From GPS to LiDAR, the technologies that power Autonomous Vehicles

As the name suggests, self-driving vehicles do not require human intervention to take control and operate those safely. 

Also known as autonomous or “driverless” vehicles, they bank on sensors and software to control, navigate, and drive the vehicle. 

These vehicles use combinations of technologies and sensors, such as global positioning system (GPS) or light detection and ranging (LiDAR) to sense the roadway, other vehicles, and objects on and along the roadway.
 

 

 

Companies working on AVs:

CURRENT STATE  

• Tesla has accumulated 1.3 billion miles in Autopilot mode. Founder Elon Musk has promised that by the end of 2020, there would be one million fully autonomous cars.
• Waymo, a Google-funded technology company, began working on the project in January 2009. The company has tested its vehicles by driving over 10 million miles on roads and 7 billion miles in simulation to date.
• Other major contributors include Audi, BMW, Daimler, GM, Nissan, Volvo, Bosch, Continental, Mobileye, Valeo, Velodyne, Nvidia and Ford to mention a few

Source: University of Michigan study, CB insights