If you want to look for a country that is eagerly testing out self-driving technology, you’d only have to look at Singapore. The country has been testing out self-driving taxis, driverless pods, and self-driving golf carts that will ferry tourists around the island. Now it seems that the country is getting ready to trial self-driving scooters.Note that when we say scooters, we don’t mean motorcycles like the Vespa. Instead these seem to be more similar to those scooters used by those who are disabled. Developed by the National University of Singapore (NUS), this scooter weighs 50kg and has a top speed of 6kmph. It comes with built-in sensors so that it can detect obstacles and to tell it where it is. It is also capable of slowing down or stopping when it detects an obstacle ahead of it.
According to Associate Professor Marcelo Ang from NUS Mechanical Engineering, the co-investigator of the project, “Mobility is not only outdoors. You also want to be mobile in big complexes, like malls. So the concept of mobility is not only on the roads but the total mobility to get me from point A to point B.”
The scooter has been tested out on campus and it is aimed at improving the mobility of those in need and also reduce the need for cars, which in turn lowers accident rates. Given how expensive cars are in Singapore, we’re sure that this self-driving scooter could prove to be an affordable alternative if and when it is made available to the masses.
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