Highly automated shuttles have been making their rounds between the bus station and the old town in Monheim am Rhein since the beginning of 2020. After almost two months of testing, Frank Niggemeier-Oliva, managing director of the Bahnen der Stadt Monheim (BSM), identified “the whole subject of software” as a “real challenge”. At the remote Chaos Communication Congress (rC3), he explained that an IT expert from the manufacturing company would have to come along with a “laptop with LAN cable” just for an update. While the mechanics of buses can be tested well, not everything is “100 percent traceable” in an operating program.
No new software version can be imported “over the air” from a distance, explained BSM project manager Axel Bergweiler during a “jaunt” with one of the small electric buses and a hacker from the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) on board. With this special form of maintenance, it takes several hours per vehicle to “properly configure” everything. Further adjustments are then required on the route after the approval by TÜV Rheinland. With the latest update, the EZ-10 shuttles from the French manufacturer EasyMile could get past nearby obstacles better. But other things “don’t work as they did before”.
limitations
On the international scale of autonomous driving, the “Altstadtstromer” range between level 2 and 3. An operator is still on board, the mini-buses are not allowed to take more than 12 people and not to travel faster than 16 km / h. 45 km / h would be technically possible, but this does not work with the current sensors in narrow streets: “The remaining braking distance determines how much space the vehicle allows around it,” explains Bergweiler. Even at 25 km / h, any oncoming traffic would lead to an emergency stop.
The shuttles are not yet particularly smart. You only ever drive in a predefined environment. The law on autonomous driving in local public transport passed by the Bundestag in May does not provide any more. An engineer would drive the entire route in advance, scan the area and read the routes with GPS, reported Bergweiler. This forms the basis on which the vehicle can operate. In the future, the bus should be able to bypass smaller obstacles such as a day-long construction site, added Niggemeier-Oliva. Instead of a fixed route, it is then necessary to define an area “in which he is allowed to move”.
“Better to have one emergency stop too many” than one too little is Bergweiler’s motto for driving operations: “We have to put safety first.” 99.9 percent was not enough here. The shuttles are therefore encouraged to drive defensively: “They really don’t run over anyone.” Accidents have already occurred when driving 65,000 kilometers a year, “but not self-inflicted” and so far no personal injury. If there is a crash, one of the four lidar sensors can easily break as they stick out at the corners. The opposing insurance companies are “not so happy about it” because the measuring devices are relatively expensive.
If something goes wrong, the operator, as the driver, is responsible, explains the project manager. He may have to press the stop button. If there is no longer an accompanying person in the future, the manufacturer’s product and operating liability apply. Operation would not be possible without it, as the shuttles are dependent on its cloud solutions.
Remote control
“We can only do certain things from the control center,” emphasized Bergweiler. It is possible, for example, to specify a different sequence of stops, turn on the windshield wiper, stop the vehicle from driving or extend a stop. In the short term, for example, it can also be arranged that today it should turn right because of a construction site or a burst water pipe. But steering from a distance is not possible. An additional stop, for example, has to be preset, and driving around a long-term obstacle has to be measured separately.
As far as he knows, none of the buses has broken out, said Bergweiler. The colleagues are trained to press the stop button before getting out. None of the five vehicles bought has yet been stolen. Thieves would probably not get far either, as operators could only drive 5 km / h in manual mode. In general, drivers sometimes complained about the manageable pace of movement, while restaurateurs in particular appreciated the attraction.
The batteries have a capacity of around 31 kWh, which is normally enough for 15 hours of operation. If the heating or air conditioning is on, that is reduced by half, the project manager indicated. It takes about six hours to fully charge it in the depot. E-mobility is “no longer a challenging variable,” emphasized Niggemeier-Oliva. The routes are calculated so that the shuttles can be charged in between. There are few areas where hackers can attack: “All critical vehicle components are not in the network.” The computing power on board is limited in order to keep power consumption low.
The line concession for the buses, whose operation is currently in the seven-digit range after the state start-up financing, runs until 2026. There is now a newer, third generation. The managing director expects to probably have one of these in use next year. Bergweiler can imagine that a discarded vehicle could then decorate a roundabout in the middle. The city on the Rhine has a corresponding program for “art in public space”.
(Image: jamesteohart / Shutterstock.com)
Autonomous driving, the effects on the transport of people with robotic taxis, people movers, autonomous buses and the necessary techniques and regulations deal with us in a ten-part series.
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