The manufacturer Ohmio
In the south-west of Luxembourg, a university and office campus has been built on the site of a former steelworks in Belval (a district of the city of Sanem) and is continuing to grow. Belval is located on the railway line from Esch sur Alzette to Pétange, where the modern ‘Belval Université’ station has been opened – close to the border with France. (To get from its north-east to its south-west side, you have to drive a few metres across French territory). The university is not directly on the railway line, but is about one kilometre away. This is why Luxembourg’s state railway company CFL (Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois) has set up a feeder line with autonomous shuttles between the station and the university. This is also to be extended beyond the railway station via ‘Lycée Belval’ to ‘Kannercampus’.
The CFL have procured two autonomous shuttles from the New Zealand manufacturer Ohmio to operate this line. Ohmio? From New Zealand – the “other side of the globe”?
Ohmio calls itself ‘a company focussed on technology solutions’ and was founded in 2017. Ohmio’s current focus is on autonomous vehicles.’ 2019 saw the launch of the first autonomous shuttle, the ‘Lift’, a vehicle that, as Ohmio emphasises, was designed and developed exclusively with New Zealand and Australian expertise.
Ohmio has a sister company, HMI, which procures autonomous shuttles from Europe. According to Ohmio, these were not entirely convincing. In addition, the European manufacturers were not sufficiently responsive to the ideas of their New Zealand/Australian customers.
When HMI was unable to find a manufacturer willing to build autonomous shuttles according to HMI’s ideas, the company decided to develop its own autonomous vehicle. This is how the manufacturer Ohmio was born, which has the ambition to deliver worldwide.
The line
The line in Sanem’s Belval district is currently still in trial and test operation. Ohmio: ‘The CFL will decide when the line will start operating with passengers.’ Of the two existing shuttles, one is currently in trial and test operation in Belval, while the other is still being used in the town of Bettembourg on the ‘CFL intermodal’ site, which is not open to the public. As soon as the line starts operating in Belval, it will also be transferred to Belval.
The line is 2.3 kilometres long and has four stops: ‘Université’, ‘Gare (station) Université’, ‘Lycée Belval’ and ‘Kannercampus’. 2.3 kilometres with only four stops: this promises a relatively short journey time and enables a dense frequency. Perhaps even so close with both carriages that a defined timetable is not even necessary. You go to the stop, the next autonomous shuttle is coming soon …
The two shuttles are ‘Level 4’ autonomous, which means that they can basically drive all by themselves, but are not yet authorised to do so. Due to legal regulations (road traffic regulations), there must always be a safety operator on board who can intervene if necessary. When asked when the two little ones will be travelling completely autonomously – and therefore without an operator – in Level 5, Ohmio says: ‘That is not yet foreseeable, and we even think it will take some time.’ And he points out that even the autonomous ‘robotaxis’ in California are not travelling completely alone. However, according to Ohmio, remote-controlled use of the shuttles is certainly conceivable. There would be someone there who could intervene.
The technology of the Ohmio Lift
The Ohmio Lift is 4,700 mm long, 2,150 mm wide and 2,740 mm high. The wheelbase is 3,300 mm, as the wheels are located at the extreme left and right corners of the vehicle. Empty, the vehicle weighs 2,450 kg, fully occupied a maximum of 3,500 kg, so its payload is just over one tonne.
The two CFL coaches are designed for 8 seats and 6 standing places, so they can carry 14 passengers. However, Ohmio emphasises that it has already configured the coach for 12 seats.
The minibus has a clearly defined forward and reverse direction. In view of the fact that the vehicle is powered by an electric motor, this should not be the case – an electric motor does not care whether it turns ‘forwards’ or ‘backwards’. The double-width electric sliding door is located on the right-hand side in the centre of the vehicle.
The body is made of fibreglass-reinforced, fire-retardant plastic. The windscreen is made of normal transparent glass, while the side and rear windows are tinted.
The Ohmio Lift is powered by a 15 kW AC synchronous motor with water cooling. Ohmio gives the ‘typical’ speed as 25 km/h, but up to 35 km/h is possible.
The batteries work with the cell chemistry lithium iron phosphate (LiFePh). They have a capacity of 33.6 kWh, which can be customised according to customer requirements. Recharging takes place with a charging current of 16 amperes alternating current and 230 volts, which takes around 10 hours at around 25 degrees Celsius. Fast charging takes a fifth of the time, i.e. two hours, with a direct current of 150 amps and 96 volts.
The ‘lift’ is driven by the rear axle, all four wheels are steered. The turning circle is around 10 metres. Autonomous control is via GPS and lidar. Four lidars each sit in a corner of the vehicle, together they cover the small vehicle’s surroundings by a full 360°. There are two more lidars on the roof of the bus, one of which looks 180° forwards and one of which looks 180° backwards, so that the full 360° of the surroundings is also covered from the roof. The operator has a joystick in case he needs or wants to intervene.
Use of the Ohmio Lift not only for the CFL
In addition to the two trolleys for Luxembourg’s CFL, Ohmio Lift can also be found at Amsterdam Shiphol Airport and in Kuopio, Finland, where it is used on public roads, as in Belval. Robert Sykora, head of Ohmio Europe: ‘Our “lift” is reliable even in colder temperatures.’ There are four other projects in the UK.
More Ohmio to come
Meanwhile, a smaller Ohmio has joined the ‘Lift’, the ‘Hop’ for four to six passengers. And finally, it may be interesting to know that ‘Ohmio Europa’ is based in Luxembourg.
30.05.2024
