We are developing customized
solutions for transportation
with self-driving cars.
Specifically we are creating
a fleet of autonomous vehicles.
Autonomous buggies that look
like golf carts that can
navigate roads safely without
crashing into obstacles.
The way that our driverless
golf carts work is essentially
based on some laser sensors that
are able to sense the surrounding
of the vehicle. And we use them
for a number of purposes.
First thing its clearly for is
collision avoidance. So these
laser sensors are able to see
around the vehicle and can sense
if pedestrians, animals, trees
are nearby and can avoid
collisions with that. They can
also recognized what the
surroundings of the vehicle
look like. And then we use
that to recognize where we are
on a map that we have prepared
beforehand. So what we can do
is plan the paths that these
vehicles will follow and the
vehicles using these sensors
will be able to recognize where
they are on the map, follow
the path, detect obstacles,
pedestrians, other vehicles and
so on and so forth. And if needed
(the vehicle can) deviate from
the path to avoid collisions
and then get back to the path.
". . . the pace was alright and
when there were two guys walking
in front, it actually slowed
down. . ." Now these cars
can be used as private vehicles
or they can be used as a shared
transportation system. People
are already using shared
transportation systems. The bike
transportation systems that are
available in most cities are
such examples. The problem with
a shared bike system is that
people tend to go to the same
places. And that means that some
of the stations get loaded with
bikes while others are depleted.
Now imagine if we had robot
vehicles, they would be able to
drive themselves to where they
are supposed to be. For example
if you wanted to ride our system
you would book a ride, a robot
car would come to pick you up
and drive you to your
destination. After dropping you
off the robot car would
coordinate with the other cars
in the system to figure out
who is the next person waiting
in line, where is that
destination and it would drive
itself there.
