Google isn't the only one making moves in the autonomous vehicle arena. There are a host of auto makers, auto brands and tech companies also attacking the driverless car market.
The arrival of autonomous vehicles will trigger the auto-industry’s largest shake-up since its inception. While Google is the most talked-about player in the space, we identified 25 other major corporations or corporate brands using CB Insights’ investment, acquisition or partnership data that are involved in the driverless car space. While some players are setting up funds to invest in new technology involving autonomous cars, others are trying to build self-driving vehicles from the ground up.
“I like to drive cars,” says Mark Reuss, product development chief at General Motors, “so this is a little funny.”
Not funny-ha-ha, Reuss clarifies, but funny-odd. He’s sitting in the driver’s seat, with his hands on his thighs and his feet on the floor of a big Cadillac that’s driving itself around a banked oval.
Enthusiastic Tesla owners cheered last Wednesday when the company enabled the use of an automated driving system, called Autopilot, in its Model S all-electric sedans. The wireless update of vehicles to Version 7.0 of Tesla software—which allows properly equipped cars to steer, switch lanes, and manage speed on its own—is exactly the kind of bold move that makes many Tesla fans so excited about the company. In fact, a number of Tesla drivers immediately took to the road to test the limits of Autopilot—taking their hands fully off the wheel and seeing how far the car could drive itself down highways, country lanes, and suburban streets.
Tesla has announced the public beta release of its first version of Autopilot, which will be available on Thursday. Company chief executive Elon Musk said that every one of its vehicles from September 2014 will have this feature overnight. However, in the short-term, he cautioned that it’s very important that people “exercise caution,” and that they keep their hands on the wheel. But in the long-term, prospects look good.
The arrival of autonomous vehicles will trigger the auto-industry’s largest shake-up since its inception. While Google is the most talked-about player in the space, we identified 26 other major companies that are somehow getting involved. While some players are setting up funds to invest in new technology involving autonomous cars, others are trying to build self-driving vehicles from the ground up.
We used CB Insights partnership and news data to put together a list of the corporations, all with at least $1B+ market cap, involved in self-driving passenger vehicles. The list is organized alphabetically (autonomous industrial vehicles were not included in this analysis).
A video posted to YouTube last year provides proof that some people can’t be trusted behind the wheel even when their car is doing all the driving. In the clip, the driver tests the automatic cruise control and lane assist in an Infiniti Q50 by hopping into the passenger seat as the car hurtles down the autobahn in Germany. Who would be liable in an accident – the carmaker or the driver?
Some luxury cars can already drive unassisted in certain situations: neatly pulling into parking spots, for instance, or taking control in slow-moving traffic by following the car in front. But even as greater automation races to market, some people are asking whether handing over control entirely to the machine is really the right approach.
Toyota, Nissan et Honda, les trois plus gros fabricants automobiles japonais, vont s'associer afin de faire passer le Japon sur le devant de la scène dans le domaine des voitures autonomes, à la demande du gouvernement japonais. Le projet associera aussi les géants de l'électronique japonais Panasonic et Hitachi, qui travailleront sur les technologies en lien avec la conduite autonome, ainsi que les universités de Tokyo et de Nagoya, qui s'occuperont du traitement des données.
Sony, qui a annoncé sa volonté d'augmenter sa production de capteurs d'images (cf BE 716 [1]), va donc commencer à produire massivement des capteurs d'images pour les voitures autonomes à partir de décembre et s'allier à la société ZMP. Les capteurs de Sony pourront améliorer la sensibilité des capteurs automobiles usuels d'un facteur 10, permettant ainsi la détection d'obstacles quand la luminosité est faible, tandis que les logiciels de ZMP pourront analyser instantanément la quantité massive de données collectées par les capteurs.
Uber is working with Carnegie Mellon University to open a new tech center devoted to developing autonomous driving vehicles, among other things.
The new research-and-development facility, the Uber Advanced Technologies Center, will be near Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.
Earlier today, reports surfaced that the two organizations had partnered, and now Uber has confirmed it. In the announcement, the companies say the center will serve for “research and development, primarily in the areas of mapping and vehicle safety and autonomy technology.”
