A couple of years ago, there was a Tesla that was involved in a fatal crash. Now according to the NTSB, it seems that they are laying some of the blame on Apple for the crash. While the governing body did lay most of the blame on Tesla, it seems that they believe that Apple should shoulder some of the responsibility.
Cars these days are getting smarter where they come with a variety of sensors and cameras on board that can warn drivers of obstacles. All of this seems to be paving the way towards a future of self-driving cars, but it seems that there still needs to be some work done on them, especially when they can be tricked with a simple two-inch piece of tape.
As a delivery and logistics company, UPS has been rather aggressive in finding new high-tech ways of staying ahead of the competition. The company has explored the possibility of using drones to help make deliveries, and now it seems that they are looking at the possibility of self-driving delivery vans.
Right now when it comes to self-driving vehicles, one of the general rules that many follow around the world is that there needs to be a human behind the “wheel”. This is because in the event that something goes wrong, the human can take over and steer the car away or apply the brakes to prevent accidents.
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While it might be a while before we start seeing self-driving cars hit the roads and become more common, the self-driving revolution has already started with shuttle buses. In fact, over in Doha, Qatar, Volkswagen has announced that they will be working with the Qatar Investment Authority on a project known as “Project Qatar Mobility”.
When we drive, we use our eyes to see what’s around us and that lets us know when to brake, when to move forwards, when to turn, and so on. However, since computers don’t have “eyes”, at least not in the traditional sense, they need to use cameras, but even then, cameras need to be taught to know what they’re looking at.
The problem with delivering goods cross-country by trucks is that humans are involved. Humans get tired and thus need to make stops and rest. Being pressured to meet certain deadlines also does not help as it means that drivers could get careless, which in turn could result in accidents, none of which are ideal.
Due to the fact that self-driving cars rely on things like cameras and sensors to navigate, obviously driving about on a clear sunny day would provide the most ideal conditions. However, that isn’t always reality as the weather can shift, where it can get cloudy, it can snow, and it can rain, all of which presents challenges to the abilities of self-driving cars.
At the moment, no one really knows what Apple has planned for its self-driving cars. However, it seems that despite the secrecy surrounding the project and Apple’s plans, the company seems to be progressing rather nicely with whatever it is they are doing because according to reports, Apple has expanded on its self-driving car team.
Apple’s plans for their own electric/self-driving is an open secret, although it was earlier this year that it was suggested that the company’s car project could be scrapped. Whether or not they have is unclear as Apple has yet to confirm or deny anything, but it seems that things could be progressing as intended.
Waymo’s self-driving vehicles have driven some 10 million miles on actual roads and that’s an incredible milestone but it only represents a fraction of what the company’s autonomous driving system has driven in simulation. The company has revealed that the self-driving system has driven over 10 billion miles in simulation.