Micro Vehicles and the Future

As the name suggests, micro vehicles is a term used to loosely describe vehicles that are typically below 1100 pounds – 500 kilograms in metric terms – and operate at speeds below 25 kilometers per hour or 15 miles an hour.

Some perfect examples would include bicycles, skateboards, electric scooters, electric bikes among many others.

What is Micromobility?

By definition, micromobility refers to the use of micro vehicles which, as described above, are lightweight vehicles typically below 500 kilos. Micromobility has become quite popular of late in major cities and otherwise all over the world.

They are particularly very handy in navigating those vintage, old towns with narrow streets – whose architecture is just breathtaking I might add.

Have you ever thought of just riding up to work or going to the store to get some groceries on your bike or scooter for that matter? If no I would suggest having a go at it for, well a couple of reasons.

Reasons for Using Micromobility

Cheap mode of travel

It doesn’t get any cheaper than just hopping onto your bike or skateboard and just riding away to wherever you are going. If anything, you would only have to pay your legs for cycling you there. For the modes that you would have to pay for like e-bikes and e-scooters, it still is considerably cheaper than using a cab or riding the bus.

Convenient and fast

There literally are zero logistics involved in getting on a bike and you certainly do not need any special skills bar knowing how to ride a bike which I must say is not that special a skill. Convenience comes in when navigating heavy traffic and you can just seamlessly weave your way through along cycling lanes.

Environmental-friendly

This is owing to the fact that they have zero carbon emission with no fossil fuels being burnt and you can be on your merry way without worrying about damaging mother earth’s ozone layer which in truth is keeping us alive. With many people now conscious about saving our mother planet, micromobility has been the way to go.

Safety

One of the major reasons for the popularity gained by micromobility is its safety. The odds of crashing to death on your bike because you were speeding are far much lower than when using other means of transport.

That said, however, to absolutely achieve safe micromobility, other road users, pedestrians, and motorists alike have to be at the top of their game with regard to following traffic rules and what not.

Accidents Today

In the modern day, accidents have sadly been more common than any of us would have preferred. These accidents are however preventable depending on the nature of what causes them. For instance, after a night out with your squad it is common knowledge that absolutely under no circumstances should you get behind the wheel, right? Well, turns out that knowledge is not that common after all, and – long story short – lives are lost and lots of damage caused, needlessly so.

Even without man, accidents still do happen with respect to autonomous cars also called self-driving cars.

Prevention? Better Than Cure

Besides finding a cure to utter human ignorance, the marvel that is science has found some ways to curb this plague.

Regardless of the programming that goes on, no disrespect to engineers, there is no algorithm that can predict a ball rolling onto the road and a kid running after it right in front of a self-driving car. Self-driving cars as it is have countless sensors to perceive their surroundings. That said, some functionalities are impossible to execute such as seeing round a bend and that is where v2x comes in a safe micromobility platform.

Vehicle to Everything

Somewhere in a perfect alternate world, vehicles are able to communicate with virtually anything that affects them as an entity and this perfect alternate world will be the reality of our world soon.

Taking that into account, vehicle to everything is a communication between a vehicle and any other entity that may affect or may be affected by the vehicle itself.

It amalgamates other specific types of communications as discussed below:

Vehicle to network or V2N

Refers to when a vehicle accesses the network for cloud-based services. It is also referred to as vehicle-to-cloud or V2C.

Vehicle to infrastructure or V2I

It is the exchange of data between a vehicle and roadside units. A roadside unit refers to equipment that is installed alongside roads.

A sample use of this is broadcasting traffic conditions to drivers.

Vehicle to vehicle or V2V

It is the transfer of data or information between vehicles. It offers a little more than basic sensors in the sense that information can be transmitted to and from a couple of hundred meters away or even through barriers like a truck in between the vehicles.

Vehicle to pedestrian or V2P

It is the exchange of data between cars and pedestrians.

How v2x Works As a Safe Micromobility Platform

In a vehicle-to-everything system, vehicles use their sensors to send data using high-bandwidth and high-reliability links. Each individual car has a sensor that sends data to other vehicles or infrastructure such as traffic lights and parking spaces.

Information shared is about surrounding entities such as weather conditions, traffic conditions, nearby accidents, road works notices among others. Information of this nature enhances the driver’s awareness of what surrounds them, which, in retrospect, reduces the chances of accidents all the while improving traffic efficiency.

As technologies varies in practically everything, this is no different and as a result, there are two classes.

Dedicated short-range communication

DSRC links two senders that are in close proximity to each other enabling them to communicate without the need for a specific communication device. The fact that no specific device is needed for communication makes it suitable for less developed areas.

It operates in short-range that is distances less than one kilometer and runs in the unlicensed 5.9 GHZ band. DRSC provides basic information like accident notices and toll payments.

DRSC is completely unaffected by weather conditions however harsh which essentially means even in times of heavy rains or snow, it still can scan the environment and deliver accurate data.

Cellular vehicle to everything communication

It is an alternative to DSRC that uses LTE as the chief fundamental technology. LTE, an acronym for Long Term Evolution, is a standard broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals.

Vehicle-to-everything technology is an engineering marvel that allows vehicles to communicate with their surroundings as well as with each other over distances of about a mile. Here are some advantages.

Time saving

Traffic jams are basically the reason people are late to places in major urban areas and with this technology, vehicles can communicate with roadside units like traffic lights and traffic management systems which could allow for the prediction of the best route to take.

Convenience for drivers

Nothing is more calming to any driver really than knowing what is up ahead or knowing beforehand the traffic situation so they can avoid congested areas.

Enhanced traffic safety

With the capabilities this technology has, road accidents are greatly avoided with the information transmitted such as a notification that the car right up ahead is braking so you can be prepared to brake as well.