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Pilot

Autonobus

Autonobus
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Date
From to
Length
2 km
Project details
Go to Autonobus's website Show project details
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What

Autonobus was a pilot with a self-driving Navya shuttle bus which provided a last-mile mobility service at La Trobe University's Bundoora campus in Melbourne. The shuttle followed a fixed route along which it encountered mixed traffic on public streets. It also followed a schedule, has trhee stops and was accessible to wheelchairs.

Why

The pilot was used to assess a self-driving shuttle bus as a potential last-mile mobility service in a real-world environment. The pilot also was used to inform policy and strategy work, and to raise community awareness.

Regulatory Framework

Victorian automated vehicle trial regulations.

Challenges

Challenges included interaction with pedestrians, and with other buses.

Results & Evaluation

By the end of the trial, 1,100 passengers had been transported and a total distance of 276km at an average operational speed of 18km/h had been travelled.

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Next initiative

Alphaba Smart Bus

Location
Shenzhen, China
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Lexicon

7 words explained

platooning

Also known as flocking. A collection of (automated) vehicles that travel together, actively coordinated in formation. Platoons decrease the distances between vehicles using electronic, and possibly mechanical, coupling. Platooning allows many vehicles to accelerate or brake simultaneously.

urban setting

High density environment with an efficient high capacity public transport system with good capillarity and high frequencies.

suburban setting

Medium density environment with a good public transport system with radial connections to the city center, but lower capillarity and frequencies. This setting includes suburban cities.

small cities

Small, isolated city with an own public transport system and <100K inhabitants.

rural

Low-density environment, small cities and villages with poor public transport services mainly connecting the villages.

SAE level

The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) levels define the level of vehicle autonomy, or in other words, how much human intervention is still needed for an automated vehicle to operate. Currently, five SAE levels have been defined: Level 0: Automated system issues warnings and may momentarily intervene but has no sustained vehicle control. Level 1 (hands on): Driver and automatic system share vehicle control. The driver must be ready to retake full control at any time. Level 2 (hands off): The automated system takes full control of the vehicle (accelerating, braking, and steering). The driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to intervene immediately at any time if the automated system fails to respond properly. Level 3 (eyes off): The automated system takes full control of the vehicle (accelerating, braking, and steering). The driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to intervene immediately at any time if the automated system fails to respond properly. Level 4 (mind off): As level 3, but no driver attention is ever required for safety, e.g. the driver may safely go to sleep or leave the driver's seat. Level 5 (steering wheel optional): No human intervention is required at all. An example would be a robotic taxi.

V2X

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is the passing of information from a vehicle to any entity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa.