Tech
Deliveries May Soon Come from Driverless Carts
Published
1 year agoon
The City of Peachtree Corners, one of the nation’s first smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G, recently announced that Clevon, a global autonomous delivery leader, is joining the city’s Curiosity Lab ecosystem.
Clevon develops and manufactures autonomous robot carriers that make last-mile delivery more innovative, environmentally friendly and efficient. The company’s autonomous robot carriers (ARCs), powered by T-Mobile connectivity, are designed to collect orders at warehouses, retail stores, dark stores and micro fulfillment centers. They then deliver those goods to people and businesses around the city, according to a press release.
“It was only fitting to bring our second major operation here in the United States to one of the most advanced smart city environments in the world at Peachtree Corners,” said Sander Sebastian Agur, Clevon’s chief executive officer in a press release.
“A future-forward environment like this — complete with city-owned smart infrastructure, T-Mobile’s best-in-class network and opportunities to interact with connected vehicles and people and businesses — is invaluable to our continued efforts to optimize autonomous robot carrier operation, including how they will navigate through real-world situations,” Agur continued.
City officials agreed that Clevon’s partnership with Peachtree Corners is another fitting example of how Curiosity Lab is fulfilling its goal of growing technology, modernization and sustainability without costing local taxpayers anything.
Big step in delivery robot technology
Peachtree Corners Assistant City Manager Brandon Branham, who’s also chief technology officer, said that most people only know about the small delivery robots that are currently on the market. They drive on the sidewalk and only go about three or four miles an hour.
“This is a big change from that. It’s about the size of a golf cart. It is large and goes about 20 miles an hour. Its delivery range is further extended versus the traditional sidewalk robot,” he explained.
Clevon’s ARCs operate on U.S. public roadways and are purpose-built for delivering multiple shipments during a single trip, according to the company.
Although Peachtree Corners residents have seen many interesting inventions in recent years, this will be among that ones that aren’t just in the infrastructure or in the background. They will be interacting with the technology firsthand.
“What they’re testing here is integration into the network because they just made a partnership with T Mobile — how does the delivery service start to integrate with the network, the different areas of the network?” said Branham.
“Obviously, the Curiosity Labs environment can bring a lot for testing on the network because of the trees and the curves and the hills,” he added. “That’s why they brought it here to test versus some of the other T Mobile headquarters.”
The goal is to first do that testing and then to start to integrate the actual delivery side of it. “We’ll work with a couple of the local restaurants who will use the system to deliver food for event meetings and such,” said Branham.
How it works
The autonomous vehicle is loaded with the delivery at site. It can carry up to six individual deliveries inside its box. When it reaches the destination, the recipient enters a code and retrieves the package, similar to a post office box or Amazon locker.
Although the concept appears perfect for large operations, it’s scalable to small businesses as well. Clevon’s fully electric ARCs have customizable configurations to fulfill a multitude of business needs and offer an efficient and timely customer delivery experience.
The robots can reduce failed deliveries, carbon emissions, cost of delivery per customer and stolen packages. Clevon brings a secure, on-demand and extremely energy-efficient delivery service that has proven itself in all-weather conditions on multiple continents.
There’s currently one prototype in town, but Clevon has other locations with entire fleets. It may just be a matter of time before package delivery has a different face.
Clevon’s U.S. headquarters is set in Fort Worth, Tex., and it operates in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region. Learn more at clevon.com, or through the company’s social media pages on Flickr, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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Arlinda Smith Broady is part of the Boomerang Generation of Blacks that moved back to the South after their ancestors moved North. With approximately three decades of journalism experience (she doesn't look it), she's worked in tiny, minority-based newsrooms to major metropolitans. At every endeavor she brings professionalism, passion, pluck, and the desire to spread the news to the people.
Tech
May Mobility Offers Autonomous Driverless Rides in Peachtree Corners
Published
3 weeks agoon
February 17, 2025Peachtree Corners marks May Mobility’s third driverless operation in the US and first commercial driver-out deployment
May Mobility, a leading autonomous vehicle (AV) technology company, recently announced the launch of its first commercial driver-out autonomous transportation service in the City of Peachtree Corners.
The company has transitioned its Peachtree Corners service to driverless operations, marking May Mobility’s third driverless deployment in the United States, following successful demonstration deployments in Sun City, Arizona and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In partnership with Curiosity Lab, T-Mobile and the City of Peachtree Corners, May Mobility has been offering public rides in its autonomous Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS (mobility-as-a-service) to visitors of Peachtree Corner’s Curiosity Lab — one of the country’s first smart city environments powered by real-world connected infrastructure and T-Mobile’s 5G — since September 2024 with safety drivers in place.
Now passengers will be able to ride the service without anyone behind the wheel. The service zone includes eight pre-determined stops along Technology Parkway at popular destinations such as hotels, restaurants, retail shops, office spaces, the Innovation Center at Curiosity Lab and Peachtree Corners City Hall.
“Peachtree Corners will be our third driverless operation, and we are excited to debut our first publicly available driverless service in the City of Peachtree Corners,” said Edwin Olson, CEO and founder of May Mobility. “This launch reinforces the importance of working with cities and communities everywhere to solve real transportation challenges.”
About the vehicles
May Mobility’s vehicles are equipped with its patented Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) technology that leverages in-situ AI reasoning models to continuously learn and adapt to new, complex and even unpredictable driving conditions to create a safer, more comfortable ride.
In doing so, MPDM solves the industry’s biggest challenge — adapting to unexpected, dynamic conditions or “edge cases,” and allows the company to scale quickly and efficiently to new environments.
“Curiosity Lab’s real-world, smart city ecosystem has provided May Mobility with a unique environment to both continue to develop and improve their operations over the past six months, which has only further prepared the May Mobility team for its third driver-out operation and first commercial operation in the U.S.,” said Brian Johnson, Peachtree Corners city manager.
“T-Mobile’s 5G is a key staple of our ecosystem and the driver-out transition, as it provides May Mobility with low latency, high bandwidth connectivity for a smoother rider experience and enhanced safety operations.”
“This will continue to be important as we work toward expanding the route towards Town Center to provide additional means of transportation for city residents and visitors,” he continued. “It is incredible to see how the May Mobility team has been able to achieve driver-out operations within six months of the initial launch in our city, and we look forward to having our residents and visitors experience it for themselves.”
The details
May Mobility’s driverless operations in Peachtree Corners are open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., with each vehicle accommodating up to five passengers at a time.
Riders will be able to easily book trips to any of the service’s eight stops on-demand through the May Mobility app, powered by transit tech company Via, available in the App Store and Google Play. The app guides users on how to book a ride and access the vehicle, answers questions and more.
May Mobility is working with the City of Peachtree Corners on future expansions and has plans to launch autonomous vehicles in other parts of metro Atlanta in partnership with Lyft later this year.
Additional driverless operations in the U.S. will be announced throughout 2025.
May Mobility extended its leading portfolio of AV use cases with its recent announcement at CES 2025 of a partnership with Tecnobus, an established European electric minibus manufacturer, to introduce a new AV minibus platform able to seat up to 30 passengers, including wheelchair accessibility.
For more information about May Mobility, visit maymobility.com.
For more about the City of Peachtree Corners and Curiosity Lab, visit cityofpeachtreecornersga.gov and curiositylabptc.com.
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City of Peachtree Corners
Peachtree Corners and ConnVAS Collaborate on Intelligent Crosswalk Technology
Published
4 weeks agoon
February 11, 2025Live pilot in Georgia smart city showcases groundbreaking advancements in pedestrian safety and roadway technology
Peachtree Corners — one of the nation’s first smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G — has announced a collaboration for a pilot project with ConnVAS, an innovator in advanced traffic and pedestrian safety solutions.
The pilot launched outside of Pinckneyville Middle School, addresses the safety challenges of busy crosswalks by testing how real-time, AI-driven detection can reduce accidents and create a safer environment for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers by activating alerts, even when pedestrians do not activate crosswalk signals.
An AI-driven computing system
The pilot utilizes ConnVAS’s MAGIC (Multi-Access Generic Infrastructure Controller), AI-driven edge computing system, which incorporates cameras mounted on RRFB poles (Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon) to monitor pedestrian and vehicle movement, V2X transceivers for real-time vehicle-to-infrastructure communication and an integrated audio-visual alert system.
When the system detects a pedestrian or cyclist using the crosswalk, crossing outside of the crosswalk lines or a vehicle approaching the crosswalk, each of its technologies work together in real time to immediately activate alerts to both the users of the crosswalk and incoming drivers — even if the pedestrians did not press the crosswalk buttons.
The system also continually collects anonymous data such as felonies, near-misses and pedestrian and vehicle counts for ongoing analysis of crosswalk usage and traffic.
“Peachtree Corners is dedicated to implementing technology solutions that address real-world safety challenges for our residents,” said Brandon Branham, executive director of Curiosity Lab.
“The ConnVAS system provides an innovative solution to common safety hazards such as pedestrians crossing outside of designated areas, failure to press crosswalk buttons and drivers failing to detect pedestrians or cyclists in time,” he continued.
“By integrating advanced AI detection and real-time alerts, this ConnVAS pilot enhances safety in an area where our residents need it the most today, while also generating actionable insights that can guide our development of smarter, more responsive infrastructure in the future. We are excited to be continuing the pilot program to continue to gain insights in how we can improve our city for our residents.”
Collecting data and observing patterns
Preliminary results from the pilot program that were extracted from a midweek 72-hour period, show distinct patterns that can better help city managers ensure roadways are safe and efficient for VRUs (vulnerable road users) and drivers.
At the pilot location, ConnVAS reported over 220 pedestrian crossings for more than 70 crossing events, with only three false alarms. The system consistently and successfully activated flashing beacons and audio alerts in real time, ensuring those crossing the road and oncoming drivers were promptly warned.
Additionally, traffic data collected by the system is being used to evaluate the technology’s impact and will aid city officials in making informed decisions about improving road safety and urban planning in specific locations.
“The pilot we are conducting in Peachtree Corners has been instrumental in refining our technology and demonstrating its impact in a real-world environment,” said Danny Frydman, founder and CEO of ConnVAS. “Through continuous testing and data analysis, we’ve been able to improve the accuracy of our system’s AI detection, ensuring faster and more reliable activation of alerts. This has directly enhanced the safety of the area by addressing critical challenges, including missed warnings for pedestrians and cyclists or delayed driver awareness.”
“The insights gained from this pilot are helping us evolve the software to adapt to complex traffic scenarios and create safer, smarter intersections everywhere,” Frydman added. “We hope to scale this solution throughout the city as the pilot and technology continues to develop.”
Evaluating features
The ConnVAS pilot in Peachtree Corners is continuing to evaluate various features, including autonomous operation features that eliminate the need for manual button presses and reduce false alarms, cyclist-friendly designs and V2X connectivity to communicate with connected vehicles to alert drivers of crosswalk activity.
Additional capabilities such as dynamic illumination based on pedestrian location are also being explored to further enhance VRU safety.
About ConnVAS
ConnVAS is an innovator in advanced traffic and pedestrian safety solutions. At the core of ConnVAS solutions is the ConnVAS MAGIC — an AI-driven edge computing traffic detector. The MAGIC stands at the heart of ConnVAS enhanced RRFB, intelligent signalized intersection and traffic analytics solutions.
Providing edge computing solutions that include AI detection, V2X communication and diverse interfaces, ConnVAS enhances the safety and efficiency of the transportation environment.
For more information, visit connvas.com.
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Smart City and Innovations
Opsys Collaborates with Curiosity Lab and City of Peachtree Corners to Launch Solid-State LiDAR Technology
Published
4 months agoon
November 11, 2024Curiosity Lab and Opsys showcased the technology live at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona
The City of Peachtree Corners — one of the nation’s first smart cities powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G — recently collaborated with Opsys, developer of the world’s most advanced pure solid-state scanning LiDAR sensor, to launch and deploy the company’s Advanced LiDAR Technology Opsys Sensors (ALTOS) Gen 2 LiDAR at Curiosity Lab.
This marks Opsys’ first real-world deployment of the ALTOS, the company’s first deployment with a municipality and the company’s first deployment in the United States.
The ALTOS Gen 2
As a pure solid-state LiDAR, the ALTOS Gen 2 has no moving parts, enabling best-in-class performance with high resolution and extreme reliability with a 4D point cloud from the device’s specific field of view.
The pure-solid state characteristics make the unit more robust, avoiding mechanical failures associated with moving components and allowing the unit to have 24/7 operation and pass a 50g shock and full vibration test. The ALTOS Gen 2 brings a simple, customizable design to market that can be used for different applications and unique shapes with a low-power consumption, without sacrificing performance.
“The ALTOS Gen 2 represents the future of smart city technology,” said Rafi Harel, chief executive officer of Opsys. “This collaboration with Peachtree Corners and Curiosity Lab gives us the unique opportunity to showcase the reliability and efficiency of our pure solid-state LiDAR technology in a real-world environment, which will soon improve safety and traffic management for cities across the globe.”
“As our first real-world deployment and first U.S. deployment, we are looking forward to working with Peachtree Corners as our test and demo site to then launch into the U.S. market,” he continued.
Flexible design and cutting-edge technology
Opsys’ new technology boasts a higher partial differential equation (PDE) and a larger array than other models, which gives the unit improved detection range and a higher resolution of objects. The improved optics reduce unwanted light, while improving uniformity and enhancing illumination. In addition, the unit’s optimized ASIC/processor allows for advanced processing of data, as well as lower power dissipation and cost.
“Opsys’ technology was extremely easy to calibrate and deploy in our city,” said Brandon Branham, executive director of Curiosity Lab. “The simple, yet flexible design made it easy for set up, without the need of special custom cables or proprietary connectors. The device behaves like a normal network device which also made it easy for us to integrate into our single-pane-of-glass, smart city management systems.”
“By adding this cutting-edge technology into our infrastructure, we’re able to enhance safety and operational efficiency for our community while showcasing scalable solutions that other cities and industries can easily adopt,” Branham added.
Location and Details
The ALTOS Gen 2 LiDAR units are deployed in the City of Peachtree Corners at the intersection of SR 141 and Town Center Boulevard. Here, the ALTOS Gen 2 units provide precise, real-time data on traffic flow and pedestrian movements, offering significant enhancements to urban safety and traffic management.
Its ability to operate continuously while supporting PoE (power over ethernet) and auxiliary power make it adaptable for different municipal implementations and ideal for use across various industries including intelligent traffic systems (ITS), smart factories, robotics and public safety applications such as perimeter security and healthcare.
Smart City Expo World Congress, Barcelona
Opsys debuted the technology at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona November 5-7 in the Curiosity Lab booth. This included a demo with live LiDAR feed from the Peachtree Corners intersection. Representatives of Curiosity Lab and Opsys were also available for interviews at Booth D40 Hall 3 in the USA Pavilion.
For more information about Opsys, visit opsys-tech.com.
For more about the City of Peachtree Corners, visit peachtreecornersga.gov.
To learn more about Curiosity Lab, visit curiositylabptc.com.
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