nuTonomy, a start-up software developing company for self-driving cars, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Boston and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, for testing self-driving cars on specific public streets in a designated area of Boston.

The company will be testing its self-driving Renault Zoe electric vehicle by the end of the year in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in the Seaport section of the city.

nuTonomy self-drivinbg electric vehicle will be equipped with a new software system, which will be integrated with high-performance sensing and computing components, to enable safe operation without a driver.

nuTonomy CEO and co-founder of Karl Iagnemma said: “Boston and Massachusetts are leaders in rethinking the future of transportation, and we are grateful for their partnership and support of nuTonomy’s efforts to develop a fleet of self-driving cars to serve the public.

“These tests in the City of Boston will enable our engineers to adapt our autonomous vehicle software to the weather and traffic challenges of this unique driving environment.

“Testing our self-driving cars so near to nuTonomy’s home is the next step towards our ultimate goal: deployment of a safe, efficient, fully autonomous mobility-on-demand transportation service.”

The company’s autonomous and robotics technology systems were developed by co-founders Karl Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli.

"These tests in the City of Boston will enable our engineers to adapt our autonomous vehicle software to the weather and traffic challenges of this unique driving environment."

The road tests in Boston will help nuTonomy to further enhance their knowledge and understanding it has gained from the public road tests and public trials it has been conducting in Singapore.

During the trials on the Boston roads, nuTonomy’s software system will learn about the local signage as well as road markings and gain a deeper understanding of pedestrian, cyclist, and driver behavior.

The company will be continuously monitoring and evaluating the performance of its software system throughout this testing phase.

Image: A nuTonomy self-driving car. Photo: courtesy of nuTonomy.