Featured article by Rick DelGado, Independent Technology Author
The age of driverless cars has come to reality with many companies jumping on the bandwagon of developing self-driving cars. Companies like Cisco, Nvidia, Intel, and Amazon are all rival companies in the autonomous driving. This was evident in the annual CES show that had to expand the space for companies to showcase their technologies on self-driving cars.
The evidence that these companies are getting into the game is a testament that the market for self-driving cars is here, and we cannot ignore this field anymore. Companies like Google and Tesla who started working on self-driving cars have a bigger piece of the cake that the newcomers.
To get a feel of the market of self-driving cars, let us look at some of the companies listed by market capitalization which are developing software, hardware and complete systems for autonomous vehicles.
Apple
Apple was rumored to be developing self-driving cars, but the company CEO Tim Cook confirmed that they are working on autonomous driving software systems to power self-driving cars. It was a relief to some experts and other Apple investors that Apple was not getting in the competitive field that GM, Tesla, and Toyota dominate.
Apple has not specified when they will release the software, but they are partnering with Hertz to conduct tests of the autonomous software in rental cars owned by the company in San Francisco. Once self-driving cars are produced for consumer production, Apple software like CarPlay, Siri and others will often be used, to allow drivers to spend most of their time on the screen and not on the road.
Software companies like coding campus and other institutions are also playing their part on equipping developers with the knowledge of program they can contribute into new technologies.
Alphabet
In 2009, Google launched its first driverless car. Seven years later, Alphabet changed the name of the autonomous car section to Waymo. The sector is building a complete self-driving system that is filled with software and sensors. Waymo has managed to cover four million miles of actual driving applications and collected data from cities such as Phoenix, California, and Austin.
In Phoenix, Waymo lets people use autonomous cars to ride to work on a daily basis in its early rider program. Alphabet decided to team up with Avis to rent cars. Waymo has also partnered with AutoNation to provide support services, and with Intel to distribute processors used to power the vehicles.
Microsoft
Microsoft has a number of partnerships with car manufacturers like BMW, Volvo, Ford, Toyota, and Renault Nissan to develop Internet-connected driverless cars. But to date, the most interesting deal it has is with the internet company Baidu.
Baidu is developing an open-source platform called Apollo, which is rumored to be the Android of self-driving cars. Microsoft has benefited from the partnership as it gained a channel to sell their Azure services to companies that are building Apollo. The deal they have is to work with companies that are using Apollo in other countries except for China.
Amazon
Amazon is approaching the self-driving cars industry with a specific interest in the transportation of items as efficiently and quickly as possible. Amazon’s vice president Tim Collins said that the partnership with Toyota would allow them to explore new horizons of transporting customer items with speed.
Intel
Intel is on a journey of becoming one of the biggest automotive suppliers. The partnership with Waymo will enable them to provide connectivity and sensors to Waymo.
Cisco
Cisco states that they are going to deliver superfast networking to Hyundai cars in 2009. If the strategy works, they will process more data in the cars when they put more sensors; this will allow them to develop fully autonomous cars in a matter of time. Hyundai will also be allowed to enable communication between vehicles and traffic lights, toll gates and parking meters.
Conclusion
Technology is opening up different fields of technology. When more tech companies are getting into the automotive space, it is an indication that technology is bridging the gap between industries and creating more opportunities. The field of self-driving cars is a growing field, and we are yet to see what the future holds.
by Rick DelGado, Independent Author
“I’ve been blessed to have a successful career and have recently taken a step back to pursue my passion of writing. I’ve started doing freelance writing and I love to write about new technologies and how it can help us and our planet.” – Rick DelGado
