Driverless bus at EPFL

As part of the European project CityMobil2 four driverless electric shuttles operated at the EPFL University transporting people from the metro station to the campus’ main buildings.

Easy Mile driverless bus EZ10 at EPFL, Lausanne. Photo © EPFL / Alain Herzog

At the EPFL campus in Lausanne four electric shuttles – which run 2.3 kilometers with no one at the wheel – served six stops, and linking the “traditional” public transport axis, on the Southern and Northern edges of the campus.

The main obstacles were mostly due to external factors such as badly-parked vehicles, delivery and construction activities as well as the meteorological conditions.

The heat wave during summer caused major challenges too as it required permanent air-conditioning within the shuttles.

Consequently, this impacted on the autonomy of the electric batteries of the vehicles and ultimately lowered their operational autonomy. Additionally, high temperatures and dry weather made the road dusty which created problems for the perception of obstacles by lasers located on the vehicles’ bumpers.

During the demonstration, great progress in terms of monitoring have been achieved which successfully implemented a remote fleet management system. Through this system, it is now possible to monitor the entire fleet from a central position and to give clear instructions to every shuttle of the fleet, about their speed, their itinerary, etc. This fleet management software made possible the implementation of an “on-request” app in July and August. Passengers were indeed able to call a shuttle with their smartphone and define their own destination.

Several French-speaking Swiss cities have shown interest in the Lausanne demonstration and the fleet management system. A new demonstration in a city-centre of a Swiss city could start before the end of the year and, in December, they will also begin rolling out in Singapore.