In St. Petersburg, testing a system for running trams without a driver

In St. Petersburg “Gorelectrotrans” summed up the first stage of the development of an unmanned tram. At the meeting of the scientific and technical council, the progress of development work was discussed by the head of the transport company Denis Minkin, the head of the enterprise Konstantin Shostak, the general director of the developer company Anton Emelyanov and members of the council. This was reported in the press service of the Transport Committee.

For two years, the company has been participating in an experimental legal regime for the operation of unmanned trams. For example, this year the Scientific and Technical Council of the Transport Committee supported the development of artificial intelligence technologies in rail transport. It was then that they began to develop highly automated rail transport based on the Bogatyr-M tram.

According to him, the main goal of introducing such technologies is to make urban transport safer and more efficient. St. Petersburg has already accumulated extensive experience with smart trams: more than 350 cars with active safety and driver assistance systems run on the city routes.

We have a lot to be proud of on the tram: we have covered millions of kilometers with passengers. But if you abstract from the idea of full piloting and put safety first, everything falls into place. We are creating a system that insures a person and increases reliability, reduces accidents. And not just turn the number of sensors to be beautiful, said Denis Minkin.

The next stage of development work will begin before the end of the year. To do this, the Bogatyr-M car will be equipped with additional sensors, computing complexes with artificial intelligence and an automated test driver workplace. Then the equipment will be tested at the landfill and on the streets of the city. At the same time, at the initial stage, a person will be constantly present in the cabin.