As part of the test-drive process, there will be human drivers in the cars to assist during trips. The company, which has been testing sensor-equipped autonomous trucks (pictured above), said its mission is to improve highway safety and trucking efficiency. Passengers requesting rides will randomly get self-driving cars instead of regular Uber vehicles, although two Uber employees will be in front to monitor the cars’ performances and take over if issues arise.
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Two years ago, Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick outlined a plan to get into the self-driving vehicle business.
“By joining forces with Uber we can fast forward to the future”. “This is everything. This is all the marbles for Uber”.
We’re still unsure if Volvo is going to produce an entirely new model on the SPA platform, as the images depict an XC90 crossover packing the self-driving systems and branded with Uber’s marketing logos. Now, the firm is leveraging its Otto self-driving technology to partner with automakers to create a fleet of self-driving Uber taxis.
The value of the acquisition was undisclosed but Kalanick said Uber now has “one of the strongest autonomous engineering groups in the world”. Volvo and Uber engineers will closely collaborate on the project.
Ride-sharing companies are forming alliances with big carmakers – such as General Motors Co and ride-hailing service Lyft – to accelerate these efforts, which depend on software and hardware working together to give the vehicle the right reflexes in traffic.
Those arrangements are part of a flurry of deals between Silicon Valley tech companies, traditional automakers and ride-hailing companies as they vie for autonomous auto leadership. Both companies will design autonomous vehicles on their own.
He predicted that drivers will often have to intervene in Pittsburgh, with its winding, hilly roads and vast number of bridges. The cars will only go limited distances within the city. And partnership is crucial to our self-driving strategy because Uber has no experience making cars.
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Once full automation is achieved, after rigorous field tests and further years in development, current global traffic laws will have to changed to allow driverless cars on the roads.
