E-scooter smart-tech startup Luna is partnering with Los Angeles-based micromobility teleoperations startup JUMPWatts to tackle major challenges confronting the global e-scooter industry. Two of the major issues are e-scooters being in the wrong location relative to user demand and the cluttering of sidewalks, leading to inconvenience and hazards particularly for wheelchair users and the visually impaired.
They are aiming to combine teleoperation and computer vision technologies to improve the safety and operational efficiency of shared electric scooter fleets for riders, pedestrians, operators, and cities.
JUMPWatts has created a suite of technologies it calls Virtual Valet that allows any e-scooter to right itself if tipped over, remotely reposition itself to a designated parking zone, and be summoned by riders to a specific location. Co-founded by Arun Gunasekaran, CEO, and Bryan Ovalle, COO, the company says its teleoperation technology can eliminate manual labor operations while providing parking compliance. Combined with touchless cleaning and intelligent automation for remote docking and high-speed charging, it says its solution benefits shared e-scooter operators with a potential 150% increase in ride revenue, up to 40% increase in fleet profitability, 95% reduction in sidewalk nuisances, and 80% reduction of logistic CO2.
Luna provides what it says are world’s-first computer-vision solutions to shared micromobility operators to tackle the issues associated with e-scooter rental schemes such as footpath/sidewalk riding, pedestrian collision, and improper parking. Andrew Fleury, CEO, and Ronan Furlong, CBDO, co-founded the company and built a team with skillsets across machine-to-machine communications, fleet management, computer vision, and Internet of Things disciplines to address some of the biggest challenges in the micromobility and unmanned autonomy industries.
“We are both working towards similar goals of addressing safety solutions for electric scooters and we believe that together we can accelerate our companies’ joint objectives,” said Luna’s Fleury. “The issue of e-scooter footpath clutter is one that is currently hampering numerous cities and towns across the world. Luna believes that the combined technologies of Luna and JUMPWatts will help to address this issue and offer a solution that will be compelling for both operators and cities alike.”
The micromobility space is ripe for innovations that not only improve the bottom line for fleet operators but also create a better experience for users and municipalities, believes JUMPWatts’ Gunasekaran.
“Our vehicle enhancement technology, Virtual Valet, is just that—a way to increase profitability and decrease chaos in the streets,” he said. “Our Virtual Valet technology can be retrofitted to enhance existing fleets or designed into vehicles for direct integration. Utilizing Luna Systems’ advanced computer vision software alongside our offering provides best in class situational awareness for our remote repositioning systems.”
The companies are planning to work together on a pilot project in Dublin. The technologies will be tested in partnership with Smart DCU, a District of Smart Dublin—an initiative founded by the four Dublin Local Authorities with the goal of future-proofing the region by trialing and scaling innovative solutions to a wide range of local challenges.
The partners believe that the combination of their technologies in the pilot project will help to accelerate the adoption of shared e-scooter schemes by solving key safety and governance issues being identified by city authorities around the globe. JUMPWatts’ teleoperation and autonomous technology combined with Luna’s vision technology will make fleet operations much more cost-effective for operators and will make dockless micromobility much more attractive to cities.
The new semi-autonomous fleets enabled by the collaboration will also be able to collect smart-city data ranging from road condition monitoring and crowd analytics to traffic congestion alerts and curbside management applications.
