Uber said to be developing self-driving electric scooters and bicycles

Self-driving electric scooters and bicycles at Uber have made news a bunch of times in the past, and now the company is said to be hiring engineers for the self-driving tech. These electric scooters and bicycles could drive themselves around cities in order to reach customers and charging points. Electric scooter and bicycle-sharing services including the ones from Uber as well as competitors Bird and Lime, allow customers to pick up the vehicles and then leave them on the pavement outside their destination. The businesses then pay contractors to collect, charge and repair the scooters and bicycles when they’re not in use. It’s a costly logistical operation which significantly reduces profits for the operators. Uber announced on Saturday that it had begun hiring a “micro-mobility robotics” team to develop scooters and bicycles which could drive themselves to the charging points, potentially removing the need for costly contractors paid to collect them. However, Uber hasn’t published any further information on the project, but said in an online hiring page that it plans to “improve safety, rider experience, and operational efficiency of our shared electric scooters and bicycles through the application of sensing and robotics technologies.” Uber’s self-driving car division was temporarily shut down last ...