Aurrigo :
‘Elliot’ trial

The retirement village on the south coast that's proving age is no barrier when it comes to new technology. Its residents have embraced a new driverless vehicle that's helping them get from A to B.

Project overview

To investigate the market viability of autonomous vehicles in the retirement village context, Aurrigo, in collaboration with Regional Development Australia, launched a trial at the Lendlease owned Elliot Gardens retirement village at Port Elliot (South Australia).

The trial was supported by the Government of South Australia Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure (DPTI), and the Alexandrina Council, as part of the South Australian Government’s Future Mobility Lab Fund, which aims to encourage and stimulate developments in connected and autonomous vehicles and position South Australia at the forefront of these emerging technologies.

Aurrigo is a leading manufacturer of driverless vehicle technologies based in the UK with offices in the US, Canada and Australia.

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One of Aurrigo’s three Adelaide based podzero vehicles which have been operating since late 2017 at the Tonsley Innovation District as part of the South Australian government’s Future Mobility Lab Fund program was assigned to the trial.

The battery powered podzero, Elliot, operated autonomously through multiple sensor technologies with speeds of up to 10 km/h through the village and had capacity for four passengers.  Elliot was available on various routes Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm (excluding public holidays) throughout the village to make accessing the pod easier for residents. 

To take a ride, residents could hail Elliot at the community centre or when it was passing, by SMS or phone. 

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The TriaL

The Global Centre for Modern Ageing (GCMA) conducted independent research on the resident mobility behaviour information and user feedback of the autonomous mobility service and the usage of the pod, which it is hoped will contribute to Aurrigo’s future service and technical developments. 

The aim of the research was to assist Aurrigo to develop a service which enhances mobility and social interaction in every community where they operate.

“The team at the Global Centre for Modern Ageing displayed the highest levels of professionalism, commitment and rigour to our autonomous vehicle project. There were many and varied stakeholders and the research team took a lead role in communicating with those stakeholders. The GCMA team displayed not only a high level of research capability but took a genuine interest in the customers’ experience and responses in the trial.”

- Roger van der Lee,  Director Autonomous Programs APAC, Aurrigo Pty Ltd

OUtcomes

The research project provided evidence that there is considerable scope to increase the participant uptake of an autonomous vehicle trial.

Based on the findings presented in the full report, we provided recommendations for Aurrigo to consider for future trials.

media REleases and photos

  • View the pictures from our Aurrigo end of trial celebration and co-design workshop with residents

media coverage

More information

If you are interested in learning more about this project or how we can help your business, we’d love to hear from you!
Please call +61 8 6117 5510 to speak to a member of our team today.