to move COVID-19 tests from a Jacksonville, Florida testing site to a nearby Mayo Clinic processing location, in what the medical nonprofit is calling a “first” for the US. But as is often the case with autonomous vehicle pilot programs, there’s a catch: during each run made to and from the clinic, the self-driving shuttles are being trailed by an SUV driven by a human.
The SUV can be spotted in a video released by the Mayo Clinic , after one of the Mayo Clinic workers loads the cooler of tests onto the self-driving shuttle. The SUV then follows the shuttle across the Mayo Clinic’s campus, where the batch of fresh tests is swapped for another cooler. Four of these vehicles have made the same run back and forth each day since March 30th.
The Mayo Clinic also “wanted to have as many precautions in place as possible,” according to David Cawton II, the communications director for JTA. Since JTA has been using these autonomous shuttles for a few yearsattendants on board, Cawton II said the agency believes it’s collecting valuable information and experience “even if this service is operating with an extra layer of human oversight or remote interaction.
Still, humans aren’t as fully out of the delivery loop as it may seem. Aside from the shadow cars, Beep, the Mayo Clinic, and the JTA are also “closely monitor[ing]” the shuttles from a “mobile command center” to make sure there are no problems with the deliveries. Getting tests done quickly and safely is a huge priority right now, especially considering how long it took the US to spin up a serious testing regime. But the new autonomous shuttle-aided effort in Florida is just the latest example of how hard it still is to