Micromobility —small, electric, low-speed personal vehicles such as scooters, ebikes, and skateboards—are becoming more popular in urban centers and tourist areas. The nature of these vehicles is such that they are often piloted by untrained users in crowded areas, so the potential for collisions is high. Enter the experts at micromobility company Beam; they’re set to utilize AI-powered tech to help reduce the chance of collisions with their fleet of scooters.

Singapore-based Beam calls the new tech “Pedestrian Shield” and is initiating a trial run with scooter fleets in several Australian state capitals. Pedestrian Shield is said to be able to identify different types of infrastructure (paths, roads, sidewalks, bike lanes) without the need for previously accumulated data or GPS information, simply by utilizing cameras and artificial intelligence. With this information, Pedestrian Shield is able to enforce speed limits for various scenarios, as deemed necessary by fleet operators or local laws.

牲畜贩子PathPilot. Photo: Drover

This capability comes from Los Angeles-based company Drover, and is called PathPilot. In aYouTube videolinked from their website, the system can be seen allowing the scooter to travel 12 mph (19 km/h) on a city street, then automatically limiting scooter speed to 5 mph (8 km/h) when the user rides onto a sidewalk. Then, when the PathPilot detects that the scooter enters a covered parking garage, the scooter motor is automatically shut off to prevent further use in the parkade. The programming can also detect if the scooter has been parked in a proper parking spot or designated drop-off area.

Several auto manufacturers already have speed limit sign identification technology built into their vehicles that will alert the driver to the current speed limit. This type of technology currently stops short of actually enforcing speed limits, but the tools are there for it to happen. Who has not stopped to ponder, why do they make street-legal vehicles that can exceed the speed limit? In the future, maybe they won’t.

Sources: newatlas.com, drover.ai, ridebeam.com