London, July 31 (IANS) It seems that Google and Tesla have a new competitor in their driverless car projects -- FiveAI, a Britain-based startup that is working on a technology that is data light and fully autonomous.
The startup, with Amadeus Capital -- the venture capital company leading the investment -- has secured $2.7 million in equity funding to help develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of driving a car, Forbes reported on Sunday.
The startup's concept is different from Google and Tesla as FiveAI's project would have a vehicle fitted out with sensors all processed by a central computer capable of "machine learning", that is, capability of picking up information from encounters and applying it to future situations.
“It uses sensors to perceive what is out there -- identifying things like road, pavement, street signs, pedestrians and other cars,†Forbes quoted Steve Allpress, Chief Technology Officer at FiveAI, as saying.
“It builds up a probablisitic picture of what is likely to happen that can see how our own actions and (others') actions will influence possible options in order to then plan the safest route,†Allpress said.
While Tesla's autopilot feature does not provide full autonomy, meaning, it is a driving aid that requires a human to be in charge at all times, Google's system does not require human oversight but it is very data heavy.
Google has created a detailed point cloud with millions of data points on each road in order to build a 3D picture of how it looks without anyone in it. It can then subtract that out to know what the system is currently seeing, Allpress noted.
“Invariably humans do not always pay attention when they should. We want to get to the point where you can de-couple the human from the vehicle,†Allpress added.