The first self-driving bus that runs on solar power has been designed by Indian students
The bright engineering students at Lovely Professional University have designed what is perhaps the first and only autonomous bus that runs on solar-powered energy.
This double advantage makes it the first-of-its-kind given most other autonomous vehicles, developed until now, require other fuel types like petrol, diesel, CNG, or electricity. This newly designed bus can run for a 70km on a single full charge.
Launched at the Indian Science Congress 2019, this creation has been dubbed the ‘Driverless Multi-Seated Solar Bus’ and was showcased by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Other than that, the University claims that this bus has been developed on a completely new chassis, and comes packed with six lead acid batteries that are capable of generating up to two kilowatts of power.
This driverless bus is expected to run without a driver, by sensing the road and other elements surrounding it. About 300 students and 50 faculty members are said to have been involved in the process.
For now, the bus is authorised to operate inside the closed campus, however LPU believes that a working on-road unit is on its way after it gets approval from appropriate authorities.
Source: killerfeatures
