SELF-DRIVING technology firm Mapless AI has announced it has begun testing its driverless cars at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Travelers will be able to use a Mapless AI vehicle to quickly travel from the airport’s long-term parking lot to their terminal for a drop-off.
Mapless AI co-founder Jeffrey Johnson standing with one of his company’s vehicles
These cars are delivered to the airport’s parking lots through an autonomous [self-driving] variety known as teleoperated driving, Next Pittsburgh reports.
Teleoperated driving allows vehicles to be controlled remotely.
This remote communication is achieved through encrypted data communication between onboard vehicle sensors and a remote driving console, MotorTrend reports.
Mapless AI co-founder Phillip Robbel said: “It’s not just that we offer pure teleoperation where we slap on some cameras onto the vehicle and then rely on the network connection.
“There’s enough intelligence on the car that it will be able to detect anything from pedestrians or other objects on the road and stop itself,” Next Pittsburgh reports.
Other self-driving companies like Cruise create complex maps of their environment that take lots of time and money to manufacture.
Once these detailed maps are created, the autonomous vehicle can use the data to more confidently navigate its surroundings.
After a Mapless AI vehicle arrives at the airport’s parking lot for a pickup, the user will enter the car’s driver seat and manually drive themselves to their drop-off point.
Mapless AI will test their vehicles with a human in the driver’s seat during their early trials in case of emergency.
Mapless AI user pickup requests at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) will be processed through a web app.
The U.S. Sun spoke with Mapless AI’s other co-founder, Jeff Johnson.
Johnson said he and Robbel had spent a decade working in the autonomous driving technology industry before forming Mapless AI in early 2020.
When asked how long Mapless AI plans to keep an emergency driver onboard, Johnson said: “This will last as soon as we have confidence that we can remove the driver.
Cars lined up at Pittsburgh International Airport
“We would like to be deploying within two years or so, but of course, that’s all fluid and subject to change.”
Johnson said he hopes that Mapless AI will be “Pretty broadly available” in the coming years as plans for the company’s expansion are in the books.
