Uber tests Lucid robotaxis in San Francisco

The Lucid Gravity is becoming a robotaxi: US ride-hailing service Uber has launched a field test with the Lucid Gravity, converted into an autonomous taxi. For now, however, only a select group can use the vehicles.

A group of selected Uber employees can book rides with the electric vehicle (EV) from US electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors, Nuro announced. The vehicles are only available in the San Francisco Bay Area. A safety driver is still on board at the start.

Uber employees evaluated the entire user experience – “from requesting a ride in the Uber app to pickup, the in-vehicle experience, and dropoff--while continuing to validate the system in real-world conditions,” Nuro announced.

Lucid Motors, Uber, and Nuro have been cooperating since July of last year. At the CES electronics trade show earlier this year, they introduced the robo version of the Gravity.

Nuro supplies the autonomous driving systems

The robotaxi is based on the Lucid Gravity, Lucid Motors' second model. US robotics company Nuro has equipped it with systems for autonomous operation. This includes the Nuro Driver software and the sensors for environmental perception: cameras, lidar, and radar sensors. The sensor data is processed by an Nvidia computer based on Nvidia Drive AGX.

Some sensors are integrated into the bodywork. Additionally, a carrier called Halo is mounted on the roof, serving as a sensor platform. Next to it, a small display is attached to the halo, allowing passengers to see if the vehicle in front of them is the one they ordered. There are further, larger displays inside for passengers.

Currently, the fleet of Robo-Gravities consists of just under 100 vehicles, according to Nuro. These are operating in various US cities for data collection and testing autonomous driving.

(wpl)