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Driverless Bus Shaves a Parked Van in Switzerland, Brings Experiment to a Halt

This wasn't a very good week for autonomous cars. There might not have been any new Autopilot crashes, but one of Google's Lexus RX450h research vehicles had a nasty one, and now we learn that a bus in Switzerland traded some paint too.
PostBus autonomous shuttle in Sion 8 photos
Photo: PostBus
PostBus autonomous shuttle in SionPostBus autonomous shuttle in SionPostBus autonomous shuttle in SionPostBus autonomous shuttle in SionPostBus autonomous shuttle in SionPostBus autonomous shuttle in SionPostBus autonomous shuttle in Sion
You might not have been aware of this, but there's a self-driving bus program taking place in Sion, Switzerland. Well, there was, because as of recently, the company running it (PostBus) decided to suspend its activity for an undetermined period as a result of the crash. Actually, "crash" might be too harsh; let's call it "the incident."

Two autonomous shuttles have been driving through downtown Sion since June 23 this year, covering a 1.5-kilometer long route (that's just short of a mile) and taking passengers on free of charge. That last part makes perfect sense: when was the last time you heard about guinea pigs paying for the privilege of being tested upon?

The shuttles were fairly small vehicles that could only carry 11 passengers and travel at about 12 miles per hour (20 km/h). That's slower than most cyclist commuters ride and just twice as fast as a regular jogging speed. Since they figured nothing bad could happen at this speed, the buses did not have a human driver to supervise them, but were instead monitored remotely.

This week, Popular Science reveals, one of the two shuttles managed to run itself against the open door of a parked van raising questions about the safety of the entire project which meant it had to be put on hold until some questions could be answered. It would appear that, just like in so many other similar cases, the vehicle's sensors failed to pick up on the slight irregularity in the van's shape due to its open door and did not give it enough clearance.

We don't know what kind of sensors these shuttles use, but it would be interesting to know if even the much-acclaimed LIDAR can misfire (and the pictures would suggest the shuttles did have LIDARs installed). Whatever the case, even though autonomous vehicles don't seem to be able to catch a break, the industry keeps going forward, and that's all that matters.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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