Self-driving shuttles for in-campus travel, designed by a team of ex-students from IIT-Kharagpur’s Robotics Research Group, would reduce operating costs by 40 to 60 percent. In addition to this, the shuttle can be used round-the-clock as per the makers of the self-driving transport vehicle.
Powered by electricity, Auro Shuttles, launched by Nalin Gupta, Jit Ray Chowdhury and Srinivas Reddy of the Group and Y-Combinator, uses latest technology to ensure safe navigation even on busy roads. It eliminates the cost of a driver. The Auro Shuttles can be pre-ordered with a launch date planned later this year.
The shuttle can be used 24x7 and in all weather conditions. No special rails or dedicated pathways are required for its operation. The vehicle is equipped with lasers, camera, radar and GPS. The shuttles rely on a prior 3D map of the environment. It uses this 3D map to localise itself and interpret road topographyStatement
Passengers can feed in destinations through a touch screen mounted on the vehicle, or through their mobile app.
The underlying software automatically figures out the optimum high-level route to reach the destination safely according to the firm and its creators.
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