![]() Most car brands are very concerned with their crash safety ratings. Not having that tech available could make a brand look out of date.īut, at least some companies have bold business plans for self-driving tech beyond just fitting in with everyone else. Pretty much every major car company has developed or implemented some kind of autopilot technology into their cars. Why do we need self-driving cars?įor commuters, the answer is obvious: a chance to catch some extra shut-eye, get work done or watch Netflix instead of spending hours navigating through traffic.īut why have companies invested an estimated $80 billion and years of work into this technology?įor starters, it could simply be a case of jumping on the bandwagon. So, while we’re covering autonomous cars in this piece, don’t mistake them for being driverless most of them have at least a few years before their AIs can properly navigate the world without a human crutch. It's vitally important that the autonomous vs driverless distinction become more clear to the public. Why should this matter to you? Because some drivers are feeling safe enough to l eave the driver's seat while their car is in motion, putting pedestrians (and themselves) at risk. Mercedes-Benz actually had to pull ads that claimed its 2017 E-Class was a “vehicle that could drive itself.”īut, until AI tech is sophisticated enough to drive somewhere like a school crossing without any danger to pedestrians, most, though not all, governments won’t allow cars to drive without a human seated behind the wheel. ![]() Some car companies tend to fog the issue by claiming cruise control tech for driving straight and avoiding obstacles is “self-driving”. Tesla's autonomous (but not driverless) Autopilot feature (Image credit: Tesla) Most people tend to use terms like “driverless”, “autonomous” and “self-driving” as interchangeable.īut, there are significant differences in the tech required for an “autonomous” AI that can only handle highways and a truly “driverless” or “self-driving” car that doesn’t even need a steering wheel or human operator to park or navigate. One thing to consider: the Model 3, along with pretty much every other “self-driving car” currently out there, aren’t truly “driverless”. Still, some vehicles with autonomous capabilities like Tesla's Model 3 don’t use lidar Elon Musk famously called lidar an overly-expensive “crutch”, and that cameras and radar should suffice. ![]() Lidar sensors emit light waves in all directions the light waves reflect off of objects and return to the sensor, measuring the distance between car and object.īouncing to and from the sensor millions of times in a single second, the light waves create an instant, constantly updating 3D map that will spot obstacles instantaneously. The AI learns what actions lead to crashes, and slowly learns how it should drive on real roads. Without an AI, cars cannot be truly driverless.Ĭompanies like Google’s Waymo put have put AI inside virtual cars and have the vehicles 'drive' billions of virtual miles, throwing every perceivable obstacle and situation at the cars to see how they respond. To accomplish this, a driverless car must have an artificial intelligence system that senses its surroundings, processes the visual data to determine how to avoid collisions, operates car machinery like the steering and brake, and uses GPS to track the car's current location and destination. Simply put, a truly driverless car must be capable of navigating to a destination, avoiding obstacles, and parking without any human intervention. ![]() We've also gathered the latest details on which countries allow public driverless car testing, which companies are developing the smartest self-driving artificial intelligence (AI) models, and what the future of the driverless car industry could bring in the next few years. With more companies applying for permits to test driverless cars on public roads, and more public scrutiny on the tech than ever before, we thought it best to break down how companies like Apple, Google, Uber, Tesla and others train artificial intelligence to see the road-and which AIs might have a blind spot.
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