Polaris and Optimus Ride are co-developing ‘fully autonomous’ low-speed shuttles

Autonomous shuttle startup Optimus Ride and power sports vehicle manufacturer Polaris are teaming up to co-develop a new lineup of vehicles that will be low-speed, electric and self-driving.

These low-speed vehicles (LSVs) will be equipped with Optimus Ride’s full stack of sensors and software to enable “fully autonomous” driving without a safety driver behind the wheel – although the vehicles are powered by a team of engineers Will be remotely monitored, suggesting the vehicle when things go wrong.

Vehicles, which can seat six, are positioned as a last-mile transportation service to residential communities, corporate and educational campuses, and other “local environments”, a fixed-route shuttle and a more dynamic, point-to-point Will be done. Point Ride-Healing Service.

The LSV will be manufactured under the brand name GEM, which stands for Global Electric Motorcar. Minnesota-based Polaris owns GEM, which acquired it in 2011, and is also an investor in Optimus Ride. The startup, which was originally based out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently uses the GEM shuttle to test its autonomous technology Brooklyn, Boston, California, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia.

Sean Harrington, CEO of Optimus Ride, said vehicles would be built in the first half of 2023 without conventional controls such as steering wheels and paddles, although there is still a way to move vehicles manually. “All six seats will be available for us passengers,” Harrington explained. The Reporter Door, “Which means you currently have a driver’s seat, will be another passenger seat.”

Harrington said the decision to co-develop the vehicles with Polaris was about creating a better autonomous vehicle as well as increasing production to a level where startups could start deploying potentially thousands of vehicles.

He said, “By custom-designing you have a lot more flexibility built above the ground with the safety and performance of that vehicle.

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Reporter Door

In recent years, a dozen or so low-speed autonomous shuttle services have spread across the country. Experts see them as a good entry point for consumers in AV technology, while regulators and city officials prefer to keep vehicles in smaller, less populated areas. Optimus Ride claims that it has completed “over 75,000 rides” in the last two years.

Optimus Ride is not the only company gaining positions in low-speed autonomous shuttle space. Other companies, such as May Mobility, Voyage (now owned by Cruise), and Local Motors, have started small pilot projects in cities over the years – though they are yet to scale to fully operational commercial service.

Other AV operators, such as Waymo, Zox and Cruise, are also interested in starting fully autonomous ride-haul operations. Harrington says Optimus Ride may still be competitive with those companies, despite operating only vehicles with top speeds of up to 25 mph.

“To be clear, this is not some type of virtual rail AV system where you get an environment and if there is an obstacle, if there is something in your path, that vehicle can’t move,” he said. “This is a vehicle that is in a quite complex environment.” These limitations, Herrington said, “position Optimus Ride to provide an autonomous transportation service today, as opposed to many, many years.”

Such a small scale business can be extremely difficult to get right. Drive.ai almost went out of business before it was purchased by Apple. And Navi is a major autonomous shuttle manufacturer based in France. Stay away from shuttle business In favor of licensing its software to third party customers.

Polaris produces a variety of off-road vehicles, including the popular RZR lineup as well as three-wheel vehicles such as the Slingshot. It also owns the Indian motorcycle, which it acquired in 2011. The company recently announced a partnership with Zero Motorcycle to co-develop electric vehicles including ATVs and snowmobiles.

“I think it’s a smart place for all of us,” said Keith Simon, vice president and general manager of Polaris Commercial. “