Argo AI, the driverless startup backed by Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG, has started testing self-driving vehicles in Miami, Florida and Austin, Texas, without a human behind the wheel.
While the cars aren’t the first fully driverless vehicles on the road, the tests may be the toughest so far for the technology. Argo CEO Bryan Salesky said the company is the first to put cars on the road in major cities during rush hour with no safety driver inside.
“We’re the first to go driverless in the heart of two major markets during daytime business hours in busy neighborhoods with significant traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists,” Salesky said.
“Others have pulled the driver when they’re operating at night, when there’s nobody around, or when they’re in the suburbs.”
The vehicle will carry a person in the passenger seat who can pull the car over and stop in an emergency.
Self-driving vehicles are seen as a solution to automotive crashes that take more than 1.3-million lives a year globally. But the public remains wary of driverless cars, especially after high-profile accidents exposed the limits of the technology. Further, the cost an innovation required to put more autonomous cars on the road means deep-pocketed companies, such as Apple Inc, have to lend their support.
Alphabet Inc’s Waymo and General Motors Co-backed Cruise LLC are also working to bring more driverless vehicles to city streets. Both companies have run test vehicles with an empty driver’s seat. Argo was founded in late 2016 with $1bn roughly R15,923,700,000) in seed money from Ford.
Salesky said Argo’s new tests were enabled by a lidar sensor it developed that allows cars to “see” 400m down the road. Argo’s entire test fleet, in eight cities in the US and Germany, will be outfitted with the sensor by year-end, he said.
“By the end of the year, we’ll have the whole fleet, basically public road ready for driverless,” Salesky said.
He said the lidar sensor, which bounces light off objects to create an image of the road ahead, is the key to commercialising its autonomous system.
Argo is testing its self-driving system with the public in pilot programmes with Lyft Inc and Walmart Inc in Miami, Austin and Washington, DC.
Salesky said Argo plans to take on more customers and is in “active discussion” for ride-hailing and driverless delivery deals.
Argo’s fully driverless system was evaluated by TUV SUD, a German testing firm, before the vehicles hit public roads. TUV said the concept was “sufficiently effective and trustworthy for testing”, Argo said. Eventually driverless cars may ferry people and packages without a human minder on board. Salesky said by pulling the safety driver, Argo is closer to that goal.
“This is a big milestone,” Salesky said. “We’re showing this can be done where the demand is and where the miles are to build a business around it.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Ford-backed Argo goes driverless in two US cities
Image: Argo AI
Argo AI, the driverless startup backed by Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG, has started testing self-driving vehicles in Miami, Florida and Austin, Texas, without a human behind the wheel.
While the cars aren’t the first fully driverless vehicles on the road, the tests may be the toughest so far for the technology. Argo CEO Bryan Salesky said the company is the first to put cars on the road in major cities during rush hour with no safety driver inside.
“We’re the first to go driverless in the heart of two major markets during daytime business hours in busy neighborhoods with significant traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists,” Salesky said.
“Others have pulled the driver when they’re operating at night, when there’s nobody around, or when they’re in the suburbs.”
The vehicle will carry a person in the passenger seat who can pull the car over and stop in an emergency.
Self-driving vehicles are seen as a solution to automotive crashes that take more than 1.3-million lives a year globally. But the public remains wary of driverless cars, especially after high-profile accidents exposed the limits of the technology. Further, the cost an innovation required to put more autonomous cars on the road means deep-pocketed companies, such as Apple Inc, have to lend their support.
Alphabet Inc’s Waymo and General Motors Co-backed Cruise LLC are also working to bring more driverless vehicles to city streets. Both companies have run test vehicles with an empty driver’s seat. Argo was founded in late 2016 with $1bn roughly R15,923,700,000) in seed money from Ford.
Salesky said Argo’s new tests were enabled by a lidar sensor it developed that allows cars to “see” 400m down the road. Argo’s entire test fleet, in eight cities in the US and Germany, will be outfitted with the sensor by year-end, he said.
“By the end of the year, we’ll have the whole fleet, basically public road ready for driverless,” Salesky said.
He said the lidar sensor, which bounces light off objects to create an image of the road ahead, is the key to commercialising its autonomous system.
Argo is testing its self-driving system with the public in pilot programmes with Lyft Inc and Walmart Inc in Miami, Austin and Washington, DC.
Salesky said Argo plans to take on more customers and is in “active discussion” for ride-hailing and driverless delivery deals.
Argo’s fully driverless system was evaluated by TUV SUD, a German testing firm, before the vehicles hit public roads. TUV said the concept was “sufficiently effective and trustworthy for testing”, Argo said. Eventually driverless cars may ferry people and packages without a human minder on board. Salesky said by pulling the safety driver, Argo is closer to that goal.
“This is a big milestone,” Salesky said. “We’re showing this can be done where the demand is and where the miles are to build a business around it.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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