Apple Grows Self-Driving Car Fleet to 62 Vehicles in California

[MacRumors]

Apple's fleet of self-driving vehicles roaming the streets of California is now at 62 vehicles and 87 drivers, up from 55 vehicles and 83 drivers just two weeks ago. The numbers come from ongoing coverage provided by macReports, citing information obtained from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Apple has been expanding its autonomous vehicle test since it was granted a permit from the California DMV in April 2017, enabling it to test the advanced technology on public roads in the state. Beginning in early 2018, multiple sources reported on the number of vehicles in Apple's fleet, with 27 autonomous vehicles counted in January and 45 in March.

Each of Apple's cars is equipped with the company's in-development autonomous driving software, along with advanced LIDAR equipment and an array of cameras to detect the vehicle's surroundings. The actual cars are Lexus RX450h sports utility vehicles and must have safety drivers inside of them, since Apple's permit does not include driverless testing.

Apple's growing collection of self-driving vehicles is reportedly gathering data for the company's long-rumored autonomous vehicle software. Apple initially pivoted to self-driving car software when plans for its own electric vehicle fell through.

As Apple continues to grow the fleet, it's still unclear exactly what the company will do with the software when it's finished the testing phase. One likely possibility will be a partnership between Apple and an existing car manufacturer to place the self-driving software inside a vehicle not built by Apple, which could be implemented through a future version of CarPlay.

Rumors that date back to 2016 suggest the software could include augmented reality aspects, like a heads-up display that provides a collection of useful driving details from various apps. Since those rumors, AR has become a huge field of interest for Apple with the launch of the iPhone X and ARKit, so it's easy to see Apple's interest in potentially expanding such technology into driving.

More recently, in June 2017 Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed Apple's work on autonomous software: "We're focusing on autonomous systems. It's a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects... it's probably one of the most difficult AI projects to actually work on."

Article Link: Apple Grows Self-Driving Car Fleet to 62 Vehicles in California

 

[mrr]

Let’s use all these technologies to make EXISTING cars safer and eventually only after it proves that it can drive itself safely, then make self driving cars. In the mean time slow down.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Let’s use all these technologies to make EXISTING cars safer and eventually only after it proves that it can drive itself safely, then make self driving cars. In the mean time slow down.

My Tesla drove me to Toronto from Boston this weekend. One area where it definitely is far better at handling than me is construction zones - I came to an area where I couldn’t make heads or tails of what lines were supposed to be followed vs which had been “erased” but the car knew exactly which lanes to follow.

It handled ~97% of the 1250 mile drive. It steadily ticks upwards with free monthly over the air software updates. I look forward to the day that it’s better than me at every task and I no longer need to give it any input beyond what the destination is.

 

[PJL500]

Apple has thrown in the towel re autonomous vehicle manufacture. When everyone else turned them down (disgraced) VW has agreed to supply ready made vehicles so Apple to try to get some kind of (software) foothold in the periphery of the automobile business; campus shuttles to start with.
Lackluster phones are about it for Apple now.

 

[whooleytoo]

My Tesla drove me to Toronto from Boston this weekend. One area where it definitely is far better at handling than me is construction zones - I came to an area where I couldn’t make heads or tails of what lines were supposed to be followed vs which had been “erased” but the car knew exactly which lanes to follow.

It handled ~97% of the 1250 mile drive. It steadily ticks upwards with free monthly over the air software updates. I look forward to the day that it’s better than me at every task and I no longer need to give it any input beyond what the destination is.

Mind if I ask, how did the other 3% go? Did you decide to take over at a point you thought the self-driving would struggle, or did you get a warning to say 'take over!"?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Mind if I ask, how did the other 3% go? Did you decide to take over at a point you thought the self-driving would struggle, or did you get a warning to say 'take over!"?

Typically it was when I wanted to get off the highway. It won't take exits onto local roads on its own. So I flick the stalk to switch from autopilot to manual driving (using the brakes or turning the steering wheel also switches it to manual, but I find it's a smoother transition to flick the stalk.)

Other times were when I felt uncomfortable near someone who seemed to be driving erratically, so I swapped to manual and sped up to get away from the person. Once I can't see them in the rearview mirror anymore, I switch back to autopilot... autopilot just wanted to drive more conservatively and not change lanes as aggressively as necessary to get away from such people.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Let’s use all these technologies to make EXISTING cars safer and eventually only after it proves that it can drive itself safely, then make self driving cars. In the mean time slow down.

Excellent plan. Driving assistance systems.

 

[Constable Odo]

How many autonomous vehicles does Google have? Something like 25,000 vehicles with a gazillion street miles. Apple's really starting to catch up now. Apple is now starting to show some "courage."

/s

 

[Jakexb]

Let’s use all these technologies to make EXISTING cars safer and eventually only after it proves that it can drive itself safely, then make self driving cars. In the mean time slow down.

Self-driving cars are ALREADY statistically much better drivers than humans in many situations. The main reason they're not in widespread service is because we're going to hold them to a standard that approaches perfection, not just the insanely murderous standard that allows human drivers to kill tens of thousands every year.

But it would be unethical to slow this technology down. Every year that it's not in service, people are needlessly dying.

 

[macduke]

How does one get a job as a self-driving car driver???