. You can create smaller roads, you can create much smaller car parks,” Parker said. “I think it will change how people interact with the city going forward.”

Iagnemma says Singapore is ideal because it has good weather, great infrastructure and drivers who tend to obey traffic rules.

Smooth and controlled

Olivia Seow, 25, works in startup partnerships in one-north; she’s one of the passengers nuTonomy selected, and took a test ride of less than two kilometres on Monday. She said she was nervous when she got into the car, and then surprised as she watched the steering wheel turn by itself.

“It felt like there was a ghost or something,” she said.

But she quickly relaxed. The ride was smooth and controlled, she said, and she was relieved to see that the car recognised even small obstacles such as birds and motorcycles parked in the distance.

“I couldn't see them with my human eye, but the car could, so I knew that I could trust the car,” said Seow, who hopes to use the time freed up during her commute, thanks to the technology, or use the service to help her father get around town as he grows older.

An Associated Press reporter taking a ride Wednesday saw the safety driver step on the brakes once, when a car was obstructing the test car's lane and another vehicle, which had appeared to be parked, suddenly began moving in the oncoming lane.

Iagnemma said the company was confident that its software could make good decisions. The company hopes its head start in autonomous driving will eventually lead to partnerships with automakers, tech companies, logistics companies and others.

“What we're finding is the number of interested parties is really overwhelming,” he said.

AP

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