Monday, June 05, 2023
By Kamal Swami
Bengaluru Based Start-up Unveils India's First Autonomous Car
Despite various efforts made by many car manufacturers, the concept of self-driving cars is still a dream in India. However, taking a step ahead in this direction, an Indian start-up Minus Zero has recently unveiled an autonomous car zPod. According to the Bengaluru-based car maker, the car can be driven in all types of environmental conditions with the help of its camera-sensor suite. The notable feature of zPod is that it doesn't have a steering wheel and operates by using a series of high-resolution cameras to assess traffic conditions.
The carmaker claims that zPod can achieve the highest 5 Levels of autonomy. It is said that any autonomous car scaled to level 5 autonomy can be driven without any human assistance. The camera sensor captures real-time images of the vehicles running equivalent to the car and sends these images to the internally embedded artificial intelligence (AI) system. The AI then further uses these images to navigate the location of other vehicles to avoid the chances of a crash. The notable feature of zPod which differentiates it from other self-driving cars made globally by makers like Google and other manufacturers is the use of camera technology rather than the expensive sensors used in existing autonomous cars. Sources claim that the first Indian autonomous car zPad can be an effective source of transportation in limited areas like a campus or large residential buildings.
In the words of Reehal, CEO, of Minus Zero, "With true vision autonomy coming to the fore, one can make autonomous vehicles a reality, solving major pain points of the mobility paradigm". He also added that the group is keen to share its technology of developing an Advance Driver Assistant System (ADAS) with other manufacturers to enhance the technical aspects of their vehicles. The zPod is working on increasing the use of AI in its autonomous vehicle in compliance with Indian roads. It is also planning to start its trial plans in foreign countries with standard regulatory standards in the next two years.
