Autonomous Driving Tech TONY Successfully Demonstrated on Maryland Public Roads

It’s not just for the big names in the industry - autonomous driving technology is something that more and more startups are interested in developing, from companies in China to ones in…Virginia. Perrone Robotics has come up with an easy-to-remember name for its self-driving retrofit kit. TONY, short for “TO Navigate You”, can be implemented on any kind of vehicle, using the “MAX” patented full-stack platform and the “Safety Watchdog” safety-certifiable framework.

This autonomous system works just as well for passenger and cargo shuttles, whether they are electric, gas-powered or diesel. But the startup is also offering autonomous shuttles that are already integrated with the TONY retrofit kit, as a more cost-effective solution.

The Virginia-based company is not new to the game, as it’s been developing autonomous driving technologies since 2005. But its research, which was pioneering at the time, is now closer to becoming a wide-scale commercial solution.

Together with GreenPower, the manufacturer of the TONY-equipped, electric and fully autonomous AV Star shuttle, Perrone Robotics recently conducted public road demonstrations in Westminster, Maryland. Throughout 2 days, the Tony-based AV Star operated on a complex route, where it had to demonstrate that it can successfully navigate in a designated neighborhood, around a city park and in a historic city neighborhood, as well as perform right and left turns. The results were encouraging for everybody, as the AV proved that it can perform smoothly on public roads.

This is a second important milestone for the company, after its 2019 success, when it conducted public demonstration rides in Virginia. It was the first time that autonomous vehicles operated in the Albemarle County, with no incidents and no safety interventions, on complex routes, including busy town intersections and county roads.

After the success of the recent Maryland public demonstrations, Perrone is set to have various autonomous shuttles (including cargo and delivery) ready to become operational with public fleets, by the end of this summer.