Perrone Robotics Demonstrates AV Transit in Northern Virginia Metro Region

Perrone Robotics’ “MAP, MISSION, and GO” capabilities were on full display this week in Northern Virginia’s Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro region. A two-person team landed, mapped a complex 4.5 mile route in one day, and demonstrated autonomous public road operations the next day. While a safety operator was onboard and our team analyzed the operational area ahead of time, it took a day to create a MAP, telling the vehicle where we wanted it to go on its MISSION, and then hitting the GO button.

The vehicle, outfitted with Perrone Robotics’ TONY Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Kit, was placed into autonomous operation for a demonstration with partners in the region. Collaboration partners included the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and local government officials. Perrone Robotics, VTTI, and local governments are collaborating to pursue operation of AVs in Virginia. This demonstration established a key milestone in proving the rapid deployment capability of bringing autonomous operations to public roads in the busy Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro area of Northern Virginia.

The TONY AV kit for this demonstration was installed in an all electric, Buy America compliant, and FMVSS-compliant transit van capable of carrying up to 14 passengers. The FMVSS-compliant vehicle is capable of operation on public roads and operating at posted roadway speeds. Operating at speeds up to 35 mph, over the course of the 20 minute mission, the ops team took manual control for about 30 seconds of time, for 97.5% autonomous operation with one day of mapping in a complex 4.5 mile urban environment. These demonstrations and the data collected continue to prove our capability to operate across a wide range of environments. In many environments today, we are capable of operating autonomously 100% of the time.

A video is posted below of the vehicle in operation.