One thing of the evergreen evolving landscape in the technology domain is how fast any automotive industry can adapt itself to the new changes expected in the future.
The role of IoT has been seen in transforming factories into a smart factories. So can it play an important role in the automotive vehicle? The application of IoT via LiDAR, RADAR, cameras, or sensors to fully automated the vehicles, means a level 5 autonomous vehicle. So, what’s more, do you want?
As said by Parker Trewin, Senior Director of Content and Communications, Aria Systems, “The IoT is big news because it ups the ante: ‘Reach out and touch somebody’ is becoming ‘reach out and touch everything’.”
IoT is big news. The more you understand the concept and utilize it, starting from the smaller application. You can see almost anything can be transformed into a smarter IoT application.
One of the best level 5 autonomous vehicles, Zoox presented in the TechCrunch mobility 2022, represents what advanced technology can do? And how it has come?
Zoox is an Amazon subsidiary’s four-passenger in a cubelike body with large black sliding doors. It has got floor-to-ceiling windows with beam-form speakers for audio alerts to distract the pedestrians. It is equipped with a 60-watt USB-C port to provide charge enough for a 15-inch MacBook.
One of the prominent IoT applications used for their surroundings is the unique use of sensor architecture with visual cameras, longwave-infrared cameras, lidars, and radars. An overlapping field of view and 3600 coverage with the sensor placement for redundancy and the vehicle to be bidirectional.
I feel one of the best ideas used in the Zoox is the elimination of turning around, or going back or forward but just using the IoT applications and using it in the vehicle for bidirectional assistance. It is quite faster and reduces any risk of accidents or parking issues with other vehicles.
It’s a lot safer, I feel, and a 10 on 10 for the cool directional usage. Well, as per Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson, “Internally, we call it a north side and a southside”.
Zoox provides 75 miles per hour with all four independent driving wheels. There is no need for manual driving controls inside the wheel. To have complete reliability, Zoox uses LiDAR, RADAR, and the visual cameras in proper order so that, if something gets undetected or fails to get detected by one of the technology, then the other can provide the necessary image or sends a signal informing about the reality.
The LiDARs and the visual cameras are a kind of X-ray vision for every direction with high precision. As per Elena Strumm, Zoox’s engineering manager for mapping algorithms, “Certain materials don’t obstruct the radar.” For example, she says “ When a bicyclist is cycling behind a bush, we might get a really clear radar signature on them, even if that bush has occluded the LiDAR and visual cameras.”
One of the best ways of LiDAR technology is the ability to create a large amount of information from the dynamic 3D environment surrounding the vehicle. It does in the form of “point clouds” where the objects and surfaces are visible to LiDAR.
Machine learning technology is used to identify people in a fast-moving dynamic environment. They may be moving, static, partly occluded or in a wheelchair, visible from knees down, or with any number of possibilities you can think about.
As per Taylor Arnicar, staff technical program manager, who oversees the CLAMS and ZRN teams, “Machine-learned AI systems excel at this kind of pattern-matching problem. You feed millions of examples of something and then they can do a great good job of recognizing that thing in the abstract,”
Well, I feel Zoox is good to go with a cool way to integrate some of the best technologies. But in comparison to Cruise origin (General Motor, parent company), the leg spacing is less, and the size of the vehicle is quite small. The life expectancy is 1million miles for Cruise Origin, much higher than Zoox.
However, Zoox’s direct competitor is Cruise origin in terms of looks, designs, features, the services with no internal steer wheel design. So, let’s see who gets the maximum likes and captures the level 5 AV market.