Skoda trials smart grilles and robots for safer pedestrian crossings
New robot being developed by Skoda to harness power of AI and robot-to-car communicationCrossing the road could soon get a whole lot safer thanks to new technology being pioneered by Skoda that uses a car’s front grille as an interactive notice board and includes a separate robotic rover that helps vulnerable pedestrians reach the kerb.
Designed specifically for children, the elderly and those with disabilities, the new ‘traffic light robot’ is currently being trialled with an adapted version of the Skoda Enyaq EV and is said to harness the power of both artificial intelligence and 5G communication.
Dubbed IPA2X, the robotic rover has a 2.1-metre-tall pole with a crossing light and cameras to monitor other road users.
It basically acts an independent crossing supervisor, moving to the centre of the road to see if the coast is clear, providing a signal when it’s safe to cross and sending a warning to approaching cars as required via their infotainment system.
Further helping pedestrians know when it’s safe (or not) to cross, the Skoda Enyaq’s front grille can display animations using built-in LED strips.
The new tech has been developed by Skoda in partnership with the Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Technical University of Munich.
To date, testing has been limited to the Italian cities of Milan and Modena as well as Ljubljana in Slovenia.
From initial testing, early results suggest an increase in safety around crossings with the extra benefit reducing noise and pollution, plus the need for real humans to man the crossings around schools.
Feedback gathered from Italian school children suggested the robot moved too slowly, should be capable of talking and have arms.
The researchers working on developing the emerging tech said some of the improvements suggested by the kids could be fed back into the robots’ development.
With final testing to end in 2024, the new robots could be rolled out as soon as 2025, says Skoda.
Related: Pedestrians to stop driverless cars with a wave
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