Delphi Automotive‘s self-driving car, which debuted at CES 2015 and set the North American record for longest drive ever by a driverless car, is about to get even smarter.
At CES 2016, Delphi will demo vehicle-to-everything (V2E) capabilities in its self-driving car, using advanced software and hardware to allow the vehicle to communicate with streets, signs, traffic lights, other cars and even pedestrians.
“We imagine a world with zero traffic accidents,” said Jeff Owens, Delphi chief technology officer. “To get there we will need a convergence of active safety, sensor fusion, connectivity platforms and advanced software. Delphi has proven we are the only company that has the right mix of all of these.”
Most of Delphi’s 3,500-mile trip from New York to San Francisco was driven on highways where traffic was predictable and there wasn’t much traffic. The new upgrades will help the driverless car be more adept in urban settings.
The V2E upgrades that Delphi will demo include:
Vehicle-to-vehicle: Delphi’s car can see all the cars in the immediate vicinity and can detect when an adjacent car abruptly decides to get into the same lane as the Delphi car.
Vehicle-to-pedestrian: Leveraging a special chip in a smart phone, the vehicle is alerted to pedestrians who are not paying attention to traffic as they use their phone.
Vehicle-to-traffic light: With Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), Delphi’s vehicle knows the status of traffic lights around Vegas and will anticipate yellow and red lights.
Blind Corners: Delphi’s vehicle manages for situations when streets intersect at strange angles that prevent the driver from seeing opposing traffic.
Ride Sharing: The driver’s friends and family can be notified of the driver’s location so that a ride can be requested.
At CES 2016, Delphi’s technology will be on display in the Gold Lot and at booth No. 315 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.