The first unmanned minibus in China did a pilot run at Southeast University on February 2nd. It will be available for passengers to order minibuses on their mobile phones once the buses are put into use.
The bus used for the first trial run is a 4-meter long, 2-meter wide and 2.9-meter high bus with a maximum of 6 seats for 12 people. It's not like the buses we usually see, but a two-way, symmetrical vehicle with three fine radar systems on each end and two radars on the top. The maximum speed for the current model is 20 kilometers per hour.
There is no control room inside the bus. The whole vehicle works by computer, radar and electronic navigation system. It can realize site-based docking, automatic avoidance and other functions. And it can run for more than ten hours with a full charge of electricity.
The researchers said that the minibus will be put into use in the Jiangbei area of Nanjing in the near future after further upgrading and refinement. Passengers can book buses at nearby stations by mobile phone at any time during a day.
Yin Guodong, Associate Dean at the School of Mechanical Engineering in Southeast University, introduced: "Our idea is to connect the bus with the subway to solve the problem of the last kilometer, or the last three kilometers, of the passengers.”
