Driverless cars are being hailed as the future of the motor industry, with the technology being improved upon on a regular basis. In the UK, a duo are working on a ‘safe self-driving’ technology called Wayve. Amar Shah and Alex Kendall met at Cambridge University while studying for PHDs and they decided to team up.
The software is touted to be compatible with electric cars and autonomous vehicles. Wayve focuses on artificial intelligence as opposed to pre-programmed mapping systems. Shah and Kendall believe that the car industry needs to do more machine learning in order to create safer driving conditions.
Kendall said “in the future we image a world where mass transit systems move people and goods around – trains, buses, aircraft or hyperloops – below major hubs. We are targeting the last mile transportation to get from that hub to the final destination through safe and intelligent autonomy.”
“Humans have a fascinating ability to perform complex tasks in the real world, because our brains allow us to learn quickly and transfer knowledge across our many experiences. We need to give our vehicles better brains, not much hardware. Technology today relies on lots of data, 3D maps and rules to drive. This requires a lot of data and resources and does not scale. We are building an artificial driving intelligence system which can drive using just what it sees, like you and me.”
Wayve is already being trialled on the road and has attracted investment from Uber. The taxi company needed to stop testing self-driving technology after a driverless car killed a man in Arizona back in March.
Chief scientist of Uber, Zoubin Ghahramani is pleased with Wayve’s progress. “The talented team at Wayve is pushing the forefront of machine learning technology into the world of self-driving. State-of-the-art machine learning is essential for successful self-driving.”
The Wayve team is keen to reduce the carbon footprint of the cars using the technology. Kendall added “we hope the efficiency gains from autonomous transport will vastly improve the sustainability of urban transport. We are focusing our development on electric vehicle platforms.”
