CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -In August 2016, Singapore launched the first self-driving taxi service (as a pilot), provided by an autonomous vehicle startup company called nuTonomy. In September 2016, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) adopted the SAE classification standard, and the SAE classification became widely accepted.

Detailed explanation-2: -Baidu, the Chinese internet giant that became known for its search engines, is making some big strides in autonomous driving. Starting this week, the public can ride its robotaxis in Wuhan between 7 am and 11 pm without safety drivers behind the wheel.

Detailed explanation-3: -The first self-driving car was successfully piloted from Pittsburgh to San Diego in 1995, although it was not a standard production vehicle. The Navlab5, which was the fifth of ten cars that were retrofitted by The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon, was an autonomous vehicle that was able to steer itself.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1977, the Japanese improved on this idea with a camera system that relayed data to a computer to process images of the road. This led to the testing of the world’s first self-driving passenger vehicle which could reach speeds up to 20 miles per hour.