Apple granted permission to test self driving car technology

[Master Disaster]

Its long been rumored that Apple were developing some kind of car technology but until now the company has kept quiet but in the last few hours they've been granted a permit to test self driving cars on the roads of California.

Quote

Apple has been granted a permit to test self-driving cars on the streets of California.

It has long been known that Apple is working on automotive-related projects, but the company has never publicly confirmed any details.

 

The news was made public by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles on Friday.

The cars they are using will be Lexus models but Apple is still remaining tight lipped about its plans

Quote

The agency said Apple has been given permission to test three cars manufactured by Lexus.

 

Apple has not commented - other than to point to its letter late last year expressing an interest in the technology.

 

The company was "excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation”, it said at the time.

The rumor was initially that Apple were developing their own car and they might well be doing that,vthis could just he a first step along that path, or on the other hand they might just be developing an Apple based in car self driving system for manufacturers to install.

Quote

Rumours about Apple’s car ambitions have ranged from speculation it was building its own car to the suggestion it was instead focusing more on in-car software.

 

Internally known as Project Titan, the project at one point was understood to have more than 1,000 employees working on it, though the current scale of Apple’s efforts is unknown.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39604071

 

That's all we need, Apple self driving cars. Inb4 the system only accepts Apple pay and the app required to book one is available on IOS only.

[Specters]

4 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Its long been rumored that Apple were developing some kind of car technology but until now the company has kept quiet but in the last few hours they've been granted a permit to test self driving cars on the roads of California.

The cars they are using will be Lexus models but Apple is still remaining tight lipped about its plans

The rumor was initially that Apple were developing their own car and they might well be doing that,vthis could just he a first step along that path, or on the other hand they might just be developing an Apple based in car self driving system for manufacturers to install.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39604071

 

That's all we need, Apple self driving cars. Inb4 the system only accepts Apple pay and the app required to book one is available on IOS only.

Time to  invest in all companies that make chips for self driving cars  

[SansVarnic]

Guess it was bound to happen ... the iCar ..... 

Dont forget people it will be innovative!

[WMGroomAK]

 

3 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

Guess it was bound to happen ... the iCar ..... 

Dont forget people it will be innovative!

Just wait for Apple to 'invent' the self driving Semi-Truck and brand it the MacMack.  Sure hope that Mack Trucks have done something to secure their name. 

[SansVarnic]

[8uhbbhu8]

Well... @LinusTech You called it! Now its happening!

[ARikozuM]

iRode my iCar? 

 

Or is it iDon'tDrive?

[SansVarnic]

The original;

 

[ZestyJalapeno]

About bloody time, I went on holiday to L.A. a year ago and the 5-lane freeways were bloody gridlocked and it wasn't even 6am yet. The most frustrating thing was that a lot of the road space were taken by these massive SUVs and pick-ups with the word "v8 duradiesel supermax" or whatever written on the side and there is but one person inside. One! Running alongside the freeway were train tracks, and in the stations there were like 6 people waiting for the train, whilst the massive roads were taken by huge cars with big engines driving at an average of 5mph. How did urban planning get this bad?!?!?!? How?!

 

/rant over

[Macimoar]

Apple has had plans for project titan before, but I believe they were scrapped because of too many roadblocks (ha pun) but it seems they are advancing this much quicker this time around.

 

Eco cars I can care less about, but its all about the ecosystem with apple, right? Basically, I can see the AppleCar or whatever they call it will be a big expensive Bluetooth accessory that accesses Apple Maps and takes you where you want to go; not much else for the low low price of both your arms since you wont be needing them to use the steering wheel.

 

That being said, a motorway with no human drivers? A road where every single moving thing talks to each other and knows exactly where everything will be at all times? That is a world we may inhabit in the not-so-far-future.

[Master Disaster]

1 hour ago, Macimoar said:

Apple has had plans for project titan before, but I believe they were scrapped because of too many roadblocks (ha pun) but it seems they are advancing this much quicker this time around.

 

Eco cars I can care less about, but its all about the ecosystem with apple, right? Basically, I can see the AppleCar or whatever they call it will be a big expensive Bluetooth accessory that accesses Apple Maps and takes you where you want to go; not much else for the low low price of both your arms since you wont be needing them to use the steering wheel.

 

That being said, a motorway with no human drivers? A road where every single moving thing talks to each other and knows exactly where everything will be at all times? That is a world we may inhabit in the not-so-far-future.

Except that everyone has their own ideas, none of them are agreeing on standards and none of the systems can talk to each other.

 

If that is to happen (and I agree it would be awesome if it did) then all the developers need to create a standardisation organisation and agree on standards that the industry can deploy so everything works together. As it is right now we've got 4 or 5 totally different and totally incompatible systems all running on the same roads.

[matrix07012]

Will it have Windows?

[captain_to_fire]

If self driving cars become ubiquitous, how am I going to rate a self driving uber car? Who am I going to talk to? I don't want to talk to Siri. 

[captain_to_fire]

3 hours ago, matrix07012 said:

Will it have Windows?

I refuse to ride a self driving car with Windows operating system which will stop in the middle of a four lane highway just to install software updates. 

 

Oh you mean windows, probably none on the driver seat. 

[Misanthrope]

I wonder how long we'll go through this cycle of getting permission, testing very successfully then dropping the whole thing immediately after the first accident.

 

Truth to be told I trust some AI more than some fucking drunks which is extremely common occurrence. 

[Macimoar]

17 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

Except that everyone has their own ideas, none of them are agreeing on standards and none of the systems can talk to each other.

 

If that is to happen (and I agree it would be awesome if it did) then all the developers need to create a standardisation organisation and agree on standards that the industry can deploy so everything works together. As it is right now we've got 4 or 5 totally different and totally incompatible systems all running on the same roads.

I think the government at some point is going to have to step in. because you're right, left to their own devices, manufacturers would create proprietary systems that only talked to other machines using that system. When self driving cars become prevalent in the mainstream, there will need to be laws in place just like there are laws for manufacturing cars nowadays.

[Zodiark1593]

On 4/14/2017 at 5:10 PM, Dogeystyle said:

About bloody time, I went on holiday to L.A. a year ago and the 5-lane freeways were bloody gridlocked and it wasn't even 6am yet. The most frustrating thing was that a lot of the road space were taken by these massive SUVs and pick-ups with the word "v8 duradiesel supermax" or whatever written on the side and there is but one person inside. One! Running alongside the freeway were train tracks, and in the stations there were like 6 people waiting for the train, whilst the massive roads were taken by huge cars with big engines driving at an average of 5mph. How did urban planning get this bad?!?!?!? How?!

 

/rant over

A bunch of Supercars were hogging up my country road, and was reminisce of skittles being hauled away by a group of ants. Loud, high revving V10 engines, yet were enclosed in vehicles that can only seat twotwo. How did Rural planning get this bad! 

 

/NotARant 

 

Unfortunately, LA was probably never planned with such dense poulation of private vehicles, nor the public transit infrastructure to ease the load on the roadways. The sprawling nature of the city makes public transit a very unappealing option anyway.  

 

Though I commute a long ways, I am infinitely thankful that traffic is a rare occurance for myself, making my commute from work fairly relaxing. 

[The Sloth]

[Zodiark1593]

3 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

I wouldn't say the above picture is 100% accurate, though you will probably require several dozens of spudgers and a heat gun to actually get into the engine bay. Also, the engine is glued in instead of bolted to mounts. 

[vorticalbox]

18 hours ago, hey_yo_ said:

I refuse to ride a self driving car with Windows operating system which will stop in the middle of a four lane highway just to install software updates. 

 

Oh you mean windows, probably none on the driver seat. 

hey, just to let you know that we will pull over soon to install updates

 

would you like to pull over now. 

[captain_to_fire]

16 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

hey, just to let you know that we will pull over soon to install updates

 

would you like to pull over now. 

Microsoft loves to force stuff lately to its users so a Windows car would likely trigger the safety airbags. I mean, imagine these two images popping in your dashboard but instead of a PC, it's a car with Windows and you forgot to set its Active Hours. 

 

Just imagine the legislations proposed by both conservative and liberal lawmakers just to ban Windows self driving cars in roads,  and insurance providers going bonkers for accident claims. ???

 

[vorticalbox]

27 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

Microsoft loves to force stuff lately to its users so a Windows car would likely trigger the safety airbags. I mean, imagine these two images popping in your dashboard but instead of a PC, it's a car with Windows and you forgot to set its Active Hours. 

 

Just imagine the legislations proposed by both conservative and liberal lawmakers just to ban Windows self driving cars in roads,  and insurance providers going bonkers for accident claims. ???

 

In some us states it's illegal for a car to be travelling over a certain limit, I believe it's 60MPH, without a driver. 

 

I would assume that all these cars all require a user to be there to take control.

[Dackzy]

so will it be as buggy as their new macbooks were when they launched? Maybe you only get 10km/L and not the 25km/L they promised. (no idea of how far they are going to promise it can drive per liter)