Oxa, the worldwide provider of self-driving vehicle software, has announced its third commercial deployment of Oxa Driver in the United States in collaboration with Beep, Inc., a leading provider of autonomous shared mobility solutions. Oxa Driver is installed on the autonomous shuttles operated by Beep in a pilot program for Beep’s client, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA). This marks Oxa’s first West Coast deployment with Beep.
Named PRESTO, the autonomous shuttle service is operated by Beep for CCTA, servicing Rossmoor Walnut Creek, a 55+ active senior community, and is CCTA’s first pilot leveraging Oxa Driver. The autonomous shuttles can carry up to seven seated and secured passengers, and will operate Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a trained safety attendant on board.
The electric, autonomous shuttles will operate on a predetermined route in the Rossmoor community, running Oxa’s self-driving software product, Oxa Driver, with Beep managing the planning, deployment and operation of the autonomous mobility network. Oxa Driver enables a safe, smooth and energy-efficient experience – with superior transparency and explainability.
“As we continue to expand our presence in the U.S., deploying our autonomous software products in different locations and environments is key as we work towards our goal of Universal Autonomy,” said Oxa CEO Gavin Jackson. “The Rossmoor community has a population of over 9,000 residents and is a perfect location for us to continue to evolve our autonomous vehicle software while collaborating with Beep to provide a private service connecting Rossmoor residents to key amenities and locations throughout their community. This is a huge milestone for Oxa, as Beep has now officially deployed with us from coast to coast in the U.S.”
As part of this deployment, Oxa also leveraged its Oxa MetaDriver product, a virtual testing and training suite which uses generative AI, digital twins and simulation to accelerate machine learning and testing of self-driving technology before and during real-world use. It generates a vast bank of synthetic scenes and virtual scenarios, including rare and unusual edge cases — such as foggy days that hinder visibility, or objects appearing from behind moving vehicles — that are difficult, costly and time consuming to re-create in conventional testing. It also assures the safe and efficient deployment of AV technology in live operations.
“Safety is always our priority at Oxa, and using Oxa MetaDriver and Oxa Driver together provides multiple layers of safety for the vehicle, attendant and passengers,” continued Jackson. “Virtual simulation enables verification and validation to be over 1,000 times faster than real-world miles, and allows us to robustly test in advance of deployments, without putting humans at risk.”
The Rossmoor launch follows Oxa’s previous participation in Beep’s deployments in the U.S., at Lake Nona in Orlando, and Florida State College at Jacksonville, with additional deployments to come in both the U.S. and UK before the end of the year.
SOURCE: Oxa
