The world’s safest e-scooter just got safer

Thanks to an ever-evolving operating system, upgraded wirelessly, LINK scooters get smarter and safer with age

The world of shared micromobility is changing rapidly, but not every e-scooter can keep up. Imagine a world in which automatic “over-the-air” upgrades made scooters safer to ride, safer for pedestrians and more compliant with local regulations. This would allow scooters to continuously evolve, rather than being sent to landfill. Not only would such technology be a huge leap forward in sustainability, but it would also mean that every city would benefit from the latest safety advances as soon as they become available.

This is not the stuff of dreams. Today, Superpedestrian unveiled its latest operating system, which will be installed on every one of its LINK e-scooters across the world immediately via an over-the-air update, just like Tesla automobiles. Codenamed Briggs, the new operating system cuts geofence reaction time to just 0.7s; boosts onboard geofence map storage to 24,000 discrete zones; and increases vehicle range to 61 miles, among many other benefits. Every LINK in Superpedestrian’s global fleets is suddenly even smarter and safer than ever.

But how is this possible?

VIS: a supercomputer on two wheels

In January 2020, Superpedestrian unveiled LINK, the world’s most advanced shared electric scooter. Heralded as “the Volvo of e-scooters” (Boston Globe), LINK’s patented active safety and geofencing capabilities immediately set new standards in rider and pedestrian protection.

Built on seven years of AI development, two years of hardware design, and unprecedented vehicle validation testing, LINK is the most self-aware vehicle of its type, thanks to VIS (Vehicle Intelligent Safety system).

This sophisticated onboard system combines artificial intelligence, 73 sensors and five microprocessors to power unprecedented safety features. VIS runs 1,000 vehicle health checks every second during each ride, and monitors, governs and fine-tunes vehicle performance in real-time. With VIS, each LINK scooter carefully watches for 140 different safety-critical conditions, and immediately safely ends a ride or removes itself from service if it detects a fault. Live data on vehicle status is monitored by local operations teams and our central engineering teams at our control center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In short, VIS is as big a step-change in scooter safety as the seat belt was for automobiles — and allows us to continuously upgrade LINK scooters by remotely refreshing software.

“LINK is engineered to get smarter over time — our ability to continuously upgrade the operating system makes LINK unique,” says Assaf Biderman, Founder and CEO of Superpedestrian. “If a city partner comes to us with a new idea, we can easily add that, thanks to VIS. This makes for constantly-improving vehicles for riders, better protection for pedestrians and more robust safety performance for cities. Cities should demand nothing less for their citizens.”

Briggs: supercharging scooter safety

Briggs is the successor to our first OS, Asimov, and features major advancements in active safety. Key updates include:

• 22% faster geofence reaction. By storing geofence maps and enforcement commands onboard, LINK cuts the lag time experienced by all other e-scooters, which rely on cellular connections and cloud computing. Now, all LINK scooters can react in just 0.7s (previously 0.9s). That’s a 22% speed improvement, making the industry’s fastest-responding geofence system even better at safeguarding protected areas and keeping all city residents safe.
• 3X capacity for onboard geofences. Every LINK now has three times more storage for onboard geofence maps. LINK’s 223 Seattle-specific geofence zones were already the most of any provider in any single city. The Briggs operating system can now accommodate 24,000 discrete onboard zones per city, allowing precise protection throughout complex urban environments.
• 7X more precise geofence accuracy. Enhanced mapping resolution makes parking control more precise and speeds geofence enforcement.
• 10% more range. Increased powertrain efficiency boosts scooter range from 55 to 61 miles on a single charge: a 10% increase, and now three times the range of common alternatives.
• Two days of extra battery life. We’ve optimized Briggs to increase LINK’s battery standby life, which jumps from 20 to 22 days — a 10% increase. This reduces charging frequency, further reducing LINK’s carbon footprint.

A simple plan for a super-smart scooter

We design for peace of mind. For cities, that means a scooter smart enough to keep riders out of trouble (and away from pedestrians) and reliable enough to meet the rigors of public use. For riders, that means trusting that every LINK available to rent has a clean bill of health thanks to its comprehensive self-diagnostic system.

Superpedestrian is unique in the shared micromobility space because we house all design, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain processes under one roof, alongside our operations teams. This creates unparalleled information flows between our city fleets and our central engineering teams, helping us on our never-ending quest to do better for our riders, our communities and our city partners.

We’re looking forward to serving your city for years to come — quietly, reliably, and safely, with a scooter that only gets smarter with age.