We are seeing more and more videos of real-world tests involving autonomous vehicles navigating busy city streets in order to test how the systems and cars will perform when the first self-driving cars are launched.
Many of these videos involve dry streets and daytime hours. Drive.ai’s video takes self-driving tests to a whole new level, by not only testing at night, but also during a rainstorm. The test took place on the streets of Mountain View, Calif., in what Drive.ai considers to be the same conditions that drivers will encounter daily. Self-driving technology will need to address these rainy days, as well as unpredictable situations.
Drive.ai says its autonomous driving platform uses deep learning technology to make decisions more like a human brain, and is capable of scaling for use in all kinds of environments. The goal of the test is to develop autonomous technology that is safe in all conditions. Since Drive.ai is one of the first companies with an autonomous vehicle testing permit in California, it is taking advantage of the many rainy days the state has had of late.
In the video, Drive.ai points to certain highlights, including the car navigating a narrow street with parked cars, and glare from oncoming traffic that occurs at the 30 second mark. At the 1 minute mark, a busy four-way stop sign, with a possible illegal turn cutting off the self-driving car, and at the 1:50 minute mark, a broken red light at intersection that causes traffic.