DeepRoute, an autonomous vehicle startup, has received a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to test a fleet of self-driving cars on public streets.
The permit will allow the company to begin test drives in Silicon Valley with its Level 4 self-driving system that allows passengers to travel between two points autonomously. The goal is to test DeepRoute’s sensor fusion perception technology and test the company’s planning algorithm, which is able to safely plan the time to turn, select the lane, make decisions at crossroads and predict other driving behaviors efficiently.
Additionally, DeepRoute is working with a Chinese OEM to provide robo-taxi services during an international sporting event in October that will feature an initial 100 vehicles.
The decision to test self-driving vehicles on the roads of California comes after DeepRoute received $50 million in funding, which will be used to expand its staff as well as the number of vehicles it has in its fleet for testing. The next steps will include an expansion and testing of a robot-taxi fleet.
DeepRoute will join 63 other companies that have already received permits to test self-driving vehicles in the state. These include Waymo (Google), Tesla, Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen, Daimler, Apple, Nvidia, Uber, Lyft, AImotive, Drive.ai, Faraday Future, Telenav, GM and SF Motors.
