The team behind Sensible 4’s self-driving shuttle bus GACHA wins the Finnish engineering prize for 2020. The prize, worth €30,000 is awarded each year to a person or group for the most creative idea that has contributed to Finnish engineering.
Sensible 4 develops autonomous driving software that turns any vehicle into self-driving and allows it to drive in any weather or environment. The motivation for the award states: “Difficult weather conditions are the Achilles heel for autonomous driving. Thanks to Sensible 4’s technical solution GACHA can drive in the rain, fog and even snow”. According to the jury, GACHA is a brave reach into the future.
The other finalists this year were Valmet, ABB, Sandvik and CH-BioForce. Sensible 4’s CEO Harri Santamala: “Winning feels excellent especially considering the level of the finalists. The award demonstrates that even small startups can create world-class technology. I am very proud of our team”.
Sensible 4 develops shared driverless vehicle technology, and their mission is to bring it to the mainstream within the near future. Last year GACHA had pilots in several Finnish cities. One of them, between the Nokia-campus and the train station in Kera, Espoo will be one of the first permanent autonomous shuttle routes in the world, part of a public transportation system. The goal of the city of Espoo is to establish the route within the next two years.
GACHA is currently operating in mixed traffic as part of the company’s flagship pilot in the Pasila district of Helsinki — with a fleet of three self-driving vehicles, an on-demand mobile app and a Remote Control Centre (RCC). The pilot opens to the public for the first time on June 10th with a limited amount of passengers.
Sensible 4 recently raised $7 million from Japanese investors in their Series A funding round, in February. Since then the company has more than doubled from under 30 to over 60 people.
Sensible 4’s award-winning GACHA team
- Harri Santamala
- Tommi Rimpiläinen
- Jari Saarinen
- Jussi Suomela
- Teemu Korhonen
- Bilal Ahmad
- Tommi Berg
- Fredrik Forssell
- Umar Hamid
- Aku Kyyhkynen
- Marko Lindroos
- Janne Luukkaa
- Jalmari Matilainen
- Miika Nousiainen
- Maria Santamala
- Aleksi Tepponen
- Tuomas Tiira
- Ert Ülle
- Svyatoslav Beletskiy
- Jukka Latvakoski
- Jaakko Järvinen
- Masi Järvinen
- Sampo Kuikka
- Rajkumar Muthusamy
- José-Luis Peralta
- Jarkko Salonen
- Timo Suomala
- Sampo Säilä
- Tapio Taipalus
- Juha Tuomola
About Sensible 4
Sensible 4 is a Finnish self-driving technology company developing full-stack software for autonomous vehicles. Their unique technology combines information from multiple sensors (sensor fusion), allowing their self-driving cars to operate even in the most challenging of weather conditions.
Their technology was awarded Best Startup at the prestigious Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Cars in October 2019, and their autonomous shuttle bus GACHA has collected multiple design awards.
Contact
Harri Santamala, CEO and founder, Sensible 4
+358 40 334 1516
Mikaela Henriksson, Communications specialist, Sensible 4
+358 40 071 6980
Jussi-Pekka Teini, TEK
+358 40 7059755
Pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z0qgv60ow5fup8h/AAAnwV8DTfe-kodkCH0k4WQJa?dl=0
Photographer: Suvi-Tuuli Kankaanpää