As the world moves forward toward embracing autonomous vehicles into our daily lives, more companies are jumping on board to provide interesting solutions to daily commute services and solutions, covering everything from taxis to moving around a corporate complex. Of course, it is still going to be a while until we see this on public streets due to regulation and other challenges, so we still have plenty of development to be had on driven vehicles as well.
Yamaha and Sony teamed up back in 2016 to create a smart driven solution for locations like corporate complexes, amusement parks, and golf courses. Their solution is in the form of a transport cart that can hold up to 5 passengers at a time, called the SC-1. It isn’t autonomous, but it does bring in a lot of technology to make it equally smart in other ways.
An original working model was demoed at an event back in 2018 where they collected all sorts of data and feedback which they used to expand upon the cart with, improving passenger count, battery life and more. It is surrounded by sensors that allow it to fully see in all directions, allowing for safe operation, and it needs this because it trades out windows for high definition displays. It also uses LiDAR to collect data and help contribute to safer driving conditions.
It uses the sensors to stream the data live to the screens, using them as virtual windows. Allowing them to include overlays for an augmented reality experience, and use the space on the outside of the cart for other purposes, such as advertisements that can interact with those passing by. With the displays used, the image can be enhanced to allow for improved driving at night and other low-light conditions, even if there are no headlights.
Since the view is being delivered by sensors instead of windows, the cart can also be remotely operated over the cloud as well.
They aim to launch them sometime later this year, although they will not be available for sale, and more than likely used commercially for internal events and promotions and with partners.
Specifications:
- Total length:3135??
- Total width:1306??
- Total height:1830??
- Capacity:Five passengers
- Driving speed:0 to 19 kph
- Drive system:DC motor
- Battery type:Lithium-ion polymer battery
- Brake system:Hydraulic type four-wheel disc brake and motor rotation brake
- Suspension:Front double wishbone type and rear link type
- Automatic driving method:Electromagnetic induction
Installed equipment
- Inside the car:One 49″ 4K LCD monitor
- Outside the car:Four 55″ 4K LCD monitors
- Image sensors:Five 35 mm full-size Exmor® CMOS sensors (four directions around the vehicle and one in the vehicle)
Two ISX019 1/3.8-type CMOS image sensor embedded cameras
