The future of mobility is right up at our doors.
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A small autonomous taxi service in Singapore might seem like small news, but it’s the first proper fully autonomous taxi service there has ever been, and the date it launched – Thursday 25 August 2016 – will mark the start of a technology revolution that will change the world.
The company, which is a ride-hailing start-up has begun the beta testing of its autonomous taxis, which are running on the streets of Singapore.
Singapore’s autonomous taxi service is now invite-only and only a handful of people are registered, but the company hopes to expand operations to include many more people as the trial continues. Selected people are able to hail a cab through company’s mobile application and the process works exactly as it would with a regular cab service, albeit with no human showing up with the vehicle.
In announcing the launch of its self-driving taxis in Singapore, nuTonomy said that it is initially offering six self-driving taxis, and plans to increase the number to around 12 by the end of this year.
The trial will take place within the country’s one-north business district, which is the same area where the company has been using modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi iMiev cars to conduct tests since April.
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The rides will take place in a Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV vehicle that nuTonomy has specially configured for autonomous driving. One of such radars is mounted on the roof of the vehicle. Parker, whose company has partnered with the Singapore government on the project, said he hoped to have 100 taxis working commercially in the Southeast Asian citystate by 2018. Also, the feed is collected from cameras as well, two of which are mounted on the dashboard of the vehicle.
