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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday December 12 2017, @06:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the SLAM-is-a-bad-name-for-a-self-driving-project dept.

Apple Executive Reveals More of Its Self-Driving Technology

Apple received a permit from the California DMV to test self-driving vehicles in April, and CEO Tim Cook confirmed his interest in such technology in June.

The scale and scope of any car project at Apple remains unclear. [Ruslan] Salakhutdinov didn't say how the projects he discussed Friday fit into any wider effort in automated driving, and a company spokesman declined to elaborate.

Salakhutdinov showed data from one project previously disclosed in a research paper posted online last month. It trained software to identify pedestrians and cyclists using 3-D scanners called lidars used on most autonomous vehicles.

Other projects Salakhutdinov discussed don't appear to have been previously disclosed. One created software that identifies cars, pedestrians, and the driveable parts of the road in images from a camera or multiple cameras mounted on a vehicle.

Salakhutdinov showed images demonstrating how the system performed well even when raindrops spattered the lens, and could infer the position of pedestrians on the sidewalk when they were partially screened by parked cars. He cited that last result as an example of recent improvements in machine learning for some tasks. "If you asked me five years ago, I would be very skeptical of saying 'Yes you could do that,'" he said.

Another project Salakhutdinov discussed involved giving software moving through the world a kind of sense of direction, a technique called SLAM, for simultaneous localization and mapping. SLAM is used on robots and autonomous vehicles, and also has applications in map building and augmented reality. A fourth project used data collected by sensor-laden cars to generate rich 3-D maps with features like traffic lights and road markings. Most prototype autonomous vehicles need detailed digital maps in order to operate. Salakhutdinov also mentioned work on making decisions in dynamic situations, a topic illustrated on his slides with a diagram of a car plotting a path around a pedestrian.

Also at The Verge.

Previously: Apple's Tim Cook Confirms Self-Driving Car Plans


Original Submission

Related Stories

Apple's Tim Cook Confirms Self-Driving Car Plans 7 comments

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Apple's chief executive has confirmed it is developing a self-driving car system.

But Tim Cook indicated that it is too soon to say whether it would license the tech to other carmakers or try to build its own vehicles.

His interview with the Bloomberg news agency yielded his most detailed comments about the project to date.

Until now, Apple had avoided publicly discussing its plans, although it had confirmed the scheme in US filings.

There had also been leaked details of a change in leadership of the car team, with veteran hardware specialist Bob Mansfield reportedly put in charge last year, as well as images of test vehicles being published on rumour sites.

"We're focusing on autonomous systems and clearly one purpose of autonomous systems is self-driving cars - there are others," Mr Cook told Bloomberg.

"And we sort of see it as the the mother of all AI [artificial intelligence] projects.

"It's probably one of the most difficult AI projects to work on.

"We'll see where it takes us. We're not saying from a product point of view where it will take us, but we are being straightforward that it's a core technology that we view as very important."

-- submitted from IRC


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @06:52PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @06:52PM (#608853)

    That's why nothing works. But hey, at least it's more expensive than the next car.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:02PM (1 child)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:02PM (#608857) Journal

      I got the impression that they don't plan to release an Apple car, but will instead sell a hardware/entertainment package to automakers that adds autonomous capabilities. 2021 FordĀ® Fusion with AppleĀ® Inside, etc.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:09PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:09PM (#608860) Journal

        No design patent opportunity, all cars already have rounded corners.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Bot on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:48PM (1 child)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday December 12 2017, @07:48PM (#608884) Journal

    Signs you have just bought an Apple autonomous car:

    8. windshield covers half of the car's body
    7. the exhausts are 1 mm thick.
    6. there is only one door, if you need more you can buy an adapter.
    5. you can fill'er up while driving with a wonderfully secure magnetic connection, ofc it's incompatible with anything else and patented, I'd tell you more but had to sign a NDA about its shape.
    4. you need an apple garage (tm) to load and unload baggage;
    4a.in fact you need TWO apple garages (tm), because the only way to load and unload baggage is to sync the two of them;
    4b.in fact you need TWO MATCHING SETS of apple suitcases to perform the operation described above;
    4c.in fact, the car may randomly throw a suitcase out if it can pick a suitcase that looks like containing the same item later. If the items don't match, well, too bad.
    3. you don't input the destination, you buy the most closely matching GPS route on apple store. A signal jammer will ensure your phone's GPS will not work inside the car so you don't follow unauthorized, therefore wrong, routes.
    3b.some routes will disappear without notice.
    2. battery is integral part of the body structure and cannot be removed.
    1. THE PRICE WAS TOO DAMN HIGH

    --
    Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @08:32PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @08:32PM (#608909)

    I didn't RTFA, but knowing Apples I make the following predictions:
    The iCar only works on special iRoads. You must get subscription to iRoads in order to charge your iCar. Youc an only use special iCessories with your iCar and only genuine parts (iTires etc).

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday December 12 2017, @09:29PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 12 2017, @09:29PM (#608941) Journal

      The standard version costs $45,999.

      The version with 30% more battery capacity costs $95,999.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @09:56PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 12 2017, @09:56PM (#608962)

        Does the upgrade add a second door? Probably not...

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