Next-gen robot shuttles ready

Second generation robot shuttles are coming.

They include vectored traction and steering, smart windows, robotic fast charging, and solar bodywork, so 10-40% less charging is needed, says IDTechEx.

Its report Robot Shuttles and Autonomous Buses 2020-2040 predicted second-generation robot shuttles with “fit-and-forget” supercapacitors and electrical repurposing such as yellow-school-bus mode with interactive microLED or OLED window signage and advertising covering costs.

“LG has now successfully launched those interactive windows, initially in trains,” IDTechEx adds.

“Whereas robotaxis are repurposed autonomous cars, robot shuttles are a new form of intensive-use land vehicle.

“Looking like a tiny railway carriage, they can go in shopping malls and down paths with no need for U turns because they are symmetrical,” IDTechEx explains.

“Cities request that they provide inclusiveness by being usable by the poor and disabled in wheelchairs. Some developers have lost sight of that.”

Newcomer Auve Tech sees them as last-mile travel from the bus stop as an example.

It is developing supercapacitor-powered robot shuttles working with Europe’s leading supercapacitor manufacturer Skeleton Technologies also in Estonia.

A never-replace supercapacitor shuttle can be driven 24/7, charging in 11 seconds at bus stops.

Amazon Zoox fits enough battery for non-stop full-day use, IDTechEx says.

Some charging can come from sun-tracking solar charging stations providing 30% more electricity than static.

“Our network is rapidly deployed because the businesses or government entities using it do not need to get any permits or incur any construction costs,” Envision Solar chief executive Desmond Wheatley says.  

“It is scalable and can serve any fleet while the solar-powered vehicles create no emissions.”

Raghu Das of IDTechEx adds; “We predicted in-wheel motors giving vectored steering and traction for even better manoeuvrability, including sideways docking and coping with slippery conditions.

“Amazon Zoox shuttle now has four-wheel steering. ProteanDrive on Olli also provides efficiency, space and design freedom. Elaphe has its in-wheel motors being trialled.”

EasyMile has licensed the Sono Motors lightweight solar bodywork – polycarbonate sandwiching single-crystal silicon.

Shuttles, with all that window, will welcome better photovoltaic glass and improved solar film such as TNO copper indium gallium diselenide or Sharp’s 3-5 compound film with 50% more electricity per unit area. See Solar Vehicles 2021-2041 2nd Edition for more.

IDTechEx says some mistakes are being made – the eight-person Auve and four-person Zoox have suboptimally small shuttles, though Auve will accept a wheelchair.

For repurposing and fast payback, you need large sliding doors and around 20-person capacity, some standing, IDTechEx adds.

Auve and Zoox claim highway speeds with no evidence of appropriate crumple zones, and Auve is trying fuel cells too, IDTechEx says.

The Toyota Woven City is intended for the base of Mount Fuji using its e-Palette robot shuttles. “However, in 2021 Toyota shows little progress,” IDTechEx points out.

“Toyota were thought leaders in how the shuttles will repurpose as mobile libraries, parcel delivery, offices, utility vehicles, fast-food cafes. There needs to be more focus on rapid electric repurposing and researching what repurposing is viable.

“Meanwhile, most smart cities promise to ban cars and have large plazas with no conventional vehicles, no sidewalks, so the passenger use of smart shuttles is clear.”

Battery air taxis are a more glamorous idea appraised in the IDTechEx report, Air Taxis: Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Aircraft 2021-2041.

The report says these may be faster but are unlikely to beat robot shuttles on cost – current projections being at least double.