This driverless bus is about to roll out in Singapore
By the first quarter of 2017, this driverless shuttle bus will begin service in Singapore.
The autonomous vehicle can hold 15 passengers, and will ferry them between the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus and the CleanTech eco-business park roughly 1.5 km (0.93 miles) away.
NTU posted a video on Facebook showcasing the new air-conditioned bus, and said it's set to roll out by next semester.
The bus is called the Arma, developed by French firm Navya.
According to the company's site, the Arma uses its Lidar sensors and cameras to detect obstacles in its path, and communicates its GPS location to the base station so that operators can monitor where it is live.
It runs on electricity, and its batteries can last half a day, depending on distance and traffic conditions.
The Arma won't be the only driverless bus getting tested out on campus roads. Two large full-sized buses are also due to start shuttling between the CleanTech park and NTU.
The electric buses have been retrofitted with Lidar and other smart technologies, and researchers at the university are writing the software to manage them.
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
