Dublin’s Luna ride-shares with Segway on mobility safety tech

8 Jun 2023

Luna CEO and co-founder Andrew Fleury. Image: Luna

A new partnership will see Luna’s computer vision tech deployed across new offerings from Segway to enable faster global scale.

Dublin-based Luna Systems has announced a partnership with Segway-Ninebot that will see the mobility safety start-up’s technology be deployed across Segway’s micromobility offerings.

Announced today (8 June) at the Micromobility Europe conference held in Amsterdam, the partnership is aimed at updating Segway’s new open platform and retrofit camera-based tech with Luna’s AI-powered algorithmic offering.

Errant shared e-scooter use, such as riding on the footpath, disorderly parking and collisions, are key security concerns in the deployment of micromobility technology across cities.

Backed by former Irish rugby player Brian O’Driscoll among others, Luna develops AI tech for the growing e-scooter market by using precise positioning and computer vision to let operators know where e-scooters are and how they are being parked and ridden. For example, Luna technology detects if an e-scooter is in a heavily pedestrianised area.

Luna hopes the latest partnership with Segway will enable faster scale across the global market, providing operators with greater access to the technology.

“We have always believed in the potential of shared micromobility to make a meaningful impact on car reduction. Despite recent developments in Paris, this mode of transport continues to be a popular choice across the globe,” said Andrew Fleury, co-founder and CEO of Luna.

“We set off in 2020 with the mission of making these schemes more scalable. Core to this were safety issues such as sidewalk riding and collisions. This partnership will make a significant impact so that schemes can realise their full potential.”

Luna was involved in Ireland’s first major e-scooter trial at Dublin City University (DCU), in a collaboration with Tier, Science Foundation Ireland’s Insight research centre for data analytics and SmartDCU.

Last April, Luna became the first Irish company to receive funding from a new EU initiative called New European Bauhaus initiative from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology that aims to help the delivery of the European Green Deal.

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Vish Gain is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com