Autonomous pods which have been used at Heathrow Airport for the last five years are moving into a new home on the eclectic Greenwich Peninsula.
For the next three weeks driverless cars will be operating in the area as a trial run in hopes to launch a much larger scale project in the near future. Tech firm, Oxbotica have adapted the operating vehicles at Heathrow to allow them to run without tracks in London.
Courtesy of The GATEway Project
Chief executive Graeme Smith said, ‘It's been designed to be safe and fail-safe specifically in a pedestrianised environment.’
The shuttle pods fit up to four people and travel at speeds up to 10mph. Computer technology, cameras and laser help to navigate the shuttles independently, however, during the trial there will be a trained staff member on-board to stop the pod in case of any technical difficulties.
Courtesy of The GATEway Project
Local residents can get a ride in and around the Greenwich Peninsula including nearby residential streets and the O2 Arena. Five-thousand members of the public are already signed up for a test ride – check out one of its very first trial runs below.
Marine 3 having a quick race with a #driverless shuttle undergoing trails along the Thames Path at North Greenwich. @GATEway_TRL pic.twitter.com/F8w78i6AzS
— MPSonthewater (@MPSonthewater) April 5, 2017
Further UK trials are due to take place in Bristol, Milton Keynes and Coventry.
Are you signed up for a spin? Tweet us @DesignCurial
