Vehicles that can drive themselves are now being tested out on public roads. Soon, people will have the choice of being transported around cities and urban areas without anyone having to touch a steering wheel. The latest autonomous electric ride-share shuttle in the works doesn’t even have a steering wheel at all! Startup Cruise has laid out its vision of the perfect transportation system, and it involves their spacious self-driving shuttle, called the Cruise Origin.
Cruise has been actively running fleets of its futuristic vehicles in San Francisco, and last year managed to drive down nearly every road in the city. For now, the cars are merely testing and gathering data, so no people have been in them. The shuttles have collected nearly a million miles worth of data so far. All the info is used to train the built-in AI-based system so the car will be able to cope with anything the driving world throws at it.
Although the fleet of Origin has only been driving around San Francisco, the company is confident that its technology is capable of getting the autonomous vehicles from coast to coast, across the country, without incident. Cruise is backed by Honda and General Motors, who are supportive of its mission to re-imagining transportation.
To re-invent cars, the company had to start from scratch. All it had to go by was the goal of getting people from one place to another safely.
Dan Ammann, Chief Executive Officer at Cruise Automation Inc., said:
So, we removed the engine. We removed the driver – who, more often than not, is tired, distracted, frustrated, and rushed. We removed the equipment that’s there to support the driver, including the steering wheel, pedals, rear-view mirrors, windshield wipers, and cramped seats. The result is the Cruise Origin, an all-electric ride-share vehicle designed to drive itself.
From the outside, the Origin looks like a microbus, but on the inside, it’s so spacious that every seat has extra legroom. Even with what feels like lots of space, the footprint is similar to a modern “average car.” The vehicle has eliminated all the usual technology a human driver would need, leaving tons of space inside for people to be comfortable.
Once Cruise is done testing and gathering data for its AI, the shuttles will be ready for transporting people. A passenger will then be able to book their ride through a mobile app, the nearest Origin will drive itself to the pickup point where it’s been summoned. The sliding doors open so wide that a person can hop in while another person hops off. The cabin accommodates 4-6 people with all the seats facing each other, positioned forward and backward.
The all-electric platform is manufactured by General Motors with built-in redundancy to protect against breakdowns. There are no performance specs to show for the vehicles yet. The cars feature cameras and LiDAR, as well as swiveling sensor pods mounted onto the roof that enable the autonomous people movers to work rain or shine, day or night.
Cruise estimates that the shuttles will be good for more than a million miles – a feat made possible through a modular design where components can be repaired or upgraded as needed or when new technology comes to light.
