It is called BotRide and will include a driver to supervise local autonomous Rideshare. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – October 25, 2019 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric Today Hyundai announced it will be offering free rides to residents of Irvine, CA in its latest Kona with up to SAE Level 4 autonomy. Starting on November 4, a fleet of self-driving Hyundai KONA Electric SUVs will provide a free ride-sharing service to the local community of Irvine, California. BotRide is Hyundai’s focus to improve its current expertise in autonomous mobility technology for a fully driverless future. Hyundai partnered with Pony.ai to build the self-driving system and with Via to create the BotRide on-demand ridesharing technology and application. Using the BotRide app (iOS and Android), riders can hail an autonomous Hyundai KONA Electric directly from their smartphone. Via’s advanced algorithms enable multiple riders to share the same vehicle, outfitted with Pony.ai autonomous vehicle technology. The app directs passengers to nearby stops for pick up and drop off, allowing for quick and efficient shared trips without lengthy detours, or inconvenient fixed routes and schedules. The BotRide Kona was designed with Pony.ai’s latest sensor hardware and proprietary software to identify the precise position of surrounding vehicles, handle pedestrian traffic in urban areas, accurately monitor its surroundings, predict the behavior of other road users, and precisely plan actions accordingly. BotRide launches with multiple popular destinations where a passenger may hail a ride using the BotRide app. The service area covers several residential, commercial, and institutional locations in and around Irvine, CA. BotRide’s technology prioritizes passenger-to-system interactions such as automated on board passenger verification.
I wonder how this works - how do students find / call this vehicle? How do they indicate where they want to go - or does it just drive a known route?
