Page 34 - TTG-Taiwan Transportation Equipment Guide (TTG)-2021-09 Edition

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Feature Topic

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The Taiwanese-made and designed WinBus Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART), or rail-
is among the front-runners in the domestic less electric trains, as an example. ART has been
autonomous electric vehicle scene, fi rst unveiled to catching on in many popular tourist attractions
the public in the summer of 2019. Created by the overseas, primarily due to the variety and more
Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC), straightforward implementation than building
WinBus is an SAE Level 4 e-bus fully designed the necessary infrastructure for metro stations.
and manufactured by Taiwanese suppliers, ARTC Moreover, as the up-and-coming trend in the
promotional engineer Joe Tu said. The self-driving autonomous vehicle field, Tu pointed out that the
e-bus is a moving platform that has integrated ART concept has gained traction, along with the
the best of what Taiwanese businesses can offer government actively planning applications for ART
in its auto, electronic parts, and semiconductor on Taiwanese roads.
technology.
Combining a V2X connection system for
WinBus became the first experimental communicating with devices within the e-buses’
autonomous e-bus to set off on public roads in range, a backend platform, and the ARTC-designed
Taiwan in 2020. The design and platform make “people fl ow analysis device,” a fl eet of WinBuses
it convenient and easier to integrate with diverse could operate as an ART as well. Setting ART up is
needs, Tu said. For instance, local governments fairly straightforward once the vehicles themselves
looking to deploy self-driving e-buses for public are developed, as it does not require building
transportation options could quickly integrate stations or laying down rail tracks on the ground,
WinBus into their fl eets, making it a highly versatile, which needs time, money, and planning. All a
fl exible solution. WinBus would need is something similar to a bus
stop, in which the self-driving system and people
One of the earliest on-road implementations of fl ow analysis device could pinpoint passenger fl ow
WinBus is in Changhua, where ARTC worked with at each stop and allow the system to decide whether
Changhua County Government to set up a fixed the e-bus should stop to pick up passengers. This
tourist route for the domestically-developed e-bus to helps lower down potential infrastructure costs, and
drive on, primarily ferrying tourists between tourist the flexibility allows for implementing ART in rural
factories and attractions. Tu added that WinBus areas, connecting routes between metro or light rail
could also be found on the National Chung Hsing stations, or serving as shuttle buses during rush
University campus, in Kaohsiung, and Yilan’s pilot hours or operating in restricted lanes.
zones, becoming public transportation options and
a tourist attraction. The people flow analysis device can detect
passengers waiting at each stop and transfer the
Aside from ferrying tourists and becoming a data back to the backend systems. The system
social media staple, WinBus is set to become a uses an AI-based segmentation method to calculate
pivotal factor in Taiwan’s push for smart traffic, people flow, which achieves several advantages:
smart intersections, and smart cities. Tu used the imaging sensors were more cost-efficient, the