Vay utilises teledrivers at dedicated hubs to remotely deliver rental EVs to customers. Once finished, customers park it before the teledriver takes over driving back to its hub.
The company uses cameras instead of more costly lidar sensors to reduce costs, yet still requires plenty of data for their system to function effectively.
It marks the first time Vay, which has received funding to the tune of $110 million, has launched a commercial teledriving operation in the U.S.
Vay is using its fleet of electric vehicles to provide doorstep mobility services in the city. Customers order vehicles through Vay’s app and have them delivered directly to them; once at their destination, teledrivers take over to park it – eliminating the need for drivers to spend time searching for parking spots.
Vay is different than its rivals in that its fleet relies on human operators rather than safety drivers in its cars, making its system an intermediate step toward full autonomy, according to Vay founder Thomas von der Ohe.
Teledrivers sit in a control center where they can observe the vehicle from multiple screens and headphones, using cameras on its vehicles which are significantly cheaper than lidar sensors commonly found on autonomous car developers. Furthermore, these cameras can help spot other road users and flag them for the teledrivers to highlight.
It’s based in Las Vegas
Vay, which established itself in Europe and raised over $110 million, has expanded into the US market with their door-to-door teledriving service. Their teledrivers will operate rental electric cars before and after customers take control.
Customers open the Vay app, select their vehicle of choice and wait while it is teledriven over to them at their pickup location. When arriving, customers hop inside and drive it directly to their destination – or summon another teledriver once there to park it for another user or return it back to Vay.
Teledrivers use cameras, GPS, radar, ultrasound and various sensors to recreate a car’s environment at a special teledriving station. Remote controls consisting of steering wheels pedals and monitors are used to operate and drive the vehicle remotely. Vay CEO Thomas von der Ohe believes his company provides a midpoint between fully autonomous robotaxis and traditional car-sharing services.
It’s a step toward autonomous driving
Vay has been testing driverless cars on Berlin streets as part of its test program. While not completely autonomous yet, their teledrivers operate them from stations equipped with basic driver’s seat setups and several monitors providing them a full view of road environments with no blind spots.
The company states this technology will enable them to offer mobility services that eliminate parking searches and lower inner city costs, while gradually introducing autonomous features – an approach they believe will generate real revenues more rapidly than traditional AV companies while meeting regulatory requirements and road safety. Their goal is Level 4 autonomy as defined by SAE International standards group; that represents one step toward fully self-driving cars which would require lidar sensors costing upwards of $100,000 for setup.
It’s not a ride-hailing service
Vay’s remote-first model takes an interesting approach to autonomous vehicles. Customers use its app to order cars and then teledrivers control them remotely from a control center.
This technology ensures a safe introduction of driverless mobility services that cities and users can depend on. Rigorous training equips teledrivers to operate cars safely and defensively while abiding by road traffic regulations.
Vay’s teledrivers operate cars from specialized control centers equipped with steering wheels and pedals as well as multiple screens showing an overview of their surroundings. Each teledriver also comes equipped with a headset transmitting audio directly to customers so they can use voice command technology when speaking with the car via Vay Telecars. In case of emergency or breakdown repairs on their own vehicle, these drivers have also been trained to take over in an instantaneous fashion.
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