All-weather driverless shuttle bus may be way of the future
Weather Broadcaster
Monday, November 5, 2018, 5:46 PM - Driverless cars may very well be the way of the future, but there’s a been major flaw: they struggle to function in poor weather conditions – until now.
Meet Gacha, the first autonomous vehicle in history that can function in heavy rain, snow and fog.
The shuttle has been the design product of a unique partnership between Muji, a Japanese retail company, and Sensible 4, an autonomous vehicle development company based out of Finland. Muji is responsible for engineering the weatherproof vehicle, while Sensible 4 designs the smart software to function in adverse weather conditions.
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Image courtesy of Sensible 4
"We are developing these vehicles so that they can become part of daily transportation service chain," says Harri Santamala, CEO of Sensible 4. "Autonomous vehicles can't become mainstream until their technology has been insured to work in all climates."
Finland’s harsh winter climate has certainly proved the perfect testing ground for Sensible 4's autonomous equipment. The Gacha features four lidar emitters, eight radar emitters, 360-degree camera coverage and GPS. This advanced positioning, navigation and obstacle detection performance allows autonomous driving throughout the year, regardless of the environment and weather conditions.
Image courtesy of Sensible 4
Test driving of Gacha will begin in 2019 across three Finnish cities, with a public debut in Helsinki in March 2019. The first production fleet will be available in 2020, and by 2021 the company projects that the vehicles will be used as an everyday transportation service.
