By: First Step Towards a Driverless Bus System « The Keelynet Blog

First Step Towards a Driverless Bus System « The Keelynet Blog — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:54:27 +0000

[...] Posted by keelynet on September 16, 2008 It is inevitable that we will have automated transport systems yet still allow manual override at necessary. “A special bus introduced on Sept. 5th, steered not by a driver, but by a magnetic guidance system developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, performed with remarkable precision. The 60-foot research bus was demonstrated along a one-mile stretch of E. 14th Street in San Leandro that was embedded with a series of magnets. Special sensors and processors on board the bus detected the magnets in the pavement and controlled the steering based upon the information it received. The driver maintained control of braking and acceleration, but the steering was completely automated, allowing the bus to pull into stops to within a lateral accuracy of 1 centimeter, or about the width of an adult pinky finger. Researchers say such precision docking would help shave precious seconds off of the time to load and unload passengers at each stop, adding up to a significant increase in reliability and efficiency over the course of an entire bus route. For example, precision docking could potentially negate the need to deploy wheelchair ramps and make passenger queuing more efficient. Moreover, the ability to more precisely control the movement of the bus reduces the width of the lane required for travel from 12 feet – the current standard – to 10 feet, researchers say. In the system demonstrated today, sensors mounted under the bus measured the magnetic fields created from the roadway magnets, which were placed beneath the pavement surface 1 meter apart along the center of the lane. The information was translated into the bus’s lateral and longitudinal position by an on-board computer, which then directed the vehicle to move accordingly. For a vehicle traveling 60 miles per hour, data from 27 meters (88 feet) of roadway can be read and processed in 1 second. Zhang added that the system is robust enough to withstand a wide range of operating conditions, including rain or snow, a significant improvement to other vehicle guidance systems based upon optics. Researchers also pointed out that magnetic guidance technology allows for a bus to safely follow closely behind another. Extra vehicles, much like extra cars on light rail trains, could thus be added during peak commute times. In the E. 14th Street demonstration, the magnetic guidance system was only used to control the steering for the bus, but on test tracks it has been used for full vehicle control – including braking and accelerating – creating a true “auto-pilot” system for the bus. At any time, the driver can resume manual control of the bus.” – Source [...]

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By: First Step Towards a Driverless Bus System « The Keelynet Blog