off-the-shelf autonomy
Off-the-shelf autonomy will turn many normal cars into self-driving vehicles
While many large technology and car manufacturers are building self-driving cars from the ground up, an increasing number of off-the-shelf systems will allow plenty of other models to take to the road without a driver. The latest such project is a newly announced partnership between the GM tech spinoff Delphi Automotive and Israeli machine vision company Mobileye. Both companies are no stranger to self-driving car technology: they both supply sensors and software to big-name automakers, including the technology behind Volvo's vehicle detection systems and, until recently, Tesla's Autopilot. But while both companies work closely with car manufacturers--Mobileye is working with BMW to put an autonomous car on the road by 2021, for instance--other large automakers, such as Ford, are building systems in-house. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the pair plans to invest "several hundred million dollars" in developing an off-the-shelf autonomous driving system, presumably for use by automakers who don't have the capacity or inclination for such research and development. The collaboration promises to demonstrate a system that will allow cars to autonomously navigate challenging road conditions--such as roundabouts or turns across multiple traffic lanes--as soon as January.