Spin, the micromobility unit of Ford Motor Company, has announced an exclusive partnership with Drover AI to incorporate its PathPilot technology into the next generation of the company’s best-in-class Spin Insight e-scooter monitoring platform to cities in the United States, across the United Kingdom, and other regions around the world in 2021.
Spin Insight Level 2, powered by Drover AI’s groundbreaking computer vision and machine learning platform, equips Spin’s vehicles with a camera, an array of sensors, and on-board computing power. By leveraging AI tools, Drover’s technology is highly adaptive and easily scaled to new environments, allowing an e-scooter to understand its surroundings in real-time and assist riders in making safe riding decisions.
This week, Spin included Spin Insight Level 2 in a proposal for the first time as part of the e-scooter permit application for New York City. If Spin is awarded a permit in New York City, the City will receive the first large-scale deployment of Spin’s sidewalk riding and improper parking solution, starting in the spring.
“Spin is proud of its record of collaboration with cities to develop solutions that benefit their citizens. We are excited to partner with Drover, which has proven to have the best-in-class micromobility AI technology, to power Spin Insight,” said Derrick Ko, Chief Executive Officer at Spin. “This is Spin’s latest step in building trust in e-scooters among consumers and cities by enabling technology that creates a safer riding experience for riders and pedestrians.”
“With nearly all municipalities prohibiting scooter use on sidewalks, Spin Insight data – in combination with Spin’s in-app mapping technology that enables riders to find routes that maximize bike lane use – can be used as a key tool by cities to help enforce local regulations and promote safe riding behaviors in dense, urban environments like New York City.”
Additionally, the technology will enable Spin to share accurate insights with cities about the prevalence and location of sidewalk riding and bike lane riding, which can be used to identify potential congestion issues and road damage and highlight areas that may benefit from infrastructure improvements.
Akin to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that use on-board sensors to help automobile drivers park, brake, and stay in their lanes, Spin Insight Level 2 has the ability to combine the latest in sensor and artificial intelligence technologies to enable local regulation compliance enforcement and create a safer experience for riders and pedestrians.
“We are building the ADAS for micromobility,” Ko said. “Spin Insight Level 2 is designed to create a safer riding experience, with the potential to unlock everything from slowing speeds on sidewalks to forward-collision warnings.”
“In a unique approach, Drover’s use of edge-based machine learning produces a highly nimble and scalable solution that doesn’t depend on the availability of GPS, ground truth information, or network-based validations,” said Christian Scheder-Bieschin, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer at Drover AI. “We are very excited to be working with Spin in this effort to deploy Drover’s AI-powered technology in the rapidly evolving micromobility space with the ultimate goal of ensuring safe, responsible, and compliant deployments for all stakeholders in cities.”
Spin will continue to build off of this technology and its Insight platform to further enhance vehicle durability and safety. Future capabilities are planned to include ADAS-like features such as detecting wrong-way riding, adjusting vehicle speed based on riding conditions, and collision warnings.
We’ll have more on Spin very soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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