TXAI, the UAE’s first fully autonomous taxi, was unveiled at the Abu Dhabi Smart City Summit. The fleet of ride-sharing services vehicles will be on trial from next month on Yas Island.
Bayanat, a G42 subsidiary, a geospatial, data analytics and AI company in the UAE, in collaboration with the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport in Abu Dhabi, are powering the project.
Five vehicles will transport passengers between nine stops including hotels, restaurants, malls and offices in Phase One. More vehicles and more locations will be involved in Phase Two. The service would be accessible from 8am to 8pm, through the ‘TXAI’ app which will be available in all app stores.
This service is also conducted in coordination and cooperation with Miral, within the strategic partnership framework between Miral and the ITC, which aims at improving the quality of transport services available to the residents and visitors of Yas Island.
Falah Al Ahbabi, Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), said: “This project is one of the bold regional steps in employing accurate data-driven artificial intelligence techniques within the transport network, which is part of DMT and the Integrated Transport Centre’s efforts to provide innovative services that contribute to enhancing the quality of life in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
“DMT is continuously working with its partners in Bayanat and Miral to test the safety of the vehicles, in addition to overseeing the operations to ensure that a state-of-the-art service is provided in a safe and distinctive manner, and to ensure compliance with the UAE traffic laws and regulations.”
At this point, the service has been classified as Level 4 Autonomous Driving, whereby the vehicle can perform all driving tasks under almost all conditions without any human intervention. Although the vehicles will be self-driving, a safety officer will occupy the driving seat during the first and second phases to intervene in the event of any sudden occurrence.
This ensures that the highest standards of security and safety are implemented. The operated vehicles are characterized by high standards of safety and security, which include cameras and sensors that forecast conditions of the road and maintain the vehicle’s connection with its external surroundings to avoid collision with any object.
It is worth noting that self-driving vehicles are vehicles that are able to sense the surrounding environment and navigate without human intervention, since they rely on mapping algorithms and data obtained from multiple sensors installed into them to determine the route of the road. The model sensors include radar-like technical systems and a stereoscopic vision system, GPS, Optical Object Recognition and Real-time Positioning System.
