“I feel like I jumped into a future travel machine”. This is one of the many reactions generated by the launch of the very first autonomous bus line in South Korea this Friday, November 25. In Seoul, residents were surprised to come across a driverless bus. A concept straight out of a science fiction movie.
Driverless buses on the streets of Seoul
Technology never ceases to amaze us. As Tesla introduces its self-driving truck, Semi, in a few weeks or as self-driving cars flourish, South Korean startup 42dot owned by Hyundai has lifted the lid on the first line of self-driving buses in Seoul. If it is, for the moment, only an experiment with a driver nearby for enhanced vigilance, this autonomous bus will very soon fly on its own. Finally, will roll…
For its debut, 42dot’s driverless bus will take a short circuit of just 3.4 kilometers around the city center of the South Korean capital. It will take him 20 minutes and there are two stops for people wanting to try the experience. All they have to do is go to the application to reserve their place on board for free.
Contrary to what one might imagine, this autonomous bus does not rely on an array of expensive sensors to move smoothly like a grown-up. Indeed, the head of autonomous driving at 42dot, Jeong Seong-gyun, explains that their bus uses a camera and radar to move around. And then that’s all.
The idea behind this first driverless bus is to foster the era of autonomous driving. The South Korean startup wants to make self-driving technology inexpensive, safer and easily transferable to other vehicles. To go in this direction, the autonomous bus looks like a toy and is far from resembling a vehicle like the others. Very symmetrical design, rounded edges, large windows… We can say that it stands out. 42dot has made its self-driving bus from composite parts with the aim of reducing costs but also, and above all, of making it easy to reproduce. An idea that has everything to please.
