Aurora company wants to put robot taxis on the road in the United States (US). The taxis are based on Toyota Siennas, a minivan that Toyota supplies in the US. The vehicle is aimed at ride hailing services, where users can summon a robot taxi via an app.
Aurora is a company founded in 2017 by Chris Urmson, Sterling Anderson and Drew Bagnell. The team focuses on developing safe, fast and widely available self-driving technology. The technology the company is working on is called the Aurora Driver. Around this technology, the company is setting up an ecosystem of strategic partners to roll out Aurora Driver as an autonomous services for transport, logistics and ride-hailing, among others,
What does Aurora Driver consist of?
Aurora Driver consists of several components. The so-called Aurora Computer forms the central hub of the system. It connects hardware and autonomous software. And integrates Aurora Driver with different types of vehicles. Aurora Computer is connected to a sensor suite. This includes long-range radar sensors, high-resolution cameras, LIDAR sensors and so-called FirstLight Lidar sensors. The latter sensors are a further developed version of LIDAR sensors with a longer range. The sensor suite gives Aurora Driver a 360-degree view of its surroundings.
The system also features autonomous software. These include Aurora Atlas, a customised mapping and localisation platform. Using detailed maps, Aurora Atlas helps the Aurora Driver determine its route. This software allows locating a vehicle with a margin of 10 centimetres.
Aurora points out that unforeseen circumstances occur on the road with great regularity. The autonomous system therefore maps all objects, even if it cannot identify them. In addition, human experts are available via a teleassist function. These experts can watch video feeds from the self-driving vehicles, among other things, and steer the Aurora Driver in the right direction if necessary. Any problems the vehicles encounter can thus be solved more quickly.
Collaboration with Toyota
Aurora announced earlier this year a long-term collaboration with Toyota. The aim here is to develop self-driving vehicles for autonomous ride-hailing. Aurora and Toyota now announce that they will integrate Toyota's hybrid electric platform S-AM with Aurora's self-driving technology. This integration will take place directly on Toyota's production line.
For now, this is a prototype, which will be tested in pilot projects in the near future. Among other things, the safety of the vehicle will be the focus during these tests. In time, the parties expect to launch the autonomous taxi at scale for ride-hailing networks.
Joining forces should lead to a "robust autonomous system for creating a comfortable, convenient and safe driving experience". For instance, the robotic taxis feature dynamic climate control. Here, users set the desired temperature via ride-hailing apps such as Uber. As a result, the vehicle is already fully set to the desired temperature upon arrival.
Data from Uber
In developing the vehicle, the parties are using data collected through the test network of Uber ATG, Uber's research and development arm. Through this test network, 50,000 trips have now been carried out. These account for four million miles, or over 6.4 million kilometres in conversion. Aurora points out that over 25 billion rides have now been provided by Uber through its platform.
Over the next six months, the parties plan to test and further develop an initial fleet of development vehicles in the US Pittsburgh, Dallas and the Bay Area, among others.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
