Concept of Mobility-on-Demand

• Fleet of lightweight Electric Vehicles
• Strategically distributed charging stations throughout city
• Solve the “first and last mile” problem of public transit

Advantages

• Does not require fixed infrastructure
• Fewer vehicles meeting the needs of many
• Solution to peak hour periods
• Personalized mobility whenever and wherever you need it
• Vehicles are better utilized

Autonomous Vehicles for Mobility-on-Demand

• Safety - Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in the 20-30 year range. Most accidents occur due to human errors.
• Accessibility - Provide mobility to people who cannot, should not, or prefer not to drive (elderly, youth and disabled).
• Productivity - “Commodity” driving is a chore that absorbs a large fraction of people’s time, which could be better used.
• Efficiency/Throughput - Automated vehicles can cooperate to minimize the effects of congestion.
• Environment - Automated driving can reduce emissions by 20-50%, and efficiently interface with smart power grids.

Research Aim

To allow a fleet of autonomous vehicles to provide Mobility-on-Demand which will complement the existing transportation system, so as to reduce the overall commuting time by solving the “first and last mile” problem. This solution will thus reduce the traveling time from the starting location (e.g. commuter’s house) to the start of the transportation network (e.g. MRT station) and reduce the traveling time from the end of the transportation network to the final destination (e.g. commuter’s workplace).

Our research integrates existing technologies with fresh methodologies to allow driverless vehicles to intelligently provide Mobility-on-Demand, with the goal of making this future transportation paradigm a reality.

The SMART autonomous vehicle is a collaborative project between the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and NUS; and has been running driverlessly on the NUS campus since 2011.

• Max speed: 24km/h
• Max autonomous speed with crowds: 7 km/h
• Max autonomous speed without people: 10 km/h
• Vehicle localization using laser sensors, and not dependent on GPS
• Obstacle detection using laser sensors
• Real-time path planner
• Dynamic safety zone