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In recent years, many of the technological developments relating to the automotive industry have been related to automation
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, have already started being introduced to many modern vehicles, and it looks certain to be a development factor that many manufacturers are going to focus on over the coming years.
There are six levels of ADAS, spanning from Level 0 (no automation) to Level 5 (full automation), with the expectation being that by the end of this decade and into the next, more and more autonomous vehicles will be present on roads around the world.
One company that is leading the charge in this area is Waymo.
A subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, Waymo has recently started operating a fleet of driverless taxis in the American cities of San Francisco and Phoenix. In this article, we’ll explore Waymo’s project and take a look at how automation is shaping the industry.
For many years Waymo has been exploring the merits of automotive technology, with their fleet of vehicles now available on Google Maps.
For now, the ride-hailing service is only on offer for Waymo employees in the Phoenix or San Francisco areas. In 2022, it started collecting employees in electric Jaguar I-Pace SUVs without human backup drivers in the vehicle.
A year earlier, Waymo first launched their service, but always had a human accompanying a passenger in the vehicle in case they were required to intervene. The absence of this backup is significant and represents a huge leap forward for the technology.
For now, this service is only available for Waymo employees, but it is set to be launched to the general public in the future.
Waymo employees wanting to hail a driverless cab can now do so via Google maps. Known as Waymo One, the fleet has around 600 vehicles to its name – but not all of them will be used as taxis.
For those that will, users can summon them by opening Google Maps, before being brought over to Waymo’s own application to complete the booking and purchasing process.
While it’s perhaps easier to use the Waymo app from the outset, the integration with Google Maps signals the brand’s intention to make itself more visible to the general public in the coming years.
ADAS and all other elements of automotive driving are certainly here to stay.
As well as Waymo’s driverless taxi service, a number of other companies have already begun the process of implementing various automotive technologies into road cars that will be driven by the general public.
In fact, within the next decade, it’s expected that we will begin to see more and more autonomous vehicles on the road. Whether it’s vehicles with a simple driving monitor system or something even more advanced remains to be seen, but it’s an innovation road users are going to have to start getting used to. For example, it’s predicted by 2035 there will be around 21 million semi-autonomous cars around the world.
At The Windscreen Company, it doesn’t matter to us what car you drive. Our team of expert technicians are trained to provide leading windscreen repair and replacement services to vehicles across the West Midlands and South East. No matter what the make or model of your vehicle, we’re here to get you back on the road as quickly as possible.
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