The latest piloted driving technology demonstration from Audi began not at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, but some 900 kilometres away in Silicon Valley. 'Jack', Audi's piloted driving concept car, took to the road with a team of journalists and an experienced Audi engineer in the passenger seat (as required by the State Laws in California).
Based on an A7 3.0 TFSI production model, the prototype is fitted with four small cameras at the front and rear of the car, which provide short-range information of the surrounding environment, while a hi-resolution, wide-angle 3D video camera - set to debut in the new Audi Q7 - keeps a check on the surrounding traffic.
Supplementing these are the car's standard production sensors, which include adaptive cruise control (ACC) and Audi side assist (ASA), utilising long-range radar sensors to monitor the car's blind spots. With all this information being gathered the car's, sorry, Jack's powerful computing system can form a real-time 360-degree view of what is going on around it.
All of this means that at any point up to a speed of just under 120km/h the driver can hand over driving duties to Jack by simply activating the piloted driving mode from the steering wheel. A strip of coloured LED lights along the base of the windscreen indicates to the driver when it is safe to switch over. Currently the system requires the driver to take control in city environments. A Central Status Indicator (CSI) also keeps the driver informed.
Like a proud father, Audi's Board Member for Technical Development, Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, said, "the results of the test drive underscores our piloted driving competency. I'd like to thank the team of Audi engineers, VW Group R&D and the Electronics Research Laboratory for making it a great success."
Anything else?
Jack can not only follow its own satellite navigation trip but is capable of lane changing and overtaking and during the trip to CES drove stints of up to 160km without any intervention from those in the car. However, for now, only certain states in America allow autonomous cars such as Jack to drive on public roads while here in Europe the legislation remains under review.