These driverless automated vehicles may soon be delivering your pizza or online goods.
It may not be too long before a driver-less automated vehicle pulls up to your home delivering your pizza or Chinese food.
Fully-automated battery-operated three-wheeled delivery vehicles will soon begin testing on our busy, congested Toronto roads.
About 20 of the driverless vehicles, which are built by Magna International Inc., will ultimately be tested on Toronto roadway and byways.
The devices can travel up to 32 kilometres an hour and provides services of last-mile delivery of food and other small consumer goods.
The vehicles are made by Magna International and approved for street testing by the Ontario government.
The Magna Last Mile Delivery Device (LMDD) is the size of a large cargo bike and is the height of a typical sedan. It can operate autonomously using the company’s cutting-edge technology.
The device has space to carry small packages stored in separate locked compartments secured by a multi-digit code known only to the receiving customer. It has a flashing light and is not built to carry people.
“When making a delivery, the LMDD parks in an available curbside space and customers must walk to the vehicle to retrieve their deliveries,” according to a report presented to City Council, which will be presented with information on June 25.
The testing program was approved by the Ontario government and not by City staff.
The driverless vehicles may soon be delivering our food and online deliveries following tests results.
Councillors were told the vehicle while being tested will be followed by a chase vehicle to supervise the automated delivery. The two people in the vehicle can stop, steer or regulate the LMDD at any time for the safety of others.
“This modest pilot with low-speed vehicles is an important opportunity to increase our knowledge on the state of the technology,” City officials said. They will be the riding along with Magna and provincial officials to monitor the system.
The report said automated vehicle deployments for ridesharing, taxi services, deliveries, and long-haul trucking have steadily increased, predominantly in the U.S.
“This Magna pilot represents an opportunity for the Province, the operator and the City to gain insights into automated vehicle technology and operations within Toronto’s unique urban environment,” it said.
The automated vehicle operates by using a combination of 360 degree cameras, aided by a LiDar system, which works by emitting radio waves that bounce back allowing the shape of an object and its distance away.
The devices will take to the streets sometime this month in High Park and other areas of Toronto. The LMDD are to follow the same rules of the road as normal vehicles.
The LMDD is being tested in Toronto as part of a pilot project to explore the feasibility of autonomous deliveries in urban areas.