JERUSALEM, 2018 — For a test drive in October, while a Bloomberg reporter was in the passenger seat, the car merged into traffic on a highway without a driver. For a moment, the drivers refused to let the vehicle into its lane — a typical Israeli driver — and then it moved, smoothly but firmly. The driver did not touch the steering wheel or brake during the 20-minute drive.
But like its competitors, Mobileye has also encountered problems. At a press event in Jerusalem in May, the vehicle ran a red light. The problem was caused by electromagnetic interference caused by wireless transmitters on a television crew’s cameras. The company says it has since fixed the problem.
Mobileye emphasizes and develops the importance of safety. It realizes that otherwise people will not accept the idea of a driverless car.
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
Billions of dollars are being spent on developing autonomous technology, as car and technology giants race to be the first to introduce a fully automated, safe and mass-market vehicle. Mobileye’s technological advances will be used by well-known automakers BMW and Fiat to develop automated vehicles.
Despite the fact that automated driving (Uber and Tesla vehicles) has so far claimed two lives, most candidates expect their cars to be occasionally driving on city streets within three years.
Without a safety model, the development of an automated vehicle risks remaining at the level of a “science project,” said Mobileye CEO Amnon Sashua, who created a safety code that clearly sets out rules for mathematical model failures.
The Israeli company presents a challenge and an opportunity for Intel, which is seeking to break its reliance on the manufacturing and development of personal computer processors. Despite Intel’s connection with Mobileye, the production of microchips for the development of automated vehicles is outsourced to competing companies and not produced within Intel’s manufacturing plants.
SHARING RESOURCES
Six months ago, Mobileye tapped a pair of Intel engineers to collaborate on new digital radars for Mobileye’s next-generation chips. “There’s a huge opportunity to build next-generation sensors that go far beyond what’s possible today,” Shashua says.
Mobileye currently provides the market with an automotive driver assistance system – a camera and custom chip that predicts when a collision is imminent and warns the driver with audible and graphic warnings.
The difference between Mobileye, Intel, and the other companies developing automated vehicles is that Mobileye and Intel are working on creating systems that gradually prepare and introduce drivers to the future of motoring, while the other companies are focusing solely on creating a fully automated vehicle.
