Published on July 8th, 2017 | by Guest

Outlining Uber’s Role in the Automation Race [Infographic]

The technicians at Uber have taken a leadership role within the vehicle automation industry in recent years. In early 2016, the company recruited robotics experts, engineers, and mechanics to help guide their push towards creating a truly autonomous vehicle. And in July of that year, they acquired Otto, a company developing driverless trucks for the commercial marketplace. In this post, the team at Auto Loans highlights the recent events involving Uber as they look to create autonomous vehicles.

Pilot Project Has Begun

It hasn’t taken long for Uber to develop their reputation as a leader within the vehicle automation marketplace, and their vehicles are now being tested on roads in the United States. In Pittsburgh, for example, the company began a pilot project in September 2016. The goal of the project was to determine how their autonomous technology would respond to real-world conditions in a city environment.

Problems Have Arisen

While the company did take the necessary steps to get their Pittsburgh project approved by the local authorities, they tried to put their vehicles on the road in San Francisco without approval. This quickly led to a judge ordering their vehicles off the road on day one of the San Francisco project.

First Accident Took Place in Arizona

Since the incident in San Francisco, the company has taken the steps to legally ensure their vehicles are able to take on driving routes in cities across the country. However, this has led to a few accidents as they try to perfect their vehicle’s capabilities. The first autonomous vehicle accident involving an Uber vehicle took place in Tempe, Arizona in March 2017, but investigators found the human driver of the other vehicle to be at fault.

By investigating the changes being made within the autonomous vehicle marketplace, we can see that companies such as Uber are taking great strides forward. To learn more on the latest developments in the industry, take a look at the below infographic.