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"       In a parking lot outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center, a small shuttle snakes its way around a lined course, stopping occasionally to open up its gate-like doors for passengers. But there are no passengers. There isn&amp;#039;t even a driver. And although there are lines showing the shuttle&amp;#039;s path, it doesn&amp;#039;t need them. The demonstration is meant to show off the capabilities of Induct&amp;#039;s Navia, a quirky little electric people-mover that could be many people&amp;#039;s first encounter with an autonomous vehicle.   Induct is a French robotics company founded by Pierre Lefevre. His son, Max Lefevre, serves as the company&amp;#039;s marketing and communications director. The fact that the two are so heavily involved in driverless technologies is ironic considering both were professional racers. Max, who gave the Navia demonstrations at CES, was the 2007 French Formula Ford Champion and 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 Western European Champion. He also raced in the Atlantic Championship. Now he&amp;#039;s talking to me as we coast around the demo course at the Navia&amp;#039;s top speed of 12.5 mph. The ride is smooth and predictable. &amp;quot;It works like a horizontal elevator,&amp;quot; Lefevre says.  Intended to alleviate congestion in pedestrian-heavy areas such as corporate campuses, city centers, and theme parks, the Navia doesn&amp;#039;t use cameras to navigate. Instead, it uses a pre-programmed route to make its designated stopping points. According to Lefevre, the Navia took about an hour to learn the CES course and would take a few days to learn a route around a corporate or college campus.   If there is an obstruction\u2014say a pedestrian steps in front of the vehicle, the car in front stops, or a tree branch is down\u2014the Navia uses lasers to read its surroundings. It can automatically slow down until the car or person has moved, and in the case of the down branch, go around the obstacle. If it gauges that the trajectory of a pedestrian or vehicle won&amp;#039;t interfere with its route, then it doesn&amp;#039;t stop.   The cost of one vehicle is about $250,000, but as Lefevre points out, that&amp;#039;s about the same as the yearly cost of a normal shuttle that requires a driver, gas, and routine maintenance. Plus, passengers can call this shuttle using a smartphone app.  The Navia uses a lithium-ion phosphate battery for power and takes about 7 hours to fully charge. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re working on lithium sulphur, but it requires larger batteries,&amp;quot; Lefevre says. The company is also developing an induction charging system.  A screen on the inside of the vehicle allows passengers to watch their progress along the route, stop the vehicle in an emergency, and see the time to the next destination. With a bright glare making the screen hard to read, Lefevre notes that there are still some issues to work out. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re at the perfect place to solve this problem,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;We have to have some meetings.&amp;quot;   This particular Navia shuttle can fit up to 10 people and is designed to accommodate a wheelchair. A pair of stepped cushioned railings allow passengers to take a load off without wasting valuable space on seats. Lefevre says that Induct is also working on an enclosed version of the Navia and a few other future concepts to sell. But the company is less concerned with making the vehicles than selling the software and technology that empowers them. &amp;quot;We decided to make this to show how it works,&amp;quot; Lefevre says.  Induct&amp;#039;s Navia shuttle is currently being tested on college campuses in Switzerland, Britain and Singapore. There are no definite plans for deployment in the U.S. just yet, but Lefevre expects that the first Navias could start landing in the States as soon as this year.     "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a9912/ces-2014-the-navia-driverless-electric-shuttle-could-be-the-first-autonomous-vehicle-you-meet-16367628/>