European launch of the A-Star, autonomous shuttle-bus
Today the fully electric, autonomous A-Star shuttle bus designed by DCA for Xiamen Golden Dragon will be officially launched in Europe at the BusWorld exhibition in Brussels, Belgium.This follows an extensive testing program in Asia and Israel where it was introduced earlier this year.
This is DCA’s second vehicle designed for Xiamen Golden Dragon, following on from the multiple award-winning Navigator introduced at BusWorld in 2017. The A-Star has been developed as an autonomous and electric vehicle from the ground up and designed to shuttle passengers between airports, train stations, businesses, car parks and city centres. The A-Star is helping cities reduce pollution, congestion and lower their carbon footprint by providing a practical and efficient last-mile solution.
The A-Star also serves as an innovation platform for Golden Dragon. It has enabled Golden Dragon to develop and implement new technologies that will be used in the future to extend its autonomous capabilities in the transition to a Stage-5 fully autonomous vehicle.
The interior has been designed to evolve with development of the autonomous capabilities and supports different interior layouts. The use of compact batteries stowed safely within the specially designed chassis allows for a 100% low floor. Large doors, a flexible combination of seating and standing space and two large real-time information screens mean passengers are comfortably and efficiently transported between hubs. The friendly and approachable exterior houses the multiple sensors and cameras needed for autonomous driving and minimises their visual impact whilst protecting passengers as part of its advanced control system.
DCA designed the interior and exterior in our studios in Warwick using advanced Virtual Reality (VR) throughout the design process to evaluate the visual aesthetic and test passenger interactions with the interior and exterior features.
The A-star will be on display from the 17th till the 22nd of October in Brussels.
