8 Dec 2016

A Ride on a Driverless Bus

The RAC in Perth is currently conducting a trial run of an electric driverless bus, and offered members a ride on it.

Grandma C and I did the ride a few weeks ago, despite Son No 1's remonstration: "What's the point?  It's like riding on a bus, but much slower!" - failing to understand we're retired folk with time on our hands.

This is what it looks like and it seats 10 people

The bus is French-made by a company called Navya.

 The bus also has 2 LIDAR units at the top front and rear to detect traffic and obstacles and a front camera to read street signs, traffic lights etc.
The LIDAR unit on the roof of the vehicle
The Camera - and it's windshield wiper
It was explained to us that the bus follows set GPS waypoints along its route, very much like a tram on invisible rails.  It was also programmed to go as far left as possible, and indeed, I found it quite disconcerting as to how close to parked vehicles it went (barely 15 cm clearance!).

Interior shots:


The bus was air-conditioned, but the a/c unit wasn't up to the task, as it got really hot in there.  And the day itself wasn't particularly warm, too.

The bus has a maximum speed of 45 kph, but for this trial, it only went at 14 kph.

At one point, while passing under some trees, it lost the GPS signal for a moment before regaining it, and you can then feel a sudden lurch, as it starts to stop and then re-starts.

So here's a little video I took of the ride on my phone.  Watch out for the cyclist overtaking the bus at the end.

15 comments:

  1. Very interesting, great for sight seeing. Hope they don't speed it up too much.

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    1. Yes, it would be great for sight seeing! The slow speed will annoy other road users, though.

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  2. Drdoughlittle7:46 am

    Cool! If there were roof top seats, it would be ideal!

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    1. Double decker with open top. Great idea for tourist!

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  3. Have they used them in theme parks like Disneyland? It would be fun and impress the kids, old folks and visitors who are in no hurry.

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    1. I really don't know. It could be ideal in such situations as there'd be no other traffic, just pedestrians to run down.

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  4. Wow Arthur!! What a lovely bus - perfect for sight seeing. Hope you and Grandma C are having fun. Have a lovely day :)

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    1. Yes, it is a good looking bus. If only it were a bit cooler, but I'm sure they can fix the air conditioning.

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  5. I would love to get one one too, we retirees like our lives slow and easy...but if it is hot, then I'd give it a pass.

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    1. Yes, they'll have to do something to fix the a/c. It'll be a very nice ride if cooler.

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  6. Interesting. I wouldnt mind riding on one. Slowly and relaxing.

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    1. But after some time, will it become slow and frustrating? haha. Thanks for commenting, Rose World.

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  7. i enjoyed the video and your description as well .
    you are right much slow speed is kind of irritating .while visiting a hill station we rode on one fancy park bus which was slow and boring but glad we enjoyed the view than

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this post, baili. Thank you for visiting and commenting.

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  8. hi friend !
    wishing you a very Happy new year .

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