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25 4 autonomous vehicle systems. The company went on to sell them for use in restricted Operational Design Domains (ODDs), free of other traffic, to carry people around facilities such as business parks and university campuses, and often connecting them with other mass transit systems in first- and last-mile applications. 2getthere was spun out of FROG Navigation Systems by the latter’s founder Carel van Helsdingen, and Robbert Lohmann, 2getthere’s chief commercial officer, in 2007. Within a year, they had sold their first personal rapid transit (PRT) system to Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. The system is based on smaller, four-seat vehicles and entered service in 2010. In March 2019, German automotive technology giant ZF bought the company. One of the earliest installations of the GRT system was the ParkShuttle set of vehicles at Rivium Business Park near Rotterdam, the first generation of which entered service in 1999. It was superseded in 2006 by the second generation, with 22-passenger vehicles, and is now preparing for a fleet of the third-generation shuttles. At this point, it is worth a quick walk- through of the evolution of the vehicles deployed at Rivium and operated by public transport company Connexxion. The first-generation vehicle had a rigid chassis with no suspension, while the cabin was suspended on springs to cushion the ride for the passengers. This unusual configuration was used to get around a problem with the obstacle detection and braking systems when installed on a vehicle with a conventional chassis. On detecting an obstacle in the vehicle’s path, the system would apply the brakes, the vehicle would pitch forward and the obstacle sensor would then perceive the road surface as another obstacle even closer to the vehicle, and apply the brakes harder. While the rigid chassis solved this problem, hitting bumps made the cabin bounce around uncomfortably. Despite these drawbacks, the first- generation system performed well enough for Connexxion to order the second generation, but it wanted vehicles with better ride comfort and more passenger capacity, Lohmann says. This required a new design using air 2getthere third-generation shuttle | Dossier The system for Connexxion performed well enough, but it wanted vehicles with better ride comfort and more capacity Unmanned Systems Technology | October/November 2020 The shuttle undergoing trials at the Rivium business park near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It has a large area of glass, which contributes to the body’s structural strength (Images courtesy of 2getthere) The interior can be configured with up to 12 seats plus space for six passengers standing, while a high- density configuration seats eight with 14 standing