Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - 8

Cover Story
Magna engineers
disclosed a few of
the delivery 'bot's
technical details.
Bot learnings
Muthu Subramanian, senior director of advanced
engineering for Magna R&D, said the delivery AV was
developed entirely in-house by the Magna's New Mobility
team in Troy, Michigan. Without providing detail, he said
its sensor suite includes a radar, Magna-manufactured
cameras, and a low-cost lidar. " We monitor the vehicle
remotely by camera at this stage of development, "
Subramanian noted. And each delivery run has been
shadowed by a human driver, typical of how many lastmile
AV developers are handling their early pilot operations
before ramping into full automation.
The bot architecture is flexible, to fit a range of
business models and duty cycles, he explained. It's
also robust: Hardware and algorithms are automotive-grade.
The tricycle layout was chosen as a cost
saver and for maneuverability - but has less inherent
stability than a four-wheel chassis. Weight thus is
biased toward the front axle. Batteries are mounted in
trays in the rear of the vehicle.
At Magna's Vehma International prototype shop
in Troy, the author watched an engineer open the vehicle's
rear panel, grab a handle on each of the battery
packs (themselves slightly larger than a ream of paper),
and effortlessly slide the packs out of the vehicle. " The
batteries are designed to be easily swappable if the
operator desires that capability. Brooklyn [Pizza] hasn't
done that yet, " Subramanian said.
The 'bots constantly generate and broadcast data in
real time. " We are in the process of validating our design
assumptions, " he explained. " We've identified things to
change, such as eventually consolidating info into a single
gateway module. " Based on the pizza runs in Birmingham
and simulation, the team is confident that the 'bots can
cover 80% of urban environments at 20 mph.
Pizza customers are issued a digital 'ticket' when
they order, which is used to plot the delivery route
and maintain communication (order status and estimated
arrival time) with the customer. The delivery
program also generates a 4-digit access code, which
the customer taps into a keypad on the side of the 'bot.
The body sides open to access the food order within.
" In the future, we'll likely have NFC [near-field
communication, a short-range wireless technology]
integration or a QR code to quickly enable access to
the load within, " Subramanian noted.
8 November 2022
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
Magna

Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022

Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - CVR1
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - CVR2
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - 1
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - 2
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - 3
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - 4
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - November 2022 - 5
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