Smart Companies: The Next Generation

Robotics Research

Automated Rapid Transit

A growing list of IoT innovations have been developed and deployed by companies which are using IoT to solve real-world problems in transport. Robotics Research’s AutoDrive advanced driver assistant system (ADAS) is one of these potentially revolutionary approaches to IoT. It is ‘platform agnostic’ – meaning that it can be used to retrofit vehicles of all sizes, from small, portable robots to large trucks and buses. The system provides vehicles with autonomous driving functionality on surfaces ranging from urban-improved roads to off-road terrain, while also collecting and analysing data to enhance the driving experience.

Electric Commute: Flyer Xcelsior Charge heavy-duty transit buses are operating on the CTfastrak corridor, a dedicated nine-mile (14.5 km) stretch for ex-clusive use by CTtransit buses.

Robotic Research has deployed Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level-Four automation where self-driving is supported only in limited spatial areas (geofenced) or under special circumstances. Outside of these situations, the vehicle will safely abort the trip by slowing down and parking the vehicle if the driver does not retake control. The AutoDrive technology is currently operating in 30 states in the US and on four continents.

Recently, the company has helped the Connecticut Department of Transportation to make advancements in automated public transit thanks to a new programme funded by the US Department of Transportation. Through the department’s Integrated Mobility Innovation (IMI) initiative, Robotic Research’s proprietary AutoDrive system is enabling the automation of heavy-duty transit buses for passenger service deployment. This will be a first for mass transportation systems in North America.

Three automated New Flyer Xcelsior Charge heavy-duty transit buses are operating on the CTfastrak corridor, a dedicated nine-mile (14.5 km) stretch for exclusive use by CTtransit buses. The 40-foot, electric buses will offer a zero-emission operation running between New Britain and downtown Hartford, the capital of Connecticut.

As the first automated Bus Rapid Transit line put into public service in North America, the CT-transit initiative also marks the first application of automated precision docking to optimise platform gaps. This, and other automated technology to improve access, ensures boarding is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) which prohibits discrimination based on disability, while in-creasing accessibility for all passengers.

Space&Matter

Launching A Floating Neighbourhood

Climate change may force some city dwellers to take to the water. At least, that is the thinking at architects Space&Matter, founded in 2009 by Sascha Glasl, Tjeerd Haccou and Marthijn Pool. United by the desire to improve the world for their children and all future generations, their journey began with Water voor Wonen (Water for Living), a floating neighbourhood in the low-lying Dutch polder region.

“Since urban areas struggle with high density, we should make better use of the space on the water,” says Haccou. Co-founder Glasl adds, “We want to set the example and show how living on water can be a great and better alternative for people and our planet.”

Their signature project, which began almost a decade ago but Space&Matter Launching A Floating Neighbourhood was only completed in the summer of 2021, is called Schoonschip – literally ‘clean ship’ in Dutch. Space&Matter says it was originally a “circular neighbourhood which was initiated and developed by a group of enthusiasts with a shared dream: to build a sustainable, close-knit community on the water”. The group approached the architecture firm to help design the urban plan, plotting the board-walks and smart jetty that unite the inspired community. The project houses more than 100 people in 46 sustainable homes across 30 water plots. The area was designed to be mainly self-sufficient, with a minimal impact on nature while adapting to the rising water.

Schoonschip also uses clean energy sources, using solar panels and heat pumps to provide heating, and the architects plan to convert wastewater from toilets and showers into energy. All buildings also have a green roof – part vegetation and geared to rainwater collection.

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a collaboration between the mayors of 97 cities world-wide, agree that climate change may force many to choose to live on the water. It estimates that some 800 million people and 570 cities could be at risk by 2050 if sea levels rise by half a metre, as forecasted by some experts. C40 Cities – which represents a twelfth of the global population and a quarter of its economy – believes that the floating neighbourhood in Amsterdam, Netherlands, shows one way to cope. “Living on the water offers a great solution for places where climate change and a rise in sea levels are a looming hazard,” says Glasl. “It not only protects people against nature, it also protects nature itself.”

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