Uber unveiled in May also tested a prototype under real conditions on the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (northeast), where the company has a research center created in 2015 that works exclusively on autonomous vehicles.
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Volvo has delivered around 100 XC90s to Uber, which is based in California, for trials expected to begin later this year.
We have all been hearing of plans over the course of the past couple of years.
This means Uber is getting closer toward becoming a public transit option, he said, especially since self-driving cars open up the driving seat to accommodate an additional passenger. Volvo will be behind the majority of the starting engineering the will go into the self-driving auto.
Uber CEO and co-founder, Travis Kalanick said the decision to partner with Volvo comes from the automaker’s reputation for safety.
Why Pittsburgh though, you may be wondering. After all, wouldn’t the best place to launch something like this be an out of the way town with less traffic and great roads? It added that it was teaming up with Volvo.
Meanwhile, Uber is launching autonomous vehicles commercially – far before anyone thought it would be possible to do so. Together, Kalanick and Bares had hoped to replace Uber’s 1 million human drivers with robot drivers. The company plans to match customers with the autonomous vehicles randomly and rides will be free as part of the initial pilot program, Bloomberg reports. But Uber’s taking a gutsy step, and next time you’re in Pittsburgh, you may end up in an Uber that’s a preview of the future of ridesharing. The vehicle will also be equipped with a tablet computer to explain things to the rider and a number of sensors using cameras, lasers, radar, and Global Positioning System receivers.
“When there’s no other dude in the auto, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle”.
In another deal, the company announced a $300 million alliance with Volvo to supply vehicles and technology.
Uber also announced that it was acquiring a startup called Otto that has focused on developing self-driving big rigs and is stocked with big talent in the still-small world of self-driving technology, including Anthony Levandowski, one of the field’s pioneers. Volvo and Uber said the deal will help both companies to form “longer term industrial partnership”. No word on that just yet.
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, said: “Over one million people die in vehicle accidents every year”.
Kalanick’s statement also revealed that that Uber has formed a partnership with Volvo.
Uber and Volvo were two of the founding members of a coalition unveiled in April to push for a unified United States legal code on self-driving cars – a group that also includes Google, vehicle maker Ford and Uber rival Lyft.
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Pittsburgh’s government has enthusiastically embraced the new technology.
