The American app based taxi service is testing its self-driving technology to establish its foothold in the automotive industry
Uber has begun to test autonomous vehicles in the city of Pittsburgh as the American application based cab service provider pursues upcoming time in which drivers will not be needed. The taxi company is using the hybrid version of Ford Fusion to gather mapping data and test self-driving abilities, the company posted in its blog on 19th May 2016.
The Uber vehicle comes equipped with various sensors including laser scanners, high-resolution cameras as well as radars to map information regarding the environment, Uber states. It is not clear which organizations are providing the radar as well as other sensors. Spokesman of Ford stated the organization isn’t partnering with the transporter.
The announcement follows competitor Lyft’s own entrance into the self-driving vehicle sector. Initially in 2016, General Motors invested a sum of half a billion into Lyft and tied-up with the organization to finally deploy autonomous vehicles that can be requested through an application. GM and Lyft are reportedly about to pilot autonomous cabs within the upcoming year. GM said it would take over the autonomous automobile tech organization Cruise Automation for over a billion dollar.
In recent times, GM went public by testing its driverless technology on its Chevrolet Bolt EV in the Californian city of San Francisco. The Kalanick’s organization is trialing its driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh as its Advanced Technologies Center is also located there. The transporter states to opt to locate its ATC in the city due to its nearness to local engineering talent as well as research facilities. It is also an ideal setting to test and develop technology across various road types, weather conditions and traffic patterns, Uber states.
In February last year, Uber announced its partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, which included the development of a tech center. At the moment, Uber stated it was interested in closely working with the faculty, students and staff of CMU to carry out R&D. The relations become strained in some months after the company poached 40 of the university’s technicians, researchers and faculty away by providing lucrative salaries as well as benefits to workers of the new technology center.
In 2015, the transporter also collaborated with the College of Optical Science of University of Arizona to concentrate on R&D in the optics sector for safety and mapping. The test automobiles of the company, Ford Fusion vehicles equipped with self-driving and mapping technology will be trialed in Tuscon, which is the University of Arizona’s home.
Earlier, the transporter stated the mapping test automobiles aren’t autonomous cars. While in Pittsburgh, the organization has combined 2 technologies. As per reports by Detroit news, a number of other organizations are also testing autonomous cars. Some of those are Ford and Google.
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