Land Rover self-driving prototype
Land Rover on Thursday announced it is ready to start
testing Level 4 self-driving car prototypes
on public roads in urban environments.
The prototypes are fitted with the British firm’s Autonomous
Urban Drive technology which allows them to drive in complex environments
without any driver involvement. According to Jaguar Land Rover, the prototypes
have no problem obeying traffic lights as well as negotiating junctions and
roundabouts. This is in contrast to some rival systems that are designed for
simpler conditions such as highways and traffic jams.
Using Autonomous Urban Drive, a person only needs to select
a location on the navigation and the prototype will decide the best route and
head off. Jaguar Land Rover hasn’t detailed what conditions the system works
within. It’s likely only set routes where highly detailed map data is available
will be possible initially.
A self-driving car is considered to be at Level 4 capability
if it can safely operate in specific conditions without the need of the driver.
Should the car approach roads outside of the specific conditions, the driver
will be requested to take over well in advance. If the driver fails to take
over, the car will be able to safely bring itself to a stop.
Self-driving technology available today is at Level 2
capability. Here, the car can handle specific conditions on its own but
requires a driver to constantly monitor in case of errors. Level 3 is similar
to Level 4 but less capable and the warning time provided for the driver to
take over is much shorter. Because of these shortcomings, many automakers are
likely to skip Level 3 and go straight to Level 4.
Level 5, the ultimate goal, is where no driver is required
whatsoever.
Jaguar Land Rover has been testing the technology at
the HORIBA
MIRA test site in the United Kingdom. With the tests on this closed-off
environment successfully completed, the next phase will see the prototypes take
to public roads in the cities of Milton Keynes and Coventry by the end of 2017.
The automaker expects to have the technology available for
sale within the next decade.
source: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1111187_jaguar-land-rover-ready-to-test-level-4-self-driving-car-in-cities
by Viknesh Vijayenthiran
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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