If you see an ID.Buzz with a bunch of sensors driving around Hamburg this summer, don’t be freaked out if you can’t see the driver. Those sensors can see you.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Argo AI will be testing level 4 autonomous driving technology around the German city with a view to getting it in consumers’ hands in a few years.
“Our aim with the self-driving version of the ID. BUZZ is to facilitate commercial deployment of transport and delivery services starting in 2025,” said Christian Senger, VW’s software division director.
Volkswagen believes that delivery vans and transport vans are the logical places to start with autonomous vehicles. It believes that the technology will make life much faster for residents.
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“In select cities, customers will be able to have a self-driving vehicle take them to their destination,” said Senger. “The delivery of goods and packages will also be made much easier through our autonomous driving service.”
Although Argo AI‘s integration into a VW is new, this won’t be the technology’s first trial. Argo AI has been testing in the U.S. for a long time now.
“We believe Argo AI has the largest urban self-driving testing footprint, with operations in six cities in the United States,” said Bryan Salesky, Argo AI Founder and CEO. “We are excited to begin testing our self-driving system on European roads later this year, building on the initial work we’re doing now at a new test track we established next to the Munich airport.”
Their technology uses Lidar, radar, and cameras to sense the world around the ID.Buzz. Argo has been working on its own Lidar that can see objects up to 400 meters (1,300 ft) away. It can also detect a single photon of light, which is important in case it comes up against an object that doesn’t reflect much, like a vantablack BMW.
A pilot project will be set up with MOIA, Volkswagen’s rideshare subsidiary.
“Within a very short time, we have set up Europe’s largest, all-electric ride pooling service and provided mobility to millions of passengers. We bring this expertise to the cooperation with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Argo AI,” said Robert Henrich, MOIA CEO. “Hamburg will be the first city to offer an autonomous ride pooling service with an ID.Buzz.”