Land Rover is developing a system that will allow the new
Defender to be driven remotely at low speeds, allowing for precision off-road
maneuvering when a spotter is not available.
According to a Friday report from Autocar, the system will be an extension of Land Rover's existing
surround-view-camera system, which renders an image of the Defender in its
surroundings to help drivers spot obstacles or hidden impediments.
While the remote-control system is designed for off-road
use, it could also allow for high-precision maneuvers on pavement. The system
could hypothetically be used to park a Defender in a spot that would be too tight to allow
passengers to extricate themselves afterward, for example. Tight urban parking
garages or alleyways might also be better negotiated from outside the
car.
It could also be used to move the Defender to let another
vehicle out of a single-lane driveway (or some other similar situation) without
even leaving the house. It doesn't rise to the level of autonomous driving
technology and there are many possible applications, but Land Rover will need
to clear the legal hurdles.
The implications for remote operation of a full-scale automobile
are daunting, raising questions about what would meet the legal definition of
operating/controlling the vehicle in question. We expect regulators and law
enforcement will have concerns regarding liability, just for starters.
Still, even if Land Rover can get past the regulatory mess,
we don't expect anybody to be pulling a car rental return stunt a la James Bond
in "Tomorrow Never Dies," though we'll admit the idea does inspire
grins.
by Byron Hurd
http://www.boscheuropean.com
No comments:
Post a Comment