Samsung has decided to join the other corporate giants that are in a hurry to bring self-driving cars to the streets, and by stepping up their plans, they are now full rivals of companies like Uber, Apple, and even Google’s Waymo. It would seem that the battle for the best smartphone turned to the battle for bringing the first and the best self-driving car to the eye of the consumer.
Samsung has already made name for itself as the world’s largest smartphone creator, as well as a real chip giant, and now, they’re going beyond even that. This South Korean electronics manufacturer has finally received the permission to run self-driving car tests on the South Korean public roads. This decision will now make Samsung an equal to other companies that are already testing their self-driving technology, even on this field. This is especially important to Samsung’s biggest smartphone rival, Apple, that has already received permission to run their own tests earlier.
As far as it’s known, Google, Apple, and other US-based companies that are in the self-driving car ‘race’, are using the modified Lexus SUVs to test their systems. On the other hand, Samsung has decided to use another Korean firm called Hyundai for their tests. Hyundai’s cars will be upgraded with Samsung’s sensors and other necessary techs. The company’s goal is to put their system into other companies’ cars, instead of building their own.
Their spokesperson has stated that “Samsung Electronics plans to develop algorithms, sensors and computer modules that will make a self-driving car that is reliable even in the worst weather conditions.”
Samsung managed to buy the US audio and automotive supplier Harman International earlier this year, in March, and this is expected to help the company enhance their own autonomous car technology. They’ve previously committed to supporting the advancement of the IoT devices and decided to help out when it comes to connecting with many of the everyday devices to the internet as possible. This is also expected to be of great use when it comes to connecting cars in the car-to-car, as well as car-to-road communications.
It’s still unknown how are these companies exactly planning to deliver the self-driving tech to the public on a mass scale. It’s known that Waymo has their Google car, while Uber uses Volvos and other cars, but the question is will they become car-creating firms, or will they sell their tech to already existing car creators?googl
The self-driving car tech was developed by many of the car manufacturers already, including Hyundai, Volvo, Mercedes, and others. Even though getting the permission to test self-driving cars is a huge feat for Samsung, they’re still not the only one, but one of 20 companies that were allowed to test their tech on South Korean roads. South Korea has done some planning of their own, and it leads to reducing the number of allowed passengers during the testing from two to one. They’ve also allowed the testing of cars that don’t have pedals or steering wheels so now the human pilots can’t take control of the vehicle in case of an emergency.
South Korea has done some planning of their own, and it leads to reducing the number of allowed passengers during the testing from two to one. They’ve also allowed the testing of cars that don’t have pedals or steering wheels so now the human pilots can’t take control of the vehicle in case of an emergency.
