Clever eNews - April 2025 - Mission: Autonomous
Clever Devices
Leading provider of ITS technology for all modes of public transport including fixed-route, rail, BRT, and paratransit.
Making Autonomous Buses a Reality at CapMetro
Clever Devices participated in CapMetro's Industry Day in April, where the first-ever autonomous bus was successfully tested. The vehicle navigated several rounds throughout the yard and precisely docked underneath a pantograph to initiate charge.
The project details: In 2023, the FTA awarded grants to six projects to further research in transit automation technologies, including CapMetro's YARD program. Clever Devices, Perrone Robotics, WSP, and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute were selected as partners.
Here's what the proposed path for an autonomous bus in the yard would look like:
🚌 Entrance: Driver manually sets the vehicle to Autonomous mode
🚿 Wash Bay: Bus navigates autonomously to the bus wash
⚡Precision Docking and Charging: Bus navigates and precisely aligns with the overhead pantograph to initiate charging
🚍 Parking: Bus proceeds to its assigned parking location and shuts down
🚌 Pull Out: Bus recalls to front yard, ready to work
Check out the animation below to see the pathing in action!
This represents a significant step towards enhancing the efficiency and safety of bus operations for all major metropolitan areas. At Clever Devices, we're committed to innovation and look forward to where this important research takes transit next.
Read about the project in our press release here. And you can learn more about the FTA's automated transit bus demonstrations and pilots here.
Picture It: Incident Reports That Write Themselves
It happens every day: an incident occurs, and your dispatchers scramble to fill out a form, manually entering details while trying to juggle other urgent tasks. Later, you realize a simple number mix-up has made it nearly impossible to track the vehicle involved. Now, you're spending valuable time correcting errors instead of resolving the situation. Sound familiar?
There's a better way! Imagine a system where incident reports practically write themselves, leaving no room for errors and giving your team back valuable time. That's the reality with CleverCAD. Read more on the blog!
Where in the World is Clever Devices?
🌍Coast to coast and even overseas! Where will you see the Clever Devices team next? Grab a pretzel and take a look at our upcoming event list below.
🚍NCPTA Conference: April 25-30, 2025, in Cherokee, NC. Visit us at Booth 71!
🥨UITP Summit: June 16-18, 2025, in Hamburg, Germany. Visit us at Hall A3- Booth A3410!
🚋APTA Rail 2025: June 29 - July 2, 2025, in San Francisco, CA
Visit our events page for the complete list of 2025 events. See you there!