In South America the first autonomous minibus made its debut. It was created by Marcopolo, through Marcopolo Next (the area responsible for accelerating the company’s innovation projects) and in collaboration with Lume Robotics, a Brazilian autonomous mobility startup.
The result of two years of studies, in collaboration with national companies, the project has integrated the Volare Attack 8 model to operate completely autonomously, without the need for intervention or remote monitoring. The technology can be programmed to operate in the optimal range of efficiency, which reduces fuel consumption and the emission of pollutants, with a high level of safety and comfort.
“We have strengthened our role as a leader in the development of mobility solutions and have taken another important step in the history of the company. We invest in solutions designed for passengers, for the challenges of modern cities, and the autonomous vehicle is an example of innovation aligned to a global trend”, underlines André Vidal Armaganijan, CEO of Marcopolo.
“In the company we look carefully at the future of mobility and try to act with cutting-edge technologies, identifying market opportunities, new areas of intervention and innovations”. As well as representing a trend, as passenger vehicles are already advancing towards autonomous driving, we believe it is a modern and effective alternative,” she adds.
The development of the prototype, with capacity for 21 passengers, received financial support from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo [Fondazione dello Stato di Espírito Santo per il sostegno alla ricerca e all’innovazione] (FAPES) and has an advanced robotic system to travel autonomously in specific situations, such as low-speed closed circuits.
For Rânik Guidolini, CEO of Lume Robotics, the first autonomous minibus in the southern hemisphere is a technological milestone. “Thanks to the partnership between Lume and Marcopolo, Brazil is placed in a select group of countries that dominate the technology. We are talking about a project capable of guaranteeing greater safety and operational efficiency to mobility systems,” he says.
The development also has partners such as Curtis-Wright, for the installation of the electric gear selector, and Soha, a startup specializing in the Internet of Things (IoT), which has developed sensors to monitor seat occupancy and the use of seat belts in real time.