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General Motors has developed a fresh method for maintaining the cleanliness of its planned fleet of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles.
The driverless electric Cruise Origin has been designed with subway-style seating and doors for passengers.
It will soon be manufactured in Michigan and made available by GM’s Cruise service.
ON ROUTE 66, GM’S HANDS-FREE SUPER CRUISE SYSTEM IS NOW AVAILABLE
Since there won’t be anyone on staff to clean up after themselves throughout a shift, GM has submitted a patent application for a particular kind of floor that can handle most messes by itself.
The entry, first discovered by GM Authority , shows what is essentially a motorised treadmill replacing a fixed floor.
The vehicle’s sensors and cameras identify when cleaning is necessary, check that no passengers are present, and then rotate the floor surface, which may have ribs and crevasses to trap dirt and liquids.
When the vehicle returns to its base for maintenance or charging, the litter is then emptied into a collection container that may be cleaned out later. Ice and snow would be melted using heating devices.
95% of the time, GM’s Ultra Cruise can operate automatically.
According to the filing, manual cleaning processes are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and necessitate access to a waste container in order to dispose of the material.
“In the case of taxis and ride-sharing cars, operating time may be lost because vehicle cleaning cannot be done while the vehicle is in motion to pick up a subsequent fare.”
Cruise now runs a fleet of autonomous Chevrolet Bolt subcompact SUVs in San Francisco cars, but it plans to use the Origin starting in 2023.
