Love autonomous vehicles? Have penchant for buses and public transport? Well, you're in luck because American can manufacturer Local Motors has teamed up with computing giant IBM to create the Olli, a fleet of driverless buses that will be operating in the Washington DC area.
The fleet, which has used IBM's machine learning and natural language processing platform Watson as part of its AI, is all about removing many of the frustrating issues that surround using public transport. For a start, the Olli doesn't need you to wait at a predetermined bus stop to catch one - much like a taxi service, you simply have to activate the bespoke Olli app and the autonomous bus will come to you.
The use of Watson will enable users to ask the Olli questions while they're moving and get answers on their progress in real time - and thankfully this robotic driver won't get distracted if they're talking to you and driving. The mini bus, which is also partially 3D-printed, is also electric so it's clean for the environment, reduces emissions and doesn't add to local noise pollution.
The Olli will be trialled by Local Motors and IBM in the US capital, but the firms plan to launch fleets in both Miami and Los Angeles by the end of the year. Local Motors is even in negotiations with cities outside the US to bring the technology to other locales including Berlin and Copenhagen.
Via: Local Motors
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