please empty your brain below
How long did it run on a charge and/or was it programmed to stop at a charging station when necessary?

Nick | 06.09.19 - 7:47 a.m. | #

And I thought I was indulging in autonomous travel when I put one foot in front of the other!

Sarah | Homepage | 06.09.19 - 7:57 a.m. | #

Ah, the pleasures of privately-owned public space.

I see the e-scooter bubble hasn't burst yet. Were there many leftover scooters strewn about blocking footpaths and the like? I think I see one in the top image that could pose a hazard to pedestrians, wheelchairs, or indeed, autonomous vehicles.

TheLupineOne | 06.09.19 - 8:46 a.m. | #

So what particular problem or set of problems is resolved by the introduction of on-demand, driver-less, crawl-along 2-seater beeping vehicles?

B | 06.09.19 - 9:28 a.m. | #

"Look out for Stage 4, sometime next year". A fast track project, then ?

dg writes: Next year is 16 weeks away.

I don't think many of us will see autonomous vehicles in general use in our lifetimes..... (and I work in an area where they are being trialled).

Paul | 06.09.19 - 9:36 a.m. | #

If it takes mobility scooters off the pavements - I'm all for them!

One thing's for sure though - if they stop when anything is closer than 4m or 2m, it's not going to do very well on Londons' roads!

Cornish Cockney | 06.09.19 - 10:06 a.m. | #

When we had a trial in Milton Keynes, the comment I heard most was along the lines of that they would be handy if you needed a pee on the way home from the pub now that all the telephone boxes have disappeared. Other possible in-pod activities were also mentioned.

MKIan | 06.09.19 - 10:07 a.m. | #

Looks like that pod is called Brabazon 2.

Being named after a massively expensive white elephant aircraft which got cancelled due to no orders is perhaps unfortunate.

Mikey C | 06.09.19 - 10:35 a.m. | #

This seems a slightly more realistic trial than the one in North Greenwich a while back, which took over the cycle track (ie didn't share it with bikes) and had so many minders around it that pedestrians kept well out of its way.

I could see a more nimble version having some use taking disabled people around a station perhaps (a manually-operated equivalent operates at Marylebone for instance) but these vehicles do still rather seem to be a solution looking for a problem.

Andrew S | 06.09.19 - 10:42 a.m. | #

That pod looks identical, apart from the colour scheme, to those operating between Heathrow Terminal 5 and the car parks / hotel, albeit on a dedicated guideway so not truly autonomous. The Heathrow version seem to be guided by sensors that follow walls of the trough in which the pod runs. They charge themselves at the termini.

They don't need to beep and can go at quite a lick but, by 'eck, the recorded announcements treat you like a five year old.
"Nearly there". Arrrrrgh!

Baldrick | 06.09.19 - 11:19 a.m. | #

My first impression to the vehicle is the same as Baldrick's. And I doubt 5mph could get anyone anywhere reasonaly. TBH even wheelchairs (dedicated transports for the disabled) often travel much faster.

Patrickov | 06.09.19 - 11:39 a.m. | #

Possibly called Brabazon as they were used (as DG points out) in a Gloucestershire Airfield - actually Filton Airfield (South Gloucestershire), home of the Brabazon Hangars, and, incidentally, used to build Concordes 'back in the day'.

Took a trip on the pods when they were there. They were despatched up and down the runway at various speeds, as we were asked to (1) estimate the speed (always wildly over the top) and (2) the comfort at those speeds (not very high). But then the runway was hardly in pristine, level condition.

TomH | 06.09.19 - 11:39 a.m. | #

May I interest readers in the MIT ethical conundrum mindcrowding here http://moralmachine.mit.edu?
you can build your own scenarii

international reader | 06.09.19 - 11:49 a.m. | #

Just because you can, it doesn't always follow that you should. I agree with Andrew S that this appears to be a technology seeking a reason to be deployed.

Frank F | 06.09.19 - 12:35 p.m. | #

If a gadget is convenient and is sold at the right price point, today's populations will take to it in huge numbers. DG's driverless pod is the equivalent of an early '90s mobile phone - and look how fast mobile phone technology progressed.

Faster reaction time, greater speed, more interior space, - all these things will very soon make driverless vehicles everyday objects on the roads.

RayL | 06.09.19 - 12:38 p.m. | #

I'm pretty sure the plural of scenario is scenarios.

Sarah | Homepage | 06.09.19 - 12:50 p.m. | #

MikeyC, you beat me to it. The Bristol Brabazon and 'white elephant' were the first things to my mind when I saw the name emblazoned on the pod itself.

Fools and their money are easily parted for such investments.

Eddie Willers | 06.09.19 - 12:55 p.m. | #

I like the tie-in with science fiction and the driverless pods. At one time, the thought of driverless pods/vehicles certainly would have been science fiction!

Rob Healy | Homepage | 06.09.19 - 1:01 p.m. | #

I was rather expecting, after reading the first line (and hearing in my head, Ray Brooks narrating it) that you were going to go through a magic door at the back of the pod and have a wonderful Mr Benn type adventure,

MO | 06.09.19 - 1:16 p.m. | #

That other Westfield appears to be the company that also makes the Lotus-7-like kit cars.

The Brabazon family are the Earls of Meath. As well as the famous aviator, the Baron (of Tara), there was a painter Hercules Brabazon who painted landscapes, including Capri. But Capri Mobility's autonomous vehicles don't all appear to be called "Brabazon" - I've seen pictures of other pods called "Pegasus" and "Bremer". There was a Bristol Pegasus, but I wonder what inspired Bremer.

Andrew | 06.09.19 - 2:54 p.m. | #

Looks like DG's very own 'pope-mobile'

he could cruise around town with his notebook, noting tile mistakes on bus stops!

bert | 06.09.19 - 6:31 p.m. | #

I rode in a driverless vehicle in Las Vegas a few months back. They were rode testing it on a lighter-used portion of the downtown area streets. As with your experience, there was an Operator on board with a joystick like contraption which he told us was to "take over in case of an emergency". We also experienced a moment when a pedestrian attempted to pass in front of the vehicle, then stopped and waved us forward and the vehicle halted. We then had to wait for them to move along as the vehicle had identified them as a hazard and would not proceed until they were no longer in our travel path. Kind of like a computer vs. human game of "No, you go first". I found the ride to be enjoyable and the technological achievement at least worthy of a "well done, lads...but keep working on it".

Steven | 06.09.19 - 6:33 p.m. | #

I wonder what happens when two pods meet each other. Do they just stop and glare at each other or try a complex dance to try and pass?

Alan S | 06.09.19 - 6:44 p.m. | #

Didn't your mother ever tell you not to accept lifts from strange men?

Scott | Homepage | 06.09.19 - 8:22 p.m. | #

I presume an organised group of lads, or even a happy hen party, could hold hands in a ring around the pod and so stop it going anywhere until they felt like letting it go.

popartist | 06.09.19 - 8:52 p.m. | #

scenari

Rich G | Homepage | 07.09.19 - 2:43 p.m. | #

Roger's been, and ridden, and blogged it.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 10.09.19 - 6:34 p.m. | #











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