Doesn’t the idea to sit back and cross our hands behind our head while our car drives us on its own seem appealing?
But we still feel a little skeptical about autonomous cars. And can we really blame ourselves?
Cars after all don’t possess the sentience that we humans are born with. And thanks to Sci-Fi movies we KNOW we don’t want them to be self-aware.
So innovators around the globe are trying to find and resolve such problems that the autonomous vehicle may face.
These generally include sensors that collect information from the surroundings and give that information to the car. In this case, Wipro is working on a sensor that’ll understand the signs of Traffic Police.
In their recent patent (20200225662A1) Wipro Ltd. talks about a system for an autonomous vehicle wherein sensors will be able to detect the Traffic police.
While usually, the autonomous vehicle will rely on the traffic signals to stop and move, what happens when the traffic lights stop working? What will our self-driving car do?
Well, Wipro has the answer to that.
How the technology works
According to their patent, this system is called the Intersection Management System. It will consist of two parts- Memory & processor.
Both will work together to inform the car of the ongoing situation. They will be getting this data from the car’s sensors.
An autonomous vehicle is usually equipped with sensors that detect objects around the vehicle with the help of videos and images.
The Intersection Management System will have additional sensors that, with the help of present sensors, will detect whether Traffic police or auxiliary objects (such as traffic cones, stop signs, etc.) are present.
All this collective data which includes- the predefined distance of the traffic police (or auxiliary object) from the vehicle, images and videos will be sent to the processor.
The processor then will send our autonomous car the instructions on whether to stop or go accordingly.
This system could solve a major problem not only when there’s a non-functional traffic light, but also in the case of a traffic jam and traffic police come to intervene.
Wipro’s Partnership in Autonomous Vehicles
Wipro and Excelfore
Wipro Limited and Excelfore, a provider of middleware solutions for Smart Mobility Networks, on 8 August 2017 announced a global partnership to offer secure connectivity solutions for autonomous vehicles.
This partnership combined Wipro’s global systems integration and managed services expertise with Excelfore’s Smart Mobility Networks solutions to enable connected car solutions for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 equipment makers.
Wipro and Genesys
Wipro and Genesys International Corporation in Aug 2018 had signed a pact to develop solutions for autonomous vehicles.
According to the pact Genesys has the responsibility to develop high definition maps and content and Wipro to develop the navigational and control technology for autonomous systems and smart mobility companies.
Wipro and IISc Bangalore
On 16 September 2019 Wipro collaborated with IISc Bangalore to create autonomous cars for Indian Roads. IISc and Wipro were reportedly creating their own vehicle
“It is a greenfield design. Everything has been designed from scratch. We are not taking a Toyota or a Honda and retrofitting,” said Dr Ramachandra Budihal, Wipro’s head for AI, autonomous systems and robotics.
Wipro’s self-driving car in a box
Wipro also created something called “Wipro’s driverless car simulator” (aka SDV in a box or self-driving car in a box). It is a global scale simulator i.e. it can be used to test the navigation algorithms of autonomous vehicles.
It acts as a testing ground to check the autonomous vehicles before they are released onto the roads. It simulates multiple weather conditions and is capable of taking the vehicle into its limits of operations by navigating it through challenging real-life scenarios.
This makes the simulator highly scalable and it can be used to replicate specific world environments.
Conclusion
There are a lot of autonomous vehicle companies that are working on methods, techniques, and ideas that can help autonomous vehicles run smoother.
During the last three years, quite a number of automobile giants have announced their plans to launch fully autonomous cars by 2020.
And, hopefully with the help of these innovative ideas, the future of autonomous cars running on our roads will be a close reality.
Author Bio: Oorja Pandya is a Marketing Associate in GreyB Services, a Patent Landscape Service Provider with offices in Singapore, India, and the US.