The automotive industry is witnessing a period of dramatic change with autonomous cars on the back of step changes in sensor technologies and availability of 5G services.
Backed by a culture of innovation and venture capital funding, US firms that took the lead in driverless cars are exploring robotaxi services. As a result, the emergence of on-demand driverless cars could dramatically change the way future car ownership is looked at in the world's major global cities.
In July, US firm Halo announced the first commercial driverless car services in Las Vegas, Nevada, using T-Mobile's 5G network.
John Saw, EVP, Advanced & Emerging Technologies, T-Mobile, said there is much work to do on the path to full autonomy, and Halo is taking a unique and intelligent approach to get there. Driverless vehicles require a network with high capacity, broad coverage and low latency 5G services.
According to a report by financial data and software company, PitchBook, 'Remotely operated mobility services could set the stage for telecommunications companies to take a more prominent role in the future of mobility, as reliable, low-latency networks will be critical for enabling remote operation. We anticipate global carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and NTT will seek to leverage their 5G networks to enable mobility services.'
Halo's driverless cars using T-Mobile's Ultra Capacity 5G services which can deliver speeds around 325 Mbps (with peaks of 1 Gbps), have been testing on public roads in Las Vegas since earlier this year.
The driverless electric cars are to commence commercial operations in urban parts of the Las Vegas Valley, starting later this year.
Anand Nandakumar, Founder & CEO, Halo, said, 'Full autonomy is a massive challenge from both a technical and social trust perspective that won't be solved for years to come. But Halo has been designed to address these challenges by building automation over time, starting with a solution that consumers will feel comfortable using today.'
A company that emerged from the 5G Open Innovation Lab co-founded by T-Mobile, Halo was founded by executives from Uber, Cruise Robotics, Proterra, Amazon and has emerged as an early leader in autonomous car technology. Halo's driverless cars, which feature cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, are operated by in-house drivers, using the company's proprietary 'RemotePilot' technology. An 'Advanced Safe Stop' mechanism ensures that the cars immediately come to a complete halt when a potential safety hazard or system anomaly is detected.
High tech and driverless
Tech giant Google has been working on self-driving cars since 2009, which led to Waymo being established as an autonomous driving technology company under Alphabet in 2017. Waymo partnered with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), and in the same year, it introduced its first vehicle built on a mass-production platform (a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan) integrated with its driverless service, 'Waymo Driver.' Public trials commenced the same year in Phoenix, Arizona, following which in 2018, Waymo launched the world's first commercial autonomous ride-hailing service, followed by fully autonomous, rider-only services opened to the public in the Metro Phoenix area in 2020. Waymo Driver also operates a growing fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in San Francisco and works with freight partners under 'Waymo Via'.
Waymo announced its latest investment round of $ 2.5 billion in June with participation from Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Fidelity Management & Research, Magna, Mubadala Investment, Perry Creek Capital, Silver Lake, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Temasek, and Tiger Global.
Waymo introduced the most significant update to driverless cars when its new fleet of all-electric Jaguar I-PACEs introduced the company's fifth-generation hardware suite in 2020.
The hardware sensor suite fitted on Jaguar I-Paces benefits from testing information garnered over 20 million self-driven miles on public roads and over 10 billion miles of simulation. The centre-piece of its fifth-generation hardware sensor suite is the incorporation of the imaging radar systems for self-driving and can detect a motorcyclist from hundreds of meters away, providing greater reaction times. The imaging radar has higher resolution and enhanced signal processing capabilities to detect better and track moving, barely moving, or stopped objects than traditional automotive radars, which are also capable of tracking moving things.
The Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor is another powerful addition, allowing the size and distance of objects as far as 300 metres away to be verified. The 360 LIDAR system provides a bird's-eye view of cars, cyclists, and pedestrians around the vehicle, while new short-range perimeter LIDARs located at four points around the sides of the vehicle can detect objects close by. Thanks to new high-resolution long-range cameras, the system can identify pedestrian and stop signs from distances greater than 500m.
Emerging opportunity
According to PitchBook's Analyst Note: Robotaxis and the Road to Profitability, released in June, robotaxis using driverless cars will need to expand to densely populated cities to achieve profitability. However, operating autonomous vehicles in dense cities would limit routing and lesser opportunities to serve highly profitable trips. 'Remotely operated carshares could disrupt the dynamics of the mobility industry by offering the convenience of on-demand ride-hailing with the flexibility of carsharing,' the report says, adding that robotaxis could reduce driving costs by up to 10-20%. In addition, the role of the in-house drivers would be further reduced as companies such as Halo plan further to automate relatively simple tasks such as highway driving and navigating slow, bumper-to-bumper traffic.