New Apple SUVs With Expansive Autonomous Driving LIDAR Setup Spotted on the Road

[Ianblackburn]

Nope. Absolutely not. GPS Sensors give you an approximate location within 3m radius best case. GPS is almost irrelevant to autonomous driving itself. GPS is 99% for navigation purpose.
This (what you meant to say...)! IMHO: Apple is not developing the Apple Car, at least not yet. Apple doesn't like to bother with certain stuff. We have seen this at TVs. No Apple TV screen so far. I'd say they are working on the software for autonomous driving, algorithms, AI,... I could imagine (this is speculation!) Apple realized that a real AutoPilot will have to undergo a lot of testing by authorities and probably need to be certified. At this point Apple may be able to sell just the certified autopilot hardware and software to other companies. As this is a huge safety thing, having a reliable & safe Apple autopilot would likely make a hughe difference when purchasing a self driving car. That said, Apple may easily build a self driving car after having the autopilot. The rest of the car is easy compared to the autopilot. But again, a car is not Apple's style. They prefer clean, sterile, maintenance free stuff that has a touch of luxury, perfection... A car with lots of moving (wearing & corroding) parts (chassis, suspension,...) doesn't match that profile. Although, in times of Tim, we never know...

A Tesla requires little maintenance- the motors are rated at a million miles, you don't use the breaks much because of regenerative breaking, all the buttons are software (apart from the stem controls). There are 18 moving parts IIRC compared to the hundreds of thousands for an ICE. Service tends to be tyres and windscreen wipers! So yes easy to build, low maintenance, and right up Apples street (no pun intended). The bigger issue is the charging network and battery production for mass market. Here Tesla has a clear lead. That is why I still tend to believe Apple will buy them.

 

[gnasher729]

Nope. Absolutely not. GPS Sensors give you an approximate location within 3m radius best case. GPS is almost irrelevant to autonomous driving itself. GPS is 99% for navigation purpose.

Exactly that. And 3m is the best case. Go into London, surrounded by high buildings, and GPS gets absolutely useless even for navigation, and I suppose there are places in New York etc. that are the same. Even if your GPS was perfect, maps aren't. GPS is most definitely unable to decide if you are in the correct lane, for example if a street has one lane for going straight on, and one lane for cars turning.

And GPS + maps can't find an empty parking space along the road.

I think the London Congestion zone could easily be designated first an electric only zone (i.e. Zero emissions) and then a driverless only zone. The pollution and safety arguments will become compelling to politicians. Imagine how much quieter, and cleaner London would be. You'd be able to smell fresh air! They could pedestrianize large areas too and regain space from car parks.

Now if they can make driverless bycicles

 

[rpat701]

I don't know about you, but I like driving my car. It's fun.

 

[Ianblackburn]

I don't know about you, but I like driving my car. It's fun.

I love driving. Like taking a Caterham drifting round Silverstone which I did a few months ago. Or cruising in my Tesla to Maastricht from the UK last month. And having the top down in a Porsche Boxter I used to own, or the TVR Chimera before that. What I don't enjoy and what autonomous driving will save us from is horrible boring commutes in traffic. After that the cruising will also start to be less appealing, and I think car enthusiasts like me will mostly spend their "driving" time on the track where it is fun and safe.

 

[kyleh22]

Probably to measure suspension travel for uneven roads, dips, speed bumps, etc. I believe Tesla does the same thing so their autonomous driving system can adjust/slow down for special road conditions if the sensors don't pick them up. I went through a stretch of road yesterday that was like a roller coaster. If autonomous system doesn't see it and slow down the passengers can get thrown around or even flip the vehicle.

Great educated guess as to what this may be! Thanks.

 

[ackmondual]

I know a guy who had a safe driving distance feature on his car. It would keep a safe driving distance between his car and the car ahead of him on the freeways. He had to turn that feature off because cars kept cutting in front of him because THEY COULD!

I already maintain a safe driving distance. More reaction time is nice for me!

I actually don't mind if people cut in front of me, although I admit they usually get out of my way soon enough! I will acknowledge that if they keep doing that, you won't be able to maintain a space cushion anyways.

 

[jerryk]

I don't know about you, but I like driving my car. It's fun.

You must not drive in commute traffic much. I can't imaging anyone enjoys an hour slog staring at a sea of tailights at 0-30 mph.

 

[Beerstalker]

Nope. Absolutely not. GPS Sensors give you an approximate location within 3m radius best case. GPS is almost irrelevant to autonomous driving itself. GPS is 99% for navigation purpose.

What they refer to as Civilian GPS has an accuracy of around 4m, that is what your car/phone/stand alone GPS units typically contain.

However there are much more accurate systems available. Systems on agricultural and construction/earthmoving equipment are accurate to a few centimeters, and really expensive testing equipment can get below 1cm accuracy. My guess is these vehicles are using some of these more accurate systems.

 

[Sarcastic Bastard]

Oh, that's where all the LIDARs went...

 

[cocoua]

Aaaah! soon SIRI will rule our cities driving ours cars, yes, this super cute voice that is unable to find my home in a map is supposed to organize the city driving caos, one by one.

But don't worry, Apple Care would extend its policy to cover human lives. Fixing brokens is for second class companies! We offer you a new one

So if it took to Apple 25 years to include the second button mouse, or the resizable-4-corners in Finder windows because they are annoying, let's hope they doesn't find unsightly the "reverse" or trying to swap the wheel for a much revolutionary TOUCHBAR!!!

 

[jimbo1mcm]

Is there a quick disconnect so I can wax my Lexus roof?

 

[kdarling]

I'm not buying that self driving cars are just around the corner. Spend some time on big city thoroughfares and Interstate highways, and watch the lunacy that takes place when human drivers decide you are driving too slow for them. How any AI will be able to deal with the mental cases that inhabit powerful automobiles is anathema to me.

A self-driving car in NYC will either get pushed aside by real driver vehicles, or corraled by thiefs and jacked up and stripped.

I know a guy who had a safe driving distance feature on his car. It would keep a safe driving distance between his car and the car ahead of him on the freeways. He had to turn that feature off because cars kept cutting in front of him because THEY COULD!

Heh. A self-driving car on NJ highways would have to be reprogrammed to accept ten feet as the acceptable distance between cars at 75mph