A Bengaluru-based start-up, Minus Zero, has revealed zPod. They claim it to be India’s first fully autonomous vehicle equipped with self-driving tech indigenously developed by the artificial intelligence firm. Let’s take a look at the company and the car:
The zPod Concept
It is an autonomous vehicle that is capable enough to drive in the given geographical conditions in the given environment with the help of its camera suite. The company claims that it can take up autonomous technology to level five with no human intervention while driving in the real world.
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zPod has a four-seater layout with the seats facing each other without any controls like a conventional car. The AI system does all of the work to drive by processing information through the images captured by the camera in real-time. The company says equipping the car with a camera helps reduce costs.
Minus Zero’s AI Tech
This is just an exhibit of what the company is trying to build, which aims to reduce traffic congestion and road fatalities. The COO stated, “The city wastes 2.5 lakh litres of fuel every hour, every day, just in traffic, and that all the costs of the inefficiencies when accumulated together lead to a whopping $22 billion in losses to a single nation over a period of one year.”
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Unlike conventional autonomous cars, the zPod does not function on the basis of light detection and ranging (LIDAR). It utilizes an array of six cameras, with four on the sides and two at the front and back. Minus Zero also showcased their True Vision Autonomy concept, which utilizes the above-stated cameras as sensors to navigate through objects. According to the company, this concept can be applied to any existing vehicle, be it an ICE or an EV. Autonomous driving technology can be retrofitted if the car features an engine control module.
Production plans?
The usage of zPod will be limited to in-campus mobility, such as tech parks and residential areas, with a defined route of transportation in the near future. Confining the car to a defined, geofenced area away from public roads might be key.
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Minus Zero solves some vital problems, such as reducing the hardware cost and extensive data requirements, but the company has no intention to put the zPod into production. They showcased this product as an inspiration to help other manufacturers realize the new horizons and possibilities to explore.
