“The car itself is not likely to appear as a product in Apple’s portfolio, but it is becoming more evident that the automotive technology is something the company will reveal at some point in the future,” Roman Luzgin writes for Seeking Alpha. “To remind, a year ago Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted working on autonomous systems for cars, which include such technology as self driving. Recent developments in this area show that this future may be closer than it can seem.”
“It seems that Apple takes self-driving tech seriously, as the company continues to increase its fleet of test vehicles. Hence, it was reported earlier in May that the tech giant now has state permission to test 55 cars on public roads of California, compared to just three cars last year,” Luzgin writes. “The number looks impressive in light of the fact that such pioneers of autonomous driving tech such as Waymo, Nvidia and Tesla have fewer vehicles in the Golden State, and the only player with more autonomous driving permissions is General Motors.”
“It is stated by TechCrunch: ‘In order to conduct driverless testing, companies must have previously tested the vehicles in controlled conditions. The vehicles must also, among many other things, meet the definition of an SAE Level 4 or 5 vehicle,'” Luzgin writes. “Therefore, Apple having permission to test 55 cars means at least two critical things: (1) The corporation has already tested self-driving vehicles. This implies Apple has all the necessary equipment (radars, lidars, cameras), vehicles, software, and facilities for in-house tests. (2) Apple achieved at least level 4 automation according to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) definition. In turn, level 4 states ‘no human interaction required,’ which is another clue that shows the level of progress of Apple’s self-driving tech.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously work is proceeding. Hopefully, we’ll see some results as soon as they’re ready!
SEE ALSO:
Google buys 20,000 SUVs, Apple gets two dozen VW vans – May 24, 2018
Volkswagen looks to Apple for electric-car design guidance – February 16, 2018
Apple said to develop car operating system in Canada – October 25, 2016
Apple scales back ‘Project Titan,’ effort no longer includes building own car – October 17, 2016
Apple’s Bob Mansfield reboots Apple Car project, lays off several dozen employees – September 10, 2016
South Korea company’s never-before-revealed battery technology expected to be Apple Car’s ‘secret weapon’ – August 9, 2016
Apple Car: Everything we know about Apple’s mysterious ‘Project Titan’ – July 29, 2016
Apple Car: An operating system licensed to other auto-makers? – July 29, 2016
Apple hires founder of QNX with Apple Car project increasing focus on self-driving software – July 28, 2016
Apple taps Bob Mansfield to oversee Apple Car project – July 25, 2016
Beleaguered Volkswagen hires expert in self-driving cars from Apple’s ‘Project Titan’ – November 10, 2015