As mere spectators of the technological advancement of automobiles, we receive loose links in a very long chain that is being built as we slowly but surely approach the milestone: autonomous or driverless electric cars.
As a website dedicated to Apple, we have often talked about the car that Apple is planning, even if it may never be released (we even dedicated an episode of the podcast!). According to Tim Cook, the car is the mother of all artificial intelligence projects and as such, whether in a car or by transferring that research and development to other products like the iPhone or iPad, Apple will pay off any effort it takes to better understand how a machine can understand and predict its environment.
But the reality is that Apple is developing an autonomous driving system behind it, and it's not by far the only one working on it.
Here are some of the pieces of news that can help us understand the extent to which our moment will transform the automotive industry as we know it.
The first race for driverless cars
Just a few weeks ago, the Indy 500 announced the first driverless car race. It will be held at the Indianapolis circuit on 23 October.
In total they are expected 39 teams, in representation of more than 500 students and faculty from 14 countries and 11 states, who will compete for a $ 1,5 million award.
An initiative mounted between the Energy Systems Network and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which they called the “Indy Autonomous Challenge”, a high-speed race, on October 23 at IMS, which will use a Dallara chassis.
The Dallara at the IAC will race at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour (321 km / h). The first of the three test sessions at IMS is scheduled for June 5-6.
Germany has announced that it will allow level 4 autonomous driving
The German government has announced that it has removed obstacles to the adoption of laws regulating autonomous driving. In an article published by the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer said the new laws will allow Germany to be the first country to regulate level 4 autonomous driving.
There are several definitions of autonomous driving. Most agree that Level 1 includes basic driver assistance functions and that there are 5 or 6 levels in total (depending on the definitions used).
According to the German announcement, the level 4 range includes the ability to navigate, turn, accelerate and brake without the presence of a driver.
Traditional producers don't want to stay off the headlines
Although it is clearly an industry in full disruption, pending the arrival of heavyweights, traditional manufacturers, as happens in all industries, try to swim and store clothes, make announcements and promises, while trying to make the market that have not collapsed today because everyone decides to wait for cars designed from scratch to come out.
For example, Volvo says it is working on ways to reduce or eliminate the feeling of dizziness caused by self-driving cars. In addition to not being "worried" about Apple taking their car out, Vovle is testing audio technology that prevents, by not having your gaze fixed on the road and understanding why your body moves one way or another, passengers are more prone to motion sickness.
Volvo Cars, the Swedish manufacturer owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (China), hopes the solution they are testing, which is to emit discrete audio signals that warn passengers one second before the car performs a maneuver, such as a turn. sudden or acceleration., prevent the passengers' balance system from being disturbed causing the well-known sensation of dizziness.
Other manufacturers such as GM have announced an alliance with Microsoft (another that has felt no headlines on the "next big thing") using their knowledge of software and cloud computing to accelerate the development of autonomous cars. Let's not hide it, a shiver runs down my spine at the prospect of a Windows-based autonomous car.
Toyota has partnered with Aurora to use its autonomous driving technology. In case you didn't know, Aurora Innovation Inc., is a Silicon Valley-based startup with a valuation of at least $ XNUMX billion (not that that means anything, but ...), and has reached a long-term alliance with Toyota. Motor Corp. and its supplier Denso Corp. which focuses on the mass production of autonomous vehicles and their introduction into chauffeured car chains (only without them), such as Uber, in the coming years.
Volkswagen, for its part, has also partnered with Microsoft, with the same goal. According to Microsoft's press release:
The Volkswagen Automotive cloud will be built on the technological foundation of Azure Cloud and Microsoft's IoT Edge platform. For starters, the cloud will leverage Microsoft's cloud services, including Azure IoT, PowerBI and Skype, to help create in-car consumer experiences, telematics and productivity solutions. By building its own cloud, Volkswagen will make the most of the consistently mobile services of its entire brand portfolio.
Good luck with that plan….
And there are also those you would never expect ...
The oil company BP has announced that it has successfully completed the development of an autonomous car capable of moving at 180 km per hour, through the refinery in Lingen (Germany) without the need for a driver, passing intersections, narrow alleys, crossings of tracks and various road surfaces., day and night, and in various weather conditions.
For this he implemented the platform of a company called Oxbotica, which claims to have integrated their software within two hours of arriving at the refinery.
Amazon presents its robotaxi Zoox
In the closest thing to a finished product we've seen so far, the company Amazon bought in June 2020, Zoox, unveiled its first functional model, pretty much ready to lead the market (easy joke, sorry).
This is a two-seater model, which will begin rolling out in two cities for now: San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Its symmetry allows you to park and exit the square without the need for maneuvers. It bears a striking resemblance to the design of Cruise's Origin autonomous vehicle (a subsidiary of GM and in which Honda has invested heavily), albeit much more elegant than Nuro's robot car (founded by two former Google employees).
Of course Google continues with the Waymo and Tesla tests… Tesla on its own, enjoying these placid times with little competition.
But apple ...
However, as is often the case with so many products these days, there is a palpable fear of launching too soon and therefore Apple pre-defining what is expected of an autonomous car, automatically leaving the pioneers obsolete.
We hope that this brief collection of initiatives taking place in the world of autonomous electric cars has helped you to get an idea of the dynamism in which this sector is immersed and how the waters are much more agitated than it seems a priori.
Much welcome suggestions or contributions in the comments.
