Singapore starts testing autonomous taxis on its roads

A few self-driving Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Renault Zoe are shuttling around a few dozen Singaporeans for free with this new trial run by a company called nuTonomy. The company, which spun off from MIT in 2013 has offices in Massachusetts and Singapore, is testing out its autonomous vehicle technology in a 2.5-square-mile residential area called “One-North” with an end goal of lessening traffic congestion in the city state. The taxis are equipped with six Lidar sets and two cameras to help it keep track of obstacles, lanes, and traffic light changes. There is also an engineer onboard to help make sure everything stays safe.

The company hopes to open the trials to thousands of users in the coming months and launch as early as 2018. What they are testing and gathering now is data related to “software system performance, vehicle routing efficiency, the vehicle booking process, and the overall passenger experience.” A bug has been noted by an Associated Press reporter who noticed that the safety driver had to hit the brakes when a parked vehicle moved suddenly into an oncoming lane.

Source: Engadget