It’s been just a few days because Uber announced that it’s bringing a fleet of (monitored) self-driving cars to Pittsburgh. However in true internet fashion, we’ve currently got our very first photos.
Helen Rosner identified what looks like an Uber car on the roadway in Pittsburgh. The Uber logos along the side hint that it might just be an Uber automobile, and the mass of sensing units strapped to the roofing system recommend that this isn’t your typical Uber car.
The vehicle seems to be a Ford Fusion, one of the firm’s most self-driving automobiles. Some more recent Fords already come with a raft of semi-autonomous driving capabilities, using radar and electronic cameras to do something faintly much like Tesla’s Autopilot. However to bring the vehicle from Level 2 semi-autonomous to the hands-free experience Uber was boasting about really requires additional hardware.
It appears like there’s a LIDAR system installed on top, which ought to offer great all-round exposure to the car. There likewise seem to be extra cameras or sensing units along the front of the roofing system unit.
Uber’s strategy for the future is to replace the drivers in its fleet with computers, then use its rentable, self-driving automobiles to change car ownership entirely. The Pittsburgh test is a restricted trial that’s mainly a promotion. Google has likewise had supervised self-driving cars doing the rounds for years.
