The bikes – fitted with sensors, GPS navigation systems and cloud-based computing systems – can be summoned using an application on a mobile phone or smart watch.
When summoned, the bicycle will unlock itself from the parking lot and travel to the location where it is called without anyone riding it — much like ghost videos where bicycles are seen moving without anyone riding it.
However, once it reaches the location, the person calling for the e-bicycle can ride it like a normal one – pedalling it all the way. The autonomous bike can be left at a designated place from where it can find its way to a nearby parking lot again.
“We are planning to launch it on the campus around June next year. It is in the testing stage and trials are on in the campus. We will launch five bikes which have been bought from sellers, converted into e-bikes and then developed into autonomous bikes,” said P Rajalakshmi, professor of electrical engineering at IIT-Hyderabad and director of TiHAN centre.
Apart from the convenience of having the autonomous bike at the beck and call without wasting time in walking up to the parking, an autonomous bike can be a game-changer when it comes to last mile connectivity.
Prof Rajalakshmi said the integrated autonomous mobility on roads will be a reality in near future. “The autonomous bikes can be connected to smart watches and in future, we are looking at connected vehicles talking to each other and transportation infrastructure, etc. This is the future of mobility,” Rajalakshmi added.