News / Transport
Voi hope to use artificial intelligence to fix problem of pavement scooter riding
The operator of Bristol’s fleet of hire e-scooters has begun a pilot project installing artificial intelligence technology that can detect when an scooter leaves the road and rides on a pavement, or when the scooter is parked incorrectly.
Voi says that they are “committed to using innovation to ensure that every e-scooter ride is a responsible one, and every stationary e-scooter is a safe one”.
The Swedish company is working with Irish micromobility startup Luna, whose technology offers real-time lane segmentation and pedestrian detection for scooters, similar to that available in high-end cars.
is needed now More than ever
Voi e-scooters fitted with the new technology have been tested in Stockholm ahead of the trial in Northampton, with the ‘smart camera’ hardware and electronics honed by Luna and Voi over the last six months.
A controlled user group will first road test the computer vision technology to collect real-time visual information on the environment the e-scooter is travelling through, before around100 cameras will be installed on the publicly available scooter fleet.
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As well as the audible alert, this phase of the pilot will explore the potential to automatically slow scooters if inappropriate riding is detected on footpaths or in heavily pedestrianised areas.
By 2022, Luna expects to be able to integrate its camera technology directly into the stem or handlebars of the e-scooters for rent in cities including Bristol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDiczqcrdic
Fredrik Hjelm, co-founder and CEO of Voi, said: “With computer vision e-scooters can be trained to see and recognise situations that are hazardous.
“This world-first pilot will set new standards of safety for this new form of transport. Having helped riders to take more than 60 million rides across Europe we understand deeply the issues involved in e-scooter safety and are always looking for ways to do better.
“We are very proud to be the first e-scooter operator to incorporate the computer vision technology at scale for the benefit of our riders, pedestrians and authorities.”
Luna co-founder and CEO, Andrew Fleury, added: “With this trial, we look forward to demonstrating how computer vision equipped e-scooters can make a verifiable difference to rider compliance and sidewalk riding behaviour in cities.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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