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Local Motors Announces Second Olli Challenge

Olli, the autonomous 3D printed shuttle from Local Motors, has appeared in locations around the world, from Buffalo to Washington, D.C. to Berlin. Now Local Motors is opening a second fleet challenge for Olli, opening up entries to the D.C. area. The challenge asks municipalities, campuses and designated districts to propose a short-term, local use for Olli. Local Motors CEO and Co-Founder Jay Rogers announced the second challenge just after releasing the names of the winners for the first challenge, which took place in Phoenix, Arizona and Sacramento, California.

Those winners included EVIT, Arizona’s first joint technical education district, and Sacramento State University.

“The Olli AV shuttle represents the direction our transportation is going in the near future,” said California Congresswoman Doris Matsui, who served as a judge on the Sacramento panel. “The nature of the landscape and route chosen by Sacramento State ensure that safety is of the utmost importance during this test period. I am eager to see students and faculty alike utilize this technology and make it a part of their daily lives. Exposure to this type of technology is an important first step.”

Local Motors will begin mapping the locations shortly, and Olli fleets will be deployed to them for public use by the end of January.

“Olli is already transforming the way we think about transportation and it is showing us, from its deployement in Adelaide to its deployment at the University at Buffalo, that autonomous vehicles can be safe, sustainable and practical,” Rogers said. “It’s exciting to know that with each new challenge a new audience will be exposed to self-driving technology. And, we look forward to the insights that will come from each deployment as the ever-changing industry of autonomous vehicles continues to evolve.”

The second challenge will run through February 6th, 2019. One location will be selected to receive a fleet of eight-person Olli vehicles to use for about three months. Further challenges will be launched in the coming months.

“This is an exciting time for intelligent mobility in the Washington region,” said Shailen Bhatt, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America and one of the judges for the second challenge. “Local Motors’ Olli challenge is sure to ignite more innovation around the future of autonomous transportation. I am passionate about technology’s ability to save lives on our roadways, so I’m thrilled about this project.”

LM Industries, Local Motors’ parent company, is the world’s first digital OEM, and it heavily utilizes 3D printing to quickly and efficiently manufacture its designs. It also allows them to rapidly iterate and customize designs, reducing a typical automotive manufacturer’s process from years to months. 3D printing reduces the number of parts required, using a single material – a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite – to 3D print larger and fewer parts. Olli is 3D printed on the Thermwood Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) 3D printer, which is, at 10′ x 40′, the world’s largest composite 3D printer, at the Local Motors microfactory in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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3D Printed Autonomous Olli Shuttle Makes Debut at University at Buffalo

[Image: Douglas Levere]

The streets are not yet filled with autonomous vehicles, but there are plenty of them in development, and one of the most famous is likely Olli the 3D printed shuttle. Created by Local Motors in partnership with IBM’s Watson IoT’s AutoLAB, Olli is the world’s first co-created, self-driving electric vehicle, and it has already been deployed to shuttle commuters in Washington, D.C. and Berlin. Now Olli is launching operations at the University at Buffalo, bringing its and forward-thinking technology and sustainability to the campus.

“Our partnership with UB is about progressing development of autonomous vehicles forward through open collaboration and the sharing of data,” Matthew Rivett, Local Motors Executive Vice President, told 3DPrint.com.

The University at Buffalo will use Olli for autonomous vehicle education and mapping while also testing it for campus transportation. The project is being co-managed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation, and supports Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

“We are pleased to partner with the University at Buffalo and the State of New York to implement and customize Olli for their mobility testing and sustainability strategies,” said Rivett. “This partnership showcases how campuses, states, and others can invest in and explore the future of transportation. Local Motors looks forward to assisting UB and future partners on practical solutions and research opportunities for mobility challenges.”

Though there are still concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles, Olli has been shown to be a safe and reliable mode of transportation in a variety of settings. The shuttle is customizable and can be used as a singular vehicle or as part of a larger train of vehicles. Olli’s 3D printed construction easily enables its customization options, as well as being an efficient and eco-friendly means of production. The autonomous shuttle was first created in 2016, and is leading the way for other self-driving vehicles in development, many of which are also employing 3D technology.

“We’re excited to have the Olli shuttle on campus, advancing the state as a leader in driverless technology while expanding our knowledge of human-automation interaction, critical to understanding artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said University at Buffalo Vice President for Research and Economic Development Venu Govindaraju. “We’ve designed UB’s ecosystem — from world-class researchers and facilities to dynamic partnerships with government and industry — to support these opportunities that foster discovery, innovation, and collaboration.”

Olli is a highly sustainable transportation option, as it encourages commuters to employ mass transit and also runs off of electricity. Before individuals begin driving autonomous cars, we are likely to see more self-driving mass transit options like Olli. Olli isn’t a super-speedy vehicle, with a maximum speed of 25 mph, but as a shuttle, it doesn’t need to be. The autonomous vehicle is especially well-suited to environments like college campuses or city streets – you won’t see Olli flying down a highway anytime soon. The next step in autonomous vehicles may be self-driving individual cars, but we’re not quite at that point yet. Until then, commuters can take advantage of the major step forward in technology that is the self-driving shuttle.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

[Source: Local Motors/Images: Douglas Levere]