Skip to main content

Proterra begins autonomous bus program in the US

Heavy-duty electric transportation specialist Proterra is to participate in an autonomous bus trial with the University of Nevada, Reno and its Living Lab Coalition partners which aims to deal with real road conditions from the perspective of public transit systems. It will also , and underline the most challenging aspects related to mass transportation, such as dense and dynamic environments, degraded conditions and a need for swift emergency response. The pilot will also explore a new set of robotic perc
May 3, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Heavy-duty electric transportation specialist Proterra is to participate in an autonomous bus trial with the University of Nevada, Reno and its Living Lab Coalition partners which aims to deal with real road conditions from the perspective of public transit systems. It will also , and underline the most challenging aspects related  to mass transportation, such as dense and dynamic environments, degraded conditions and a need for swift emergency response.

The pilot will also explore a new set of robotic perception algorithms that are required to address these conditions and focus on tight cues from multi-modal sensors and new multi-modal localisation and mapping. Rather than solely detect traffic, the Living Lab will focus on predicting traffic flows and plans to enhance safety. The University's current work focuses on the problems of vehicle perception, navigation control, path planning and vehicle-to-vehicle as well as vehicle-to-infrastructure research.

The Living Lab program will include three main phases of research and development: data collection, vehicle instrumentation and intelligent transportation system assessment; data mining, communications and algorithms development; and licensing and commercialisation. 

Related Content

  • Smart Spanish city trials cell-based traffic management
    November 7, 2013
    David Crawford reports on an urban electronic nervous system. The northern Spanish city of Santander – historically a port - is now an emerging technology showcase attracting global attention as a prototype for a medium-sized smart city of the future. In a move to determine the optimal use of available data, it is creating a de-facto experimental laboratory for sensor and mobile phone-based urban traffic management and environmental monitoring innovations.
  • Public transport operators implement passenger safety systems
    December 4, 2012
    Operators of public transport systems are arming themselves with sophisticated systems of technology to ward off terrorism threats to passenger safety. David Crawford reports. City transportation authorities worldwide are looking more keenly than ever for mass transit solutions to overcome traffic congestion and manage commuter flows. As they do so, concerns over passenger security are driving development of new technologies for terrorist incident detection, response and emergency passenger evacuation. The
  • Researchers devise snow ploughing algorithm
    September 16, 2014
    Canadian researchers Olivier Quirion-Blais, Martin Trépanier and André Langevin have developed an algorithm to determine the most efficient routes for snow ploughs and gritters. Snow plough routing has always been something of a ‘black art’: to direct a fleet of show plough to clear priority roads without having the same road cleared several times while others are left untreated. Increasingly, GPS is being used to track the routes the clearing vehicles have taken but until now it has not been possible to ta
  • Automating seat belt compliance a priority for road safety
    February 2, 2012
    Finland's VTT is developing a mobile, automated seatbelt compliance system. Here, the organisation's Matti Kutila discusses progress