South Korea's capital launched its first self-driving bus route on Friday, part of an experiment that engineers said aims to make people feel more comfortable with driverless vehicles on the roads.

The new vehicle does not look like a regular bus and has rounded edges as well as large windows that make it appear more like a toy than a technological breakthrough.

This design is intentional, said Jeong Seong-gyun, head of autonomous driving at 42 Dot, the start-up responsible for the self-driving technology that is now owned by auto giant Hyundai.

"This is the future," he told AFP, adding that the bus required "a considerable new type of design".

The bus looks a bit "like Lego" and is made of composite parts to help keep costs down and make it easy to replicate, he said.

It uses cameras and radar to navigate the way instead of expensive sensors, Seong-gyun added.

The company's goal was to make the technology low-cost, safe and easily transferable to many types of vehicles in the future, for example, delivery trucks.

For now -- with a safety driver monitoring closely -- the bus will drive itself around a small 3.4-kilometre (2.1-mile) circuit in downtown Seoul that takes around 20 minutes.

The public can board at two designated stops after booking a free seat through an app.

"I feel like I've just hopped into a time machine to visit the future," said Kim Yi hae-ran, 68, after her 20-minute ride during the launch of the bus Friday.

"I thought it might make me dizzy from a sudden acceleration but I didn't feel any of it."

The ride felt "very smooth and safe", which she said made her feel proud of the technological progress the South Korean company has made.

kjk/ceb/cwl

HYUNDAI MOTOR

Related Links
Car Technology at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

A greener ride: West Africans switch on to electric motorbikes
Cotonou (AFP) Nov 23, 2022
Beninese hairdresser Edwige Govi makes a point these days of using electric motorbike taxis to get around Cotonou, saying she enjoys a ride that is quiet and clean. Motorcycle taxis are a popular and cheap form of transportation in West Africa. But in Benin and Togo, electric models are gaining the ascendancy over petrol-powered rivals. Customers are plumping for environmentally-friendlier travel and taxi drivers are switching to machines that, above all, are less expensive to buy and opera ... read more