Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ƒ/5.6
85 mm
1/400
160

Drivers Wanted?

Here’s a video of a VW parking at Stanford today. No drivers. No remote control. It parks itself. The trunk is full of computers. A Bosch video cam is mounted discretely near the rear-view mirror, like a rain sensor. Bespoke scanning LIDAR sensors for 3D mapping are mounted behind each rear wheel and behind the front grill logo.

With the sensors out of sight, the robocar was breathtaking, like K.I.T.T. made manifest.

5 responses to “Autonomous Audi TT”

  1. Did you get to meet the executives who were over from Ingolstadt this week?

  2. Doh, I was getting very excited that this was an all electric audi.

  3. Ramones and sbove: Yes, I met some fine Dr.s from Bosch, and found myself talking to Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, who served as General Executive of Volkswagen AG, CEO of Audi, and now CEO of Bentley. He opined that electric cars would not have a noticeable effect on his business.

  4. Excellent – I have to say I was *most* impressed by the self-parking car. It’s a way better parker than I could ever hope to be, and this kind of feature, rather than entertainment, would be options that could potentially sway my decision as a car buyer. In fact my preferred gadget would be a speed limit reminder. Will be off to Ingolstadt again in the next couple of weeks, they’ll be pleased to hear I saw their magic car on YouTube!

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