Robot Taxi Inc., a Tokyo-based company, is gearing up to bring self-driving robot taxis to Japan’s roads early next year. They’ve invited residents to try out the taxi service in Fujisawa, in Kanagawa Prefecture. 50 people are all set to take part in the experiment.
According to Robot Taxi, the new cabs will take residents to pre-decided supermarkets about three kilometers from their homes. A company attendant will be present in the driver’s seat for safety reasons. The self-driving cars will be equipped with GPS, millimeter-wave radar, stereo vision cameras, and image analysis technologies.
The local government is fully supportive of the firm’s initiative, given that they’ve already tested automated cars on expressways before. But this will be the first time on local roads with residents. “This time, the robot taxi experiment will be conducted on actual city streets,” said government official Yuji Kuroiwa.
Robot Taxi president Hiroshi Nakajima said that this will probably be the first test in the world to offer automated cars to actual residents for shopping trips. If the test run next year is successful, it will pave the way for a broader launch of automated taxis in Japan in 2020. Nakajima also revealed that the firm plans on testing other applications of the car, like how it can be used during natural disasters.
“There are a lot of people who say it’s impossible,” said Shinjiro Koizumi, son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. “But I think this will happen faster than people expect.”
Robot Taxi is a joint venture between DeNA Co., a maker of video games – go figure – and ZMP Inc., a developer of automated driving technologies.
So, like, how do you flag one of these robo-cabs down, eh? Someone should invent an app for smartphones that robo-cabs can recognize and respond to assuming they are empty. But...if they are empty, will they be cruising the streets? Another question to resolve.
Personally, I would be quite happy to see robot taxies. I have had my share of smelly cabs full of cigarette or cigar odours, cabbie and former passenger B.O. and / or overly perfumed cars, haven't you?
Reminiscing: I recall being in New York City once and staying at the then hotel attached to the then World Trade Center. I had a luncheon appointment uptown at the Waldorf Hotel with a friend and hotelier. When I got in a cab in front of the hotel and said "The Waldorf, please!", the cabbie had no idea what I was talking about. The Waldorf is one of the most famous landmarks in the city, already! The cabbie was an immigrant from Haiti so I helped him, in French, to wend his way up through NYC traffic and we eventually made it...though a tad late.
Got a good taxi story to share? Email me and I'll share it later in my blog.
See ya, eh!
Bob
0 comments:
Post a Comment