A small and little-known French manufacturer that has been working on the development of autonomous driving technologies, Navya has just introduced its first fully autonomous taxi. And which, the company believes, will start operating within the next year.
Navya is no stranger to autonomous vehicles — it already has compact shuttles in service than at airports or on university campuses. The Autonom Cab — or autonomous cab — now presented is definitely his most ambitious project. The vehicle, according to information disclosed by the company itself, has electric propulsion, was designed to transport up to six passengers, at speeds of up to 89 km/h.
Navya without pedals or steering wheel, but with lots of sensors
As for fully autonomous driving, it is ensured through a total of 10 Lidar systems, six cameras, four radars and a computer, which receives and works with all the information coming from the outside. Although and according to Navya, the car also uses the data provided by the navigation system; even though the external detection system always takes precedence in decisions.
Moreover, and as a result of the enormous technological framework, it is expected that the Navya, without any pedals or steering wheel, will have to reach, at least, level 4 of autonomy. Which should also allow you to maintain average speeds, when in town, in the order of 48 km/h.
Christophe Sapet, CEO of Navya“Imagine what cities would be like if there were only autonomous vehicles. There would simply be no more traffic jams or parking problems, and the number of accidents and pollution would be lower"
On the market in 2018... the company is waiting
With partnerships already established with entities such as KEOLIS, in Europe and the USA, Navya hopes to ensure that its autonomous taxi can reach the streets, at least, in some European and American cities, during the second quarter of 2018. Navya it will only provide the vehicle, it being up to the transport companies to provide the transport service. Once in operation, customers will simply be asked to either install an application on their smartphone and request the service, or simply, when they see Navya approaching, make a signal to stop!