Applied Autonomy deploys autonomous vehicles in urban areas

Urban traffic congestion is increasingly problematic for transportation providers and their passengers. Residents, meanwhile, must contend with decreased mobility, as well as limited parking spaces and green areas within the city.

Due to rapid advances in autonomous vehicle technology, shared, connected and cooperative automated vehicles are quickly evolving from a theoretical to a viable solution. However, the design and implementation of autonomous fleet infrastructure requires expertise that many operators lack.

Applied Autonomy provides transport operators with competency, training, testing and demonstration services for the construction and implementation of an autonomous vehicle fleet.

The company uses sophisticated technology to share vital information between vehicles within a network, collecting and transmitting data about road conditions, weather, detours, traffic and other factors that could affect a fleet’s efficiency and performance.

This technology can also be used by cities to implement dynamic road pricing, thus incentivising sustainable travel practices such as ride-sharing and taking public transport.

Applied Autonomy reduces uncertainty for cities and transport companies by providing guidance on development costs, risk assessment and transport authority requirements.

The company tests and analyses fleet performance under real-life conditions, reducing risk and optimising safety and performance. Its data sharing technology enables each vehicle in the fleet to perform at maximum efficiency for sustainable urban transport.

In May 2022 Applied Autonomy deployed a self-driving bus with a passenger capacity of 50 for two years of testing in downtown Stavanger.

The test project is a collaboration between Norwegian public transport operators Vy and Kolumbus, and uses AI and sensor technology from US company ADASTEC and monitoring technology from Applied Autonomy. The electric bus is manufactured by the Turkish company Karsan. It is eight metres long and has 24 seats as well as standing space for many more. Other countries have tested such buses in open traffic, but not as an integrated part of the public transit system.

The project aims to establish whether self-driving buses are a good addition to the urban mobility model. During the test period, there will be a safety driver on board to monitor the situation and intervene if necessary. In the long term, the safety driver will be moved from the bus to an operations centre, with responsibility for several buses at a time.

Self-driving technology has come a long way in a short time. Many Norwegian cities, including Trondheim, Drammen and Kongsberg, have tried this technology, but testing has been limited to smaller vehicles deployed by Applied Autonomy.

Founded in 2017, Applied Autonomy has 11 employees with expertise in logistics, communications, business development, autonomy, system architecture, cloud-based transport solutions, and AI.