US media: The competition for autonomous driving systems is becoming increasingly fierce

Reference News Network reported on January 8 that according to the US "Wall Street Journal" website reported on January 6, driverless cars (the kind of driverless cars that consumers can actually buy) are gradually approaching becoming a reality. At this week's consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, which is taking place online and offline, self-driving cars attract attention.

Mary Bara, CEO of General Motors of the United States, said in her keynote speech on the 5th that her team plans to deliver a consumer-facing driverless car "as soon as the middle of this decade".

Chinese automaker Geely even hopes to offer a driverless car before then. Israel's "Mobile Eye", an Intel subsidiary that plans to conduct a minority initial public offering this year, said on the 5th that it will cooperate with Geely's newly established electric vehicle brand Extreme Kr to launch a car with L4 level autonomous driving capabilities in 2024. This means that in certain conditions, such as good weather or a specific geographic range, the car does not require the input of a human driver. The two companies expect the car to become the world's first consumer-facing L4 self-driving car. L4 autonomous vehicles (so-called robo-taxis) made for taxi fleets are already on the streets, but in small numbers.

According to the definition of the International Society of Automotive Engineers, a standards-setting organization, most current advanced driver assistance packages meet the L2 level of autonomous driving standards: drivers need to observe the road surface at all times. The current state of autopilot based on Mobile Eye technology, Tesla's much-touted "fully autonomous driving" software, and General Motors' next-generation "no-manual" supercruising technology to be launched next year are all L2 level autonomous driving.

Germany's Mercedes-Benz and Japan's Honda are upgrading autonomous driving technology to allow drivers with their most advanced products to disengage their vehicles with their hands when driving on roads at low speeds in their respective countries. This is technically compliant with L3 level autonomous driving standards, as drivers no longer always control the vehicle.

L4 autonomous driving in the consumer car space will require another leap forward. The difference between applying this technology to taxis and showing it between models is that consumers need lower prices and fewer geographical restrictions. Autonomous driving systems for current robotic taxis based on roof lidar are priced at tens of thousands of dollars.

Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show on the 5th, Amnon Shashua, CEO of The Eye for Mobility, said that the cost of sensors and computing power packages required for autonomous driving needs to be "much lower" than $5,000 for manufacturers to work in the consumer market.

According to the report, the "Moving Eye" company dominates computer vision technology, which underpins current assisted driving functions. The company has a 60 to 70 percent market share and has technology-hungry customers like BMW and Audi. The "Eye of Movement" is Tesla's most direct competitor in the field of driverless cars.

Like Tesla, the Eye of Movement collects a lot of data through hardware it's already put on the road. It collects data using data-sharing agreements with customers such as BMW, Volkswagen and Nissan. This allows it to draw high-definition maps in a way that no single company can do alone.

The difference between Tesla and the "Eye of Movement" is that the latter insists on having a secure backup system. While Musk has refused to use lidar and is now moving away from radar to use only cameras as sensors, Shashua intends to use all three imaging techniques to build driverless cars.

Regardless of how the battle unfolds, one thing seems fairly clear: When driverless cars finally arrive, they won't be the patent of one brand — at least not for a long time. Even if Tesla succeeds in convincing regulators to back its more aggressive approach (which seems unlikely), Mobile Eye's technology will soon follow through other brands. There's also General Motors and Mercedes, which are working with Qualcomm and Nvidia, respectively, to develop proprietary autonomous driving systems.

People visit the Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA, on Jan. 5. Xinhua