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Local Motors' AV shuttle to serve Army, Marine Corp. base near D.C.

Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall won a regional fleet challenge, which asked entrants to propose use-case scenarios for the shuttle.

June 21, 2019
Local Motors' AV shuttle to serve Army, Marine Corp. base near D.C.

Local Motors' self-driving, cognitive, 3D-printed shuttle will serve a military base near Washington, D.C.

Local Motors

2 min to read


Local Motors' self-driving, cognitive, 3D-printed shuttle will serve a military base near Washington, D.C. Local Motors

Local Motors, by LM Industries Group Inc., known for 3D-printed mobility solutions, will deploy a fleet of autonomous shuttles, known as Olli, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall near Washington, D.C.

The deployment is months in the making and comes as the result of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall winning a regional fleet challenge, which asked entrants to propose use-case scenarios for the electric, self-driving shuttle. A panel of judges, including Jason Miller, CEO of Greater Washington Partnership; Shailen Bhatt, president and CEO of ITS America; and Scott Frisch, COO and executive VP at AARP, evaluated all of the submissions for the challenge.

Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, an Army and Marine Corps joint base adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, plans to use the shuttles to transport base personnel to a variety of stops, including the community center, dining options, a health clinic, and barracks. Engineers from Local Motors have been working with base personnel over the past few weeks to map the route that Olli will use.

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The Olli Fleet Challenge is part of an ongoing, first-of-its-kind global initiative in which Local Motors has invited municipalities, campuses and designated districts to propose a short-term, local use for Olli, the world's first co-created, self-driving electric shuttle. Olli shuttles have already been deployed to Sacramento State's campus and to a busy thoroughfare in Australia, and they are operating at the California State Exposition.

Additional fleet challenges are in progress in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Southern California.

All of the deployments are designed to introduce new landscapes and use possibilities for self-driving technology in a way that illustrates to riders that autonomous vehicles are safe and easy to use, according to the company. Unlike vehicles similar to it, Olli uses obstacle-avoidance technology to find routes around objects that block its path.

Olli, which employs a responsive-cognitive function, is an environmentally-friendly vehicle designed to change the future of mobility. A safe and efficient shuttle, Olli is a viable and sustainable transportation option for cities, companies, hospitals, campuses, stadiums, entertainment districts, and any other location where people need to move from one place to another, the company said.

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