Perrone Robotics, a provider of AV technology and turnkey solutions, has completed a series of demonstrations of its autonomous shuttles on public roads in Westminster, Maryland, USA. The tests were conducted as part of an event hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC) Autonomous Corridor Project.
Following a previous successful test in Maryland, Perrone conducted the continuous public road tests in Westminster using a GreenPower AV Star zero-emission transit shuttle and a low-speed vehicle (LSV) neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV), both of which feature Perrone autonomous systems.
The operational design domain (ODD) route was developed with the cooperation and approval of the Maryland Department of Transportation, the City of Westminster Police Department, county government officials and public stakeholders. The route required the AV shuttle to navigate through neighborhoods, undertaking left and right turns, a four-way stop and a route through a historic part of the city.
“Perrone was able to deploy its AVs over a two-day period across Westminster in an impressive proof-of-concept demonstration,” commented Graham Dodge, executive director at MAGIC. “The vehicles performed flawlessly on our public roads and represent a promising milestone for autonomous transportation.”
Alongside the Maryland tests, Perrone Robotics carried out demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, which involved multiple roundabouts, a post office stop, and intersections and county roads all being navigated successfully.
Perrone’s autonomous system is said to provide a scalable solution built around a patented full-stack platform named MAX, the TONY (TO Navigate You), a retrofit kit and Safety Watchdog, Perrone’s own safety certifiable framework. The AV retrofit kit can be integrated into a wide array of vehicles that carry out several different jobs, such as the autonomous transport of people or goods. Perrone aims to help customers accelerate the global deployment of autonomous vehicle fleet solutions across the gas-powered, diesel and electric passenger and cargo shuttle sectors.
Perrone says it has over 30 vehicle types fitted with its software, with 40,000 autonomous miles driven and additional patents and AV applications underway. Alongside this, the company is developing additional AV transit, cargo and delivery shuttles estimated to be ready for use in public fleets by late summer 2021.
“We have been operating in a driverless fashion with our autonomy since 2005, including the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge,” explained Paul Perrone, founder and CEO of Perrone Robotics. “It’s great to see our pioneering research take hold as a reliable commercial solution that’s deployable now.”
