When will autonomous public transport appear in Russia?

In 2022, the first unmanned aerial vehicles will appear in Moscowtrains "Lastochka", which will move along the Moscow Central Ring. This railway line stretches for 54 kilometers and consists of 31 stations, and the interval between trains during peak hours is 4 minutes. Due to automatic traffic, passengers are expected to have to wait for their train no more than 3 minutes, which means that people can quicklyget to the desired point in Moscow. To control such a train, the help of the drivers will not be required, but they will not be fired - there should still be people in the cab who can take control in case of danger. Let's see what other features the new Lastochkas will have and what other autonomous vehicles will appear in Russia in the coming years? At the same time, we will find out if there is autonomous public transport in other cities of the world.

Sber has developed its own autonomous taxi, but when will it be launched?

Unmanned train "Lastochka"

According to the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, at firstFrom time to time, unmanned Lastochkas will operate in test mode. If no problems are found in their work, the new trains will be certified by the end of 2022. But it may take several years to launch a full-fledged unmanned movement, because unmanned trains will not be able to work together with manually operated trains - you need to get as many autonomous cars as possible. Machinists will not be fired, because they are planned to be retrained for a profession driver-operator of unmanned trains.

Unmanned "Swallow"

According to RBC, for the first time an unmanned train"Swallow" was demonstrated in August 2020. It was shown on the test ring in Shcherbinka near Moscow. Even then, engineers were able to prove that the rolling stock can independently interact with the railway. To do this, he uses built-in cameras with machine vision and a remote control system. During the test run, a dummy was laid out on the track and the train noticed it in time and stopped. Like the rest of the Lastochka, the unmanned version is built on the platform of the German trains Siemens Desiro.

Report on the unmanned "Swallow"

Self-driving taxi from Yandex and Sberbank

It turns out that at first the unmanned publictransport in Russia will be represented by unmanned trains. But unmanned taxis and buses are likely to appear in Moscow only by 2040. This was reported in September 2020 by representatives of the Metropolitan Department of Transport, who believe that such vehicles can unload roads and make roads safer. It is worth noting that Yandex unmanned vehicles are already being tested at special training grounds - at least in 2019, such tests were definitely carried out. Also, unmanned vehicles were tested in Kazan and other cities, but officially it will appear clearly only after Moscow.

Unmanned vehicle "Yandex"

Even Sberbank is developing unmanned vehicles. Recently, his division SberAutoTech presented a prototype autonomous taxi FLIPthat runs on electric power.There is no exact timeline, but someday passengers will be able to order an unmanned taxi and go to the desired point in the company of up to 6 people. In terms of size, FLIP is almost the same as a regular passenger car, but due to the lack of a driver's seat and an internal combustion engine, there is 40% more free space in the cabin. To ensure safety, the cameras will remember the faces of passengers, and the Salyut voice assistant will answer questions of interest. In addition to performing the function of a taxi, the car will be able to transport goods.

This is how Flips will work

The most interesting thing is that the FLIP car will notneed a long recharge at the station. Places will be installed in cities where dead batteries will simply be replaced with charged ones, after which the car will be able to quickly continue transporting passengers. Needless to say, the car is able to recognize passengers and communicate with other Flips to avoid traffic jams. It sounds very cool, but the working Sber car has not yet been shown to the public. It remains to be hoped that this is not just noise from scratch.

FLIP car interior

Unmanned public transport in the world

Most of all in the introduction of autonomousSingapore is interested in public transport. There is no need for long-distance travel in this city-state, so the authorities want people to stop owning their own cars. Singapore wants to reach the point where by 2040 it will take no more than 45 minutes. Bus drivers are already giventhe opportunity to master the skills of controlling the safety of unmanned vehicles. The international company KPMG has put Singapore in first place in terms of readiness for unmanned vehicles, so it will obviously appear there earlier than in Moscow and even more so in other cities of Russia.

Self-driving bus on the streets of Singapore

But in Norway, unmanned vehicles are alreadyused. Already, several unmanned buses are operating in test mode in the city of Oslo. They move at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, but in the future they are planned to be accelerated. Also, autonomous snow plows can be used at Oslo Airport, which remove ice from the runways every day. And even that is all: in the north of the country there are mining enterprises in which unmanned trucks cover a 5-kilometer path and deliver heavy loads from mines to railway stations.

Unmanned snow blower in Norway

Don't forget about California, where many peopleown Tesla cars with autopilot. In 2020, Elon Musk wanted to realize his idea of ​​a self-driving taxi, which would allow people to simply order a car and indicate the place where they need to be delivered. Only at the moment, Tesla's autopilot system is heavily criticized and it is very difficult to launch such a service. The problem was exacerbated by the case when two men crashed their Tesla, and the autopilot was apparently to blame for this accident.

Waymo also develops its taxi service.

Do you know, What does it look like to ride inside a Waymo autonomous taxi? Read here.

As a result, it turns out that the first thing we need tosee unmanned trains, and only then - taxis, buses and other public transport. The fact is that it is much easier to make a train move independently on rails than a car on public roads. In addition to developing a reliable autopilot, auxiliary markings, road signs visible from afar, and so on will have to be applied to the roads.

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Surely you have your own thoughts aboutunmanned vehicles in Russia. Do you think Sber will be able to create a working FLIP, and will the companies have time to launch an unmanned taxi by 2040? Write in the comments.