BMW wants to have fully self-driving cars on roadways by 2021.
The German automaker has announced a collaboration with Intel and Mobileye to develop the necessary solutions and innovative systems for highly and fully automated driving. The three companies working together represent leaders from the automotive, technology and computer-vision, and machine-learning industries, with hopes of bringing fully self-driving cars to market by 2021.
BMW acknowledges that “the path to get to a fully autonomous world is complex and will require end-to-end solutions that integrate intelligence across the network, from door locks to the data center.” The BMW iNEXT model will serve as the foundation for the company’s autonomous driving strategy and will set the basis for fleets of fully self-driving cars, not only on highways but also in urban environments for the purposes of automated ride-sharing solutions.
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The three companies are convinced that automated driving technologies will make traveling in vehicles safer and easier, with the hopes of being able to create vehicles that drive without a human driver inside. Until then, the companies will target the so-called “eyes off” stage before heading to the “mind off” level, transforming a driver’s in-car experience to leisure or work time. They have also agreed to strive for an industry standard while defining an open platform for autonomous driving. The common platform will be made available to multiple car vendors and other industries who could benefit from the technology.
