Driverless: Uber Launches Autonomous Rides in London
The company is starting to offer an innovative ride service in the app based on breakthrough technology, though a safety operator will still be present in the vehicle during the initial phase.
The world of autonomous transport is taking a significant step forward as Uber begins offering the option in London to book a ride in a driverless vehicle directly through the company's app. The move marks a new phase in the development of smart transport and makes London the first city in Europe where the service is offered to the general public.
The new service is based on autonomous driving technology developed by the British startup Wayve. Users interested in trying the new option can go into the Uber app settings and indicate that they are interested in an autonomous ride. Subsequently, when booking one of the company's well-known services, including UberX, Comfort, or Electric, they may be matched with an autonomous vehicle.
However, in the first stage, there will still be a person inside the vehicle. A human safety driver, who has received approval from Transport for London, will be seated in the front seat. Their role is not to drive the vehicle in a routine manner, but to monitor the systems and be ready to intervene if necessary. Uber's goal is that, further down the road, it will be possible to operate the service without the presence of a human driver at all.
One of the key differences in Wayve's technology concerns how the vehicle identifies its surroundings. Unlike systems from other companies in the field, such as Waymo, the technology does not rely on lidar laser sensors. Instead, the system uses cameras and radar.
The system is intended to allow the vehicle to learn and understand the driving environment in real-time, and to deal with changing road conditions and complex situations. In addition, it is designed to handle changes in weather and driving environments, without being limited to a pre-defined geographic area.
Uber's entry into this field in London may signal a significant change in how people travel in the city, as the technology gradually moves from the testing phase to daily use by the public. If the model proves itself, it may pave the way for the expansion of autonomous transport services to other cities in Europe.
