Autonomous cars, the idea that leaders like Elon Musk have been promising since 2017 and never came to fruition, seem to be starting to materialize in Europe. For the first time, a car has driven on a European highway without a driver or passengers. The person responsible for this feat is Vaya german company.
as published next web, uses a method called teledriving, which involves telematically directing cars to locations kilometers away. Operators steer the vehicles with steering wheels, pedals and displays. In addition, they receive traffic sounds through microphones and headphones.
From outside it looks like they are playing a video game, only these cars drive on real roads and their actions are real. Data transmission is done through the mobile network. In case of network failure or emergency, vehicle stops by itself,
They tested the technology without safety drivers after obtaining an exemption permit from Hamburg. The company has said that it has successfully completed the first driving test in the city on predefined routes.
“As a leading company teledrivingWe have been driving remote-controlled electric cars on public roads in Berlin and Hamburg for more than 3 years,” explains Thomas von der Ohe, CEO and co-founder of Way, in a statement.
“Together Exemption permission received in December 2022We are now able to successfully drive the first car without a safety driver on a public road.”
The company plans to operate as a robotaxis in 2 different ways. on the one hand, as Door-to-Door Mobility Service, In other words, the user requests a car and it will go to the collection point simply by remote control. Once there, the driver would get behind the wheel and drive to their destination, at which point the remote operator would once again take control.
On the other hand, the second service includes drive car remotely while the user is sitting behind.
Vai argues that teledriving It will be safer for passengers and more comfortable for drivers while reducing the number of private cars. These services aim to compete with existing providers of car sharing and taxi services. Although from Germany he believes that there may be more advantages.
“They creates a lot of added value with their service teledrive: With the possibility of digital booking and a parking space as a practical service, there is no need to seek zero emissions, for example, for the “last mile” from the bus or train station to the front door, says Anjes Tjarks, Hamburg senator from Transport and Mobility Transitions.
Whatever data Vai collects in these trials will also be used Improving and developing autonomous driving functions. Given the current brake on autonomous cars, many voices indicate that teledriving This could be the push they needed.
