Conical Systems, a Dutch company designing innovative solutions in the field of safe, sustainable, and inclusive urban micro-mobility, is developing a new type of autonomous and teleoperated passenger vehicle, operating on 5G-technology.
The goal is to investigate the potential of 5G for Conical’s prototype, which is a lightweight, micro-electric shared passenger vehicle. Using the 5G facilities of the Do IoT field lab, the vehicle will be remotely operated and monitored in real time.
Duration
From December 2022 to November 2023
Partners (TU Delft)
Do IoT Fieldlab
Partners (other)
Conical Systems, TU Delft, TNO, MCS, SURF, Unmanned Valley, The Green Village, Tyndall, Bondi
More than half of car trips are less than eight kilometers in distance. Transportation for these short distances using lightweight vehicles (micro mobility) is still hardly prevalent because of lack of availability, insufficient cargo space, weather conditions or the assumption that passengers are able to cycle. Meeting these requirements, Conical Systems developed a prototype for this untapped market of shared micro mobility vehicles. Besides being autonomous and energy-efficient, the vehicle is operated remotely so it can be directed to, for example, a charging station or a busy junction to relief traffic congestion. The vehicle can travel up to a speed of 25 km per hour and is intended for the cycle lane.
Conical Systems intends to investigate the feasibility of the 5G network to transmit vehicle data to a remote station while transmitting back operator’s commands from the station to the vehicle. In the test phase, several factors that may affect the reliability of data transmission will be studied. These include vehicle speed, vehicle power level, the distance between the vehicle and the 5G tower, the impact of the built environment on the network signal and the placement of the antenna on the vehicle itself.
The aim of this project is to explore the potential of 5G in enabling the remote control and monitoring of this new type of transport in real time. The Do IoT Fieldlab facilitates various tests in terms of latency, reliability, and throughput in data transmission.
The end-product and service will be relevant because of its tele-operated and self-driving capability using proprietary software and hardware. By offering more inclusive, sustainable transport and freeing up parking space in the city and car traffic on the road, Conical believes it can position itself on the European market as a premium provider of shared micro mobility.