Spin, Ford’s electric scooter company, is testing a line of scooters that can be controlled remotely. In addition to making the scooter units move out of the way to stop blocking the sidewalk, controllers will be able to guide the scooter to a passenger.
In order for the e-scooter, as the remotely controlled scooter is called, to get out of the way “by itself”, Spin will rely on sensors and other technologies provided by a startup called Tortoise (or turtle in Portuguese). The startup has been working on autonomous control of scooters some time ago.
Tortoise’s software uses the scooters’ internal front- and rear-facing cameras to guide remote operators, who may be thousands of miles away. The camera feeds will allow the controller to steer the e-scooter around obstacles as it heads toward a rider, or not. block the sidewalk when a person in a wheelchair is passing by, for example.
Other problems that can be solved
In addition to helping users who can't find their e-scooters when they need them and getting out of the way to unblock the sidewalk, there is another occurrence that causes many problems for shared scooters. The people hired to collect traditional scooters are paid according to the number of units collected per night. Not to mention the ease of fraud in the registrations, many arguments and fights occur between the collectors, in addition to the vandalism of scooters and even gunshots.
As a result, scooters end up piled up in a messy manner instead of being evenly spread throughout the city, or damaged, with a reduced lifespan. The autonomy of scooters promises to offer better organization and a better arrangement of units, even reaching low-income areas.
What is the scooter like, when and where will it be available?
The e-scooter model being tested is called the Segway T60, and it has improved suspension and three wheels, two at the front and one at the back. There is also an independent braking system, with a regenerative rear brake plus drum brakes at the front and back, as well as turn signals on the handlebars and near the rear wheel.
A Spin Spin Inc. plans to begin testing 250 remotely operated scooters in the city of Boise, Idaho, in the coming months. The remote operators who will control the scooters from blocking sidewalks to reaching passengers in Boise will be based in Mexico City, the capital of the neighboring country. Later this year, Spin plans to announce availability in other regions and markets.
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