Brake lights flashed. Cars inched forward, sped up, and slowed down. Drivers swooped from lane to lane, searching for the slightest of advantages in the late-afternoon rush. It was all part of a routine commute along Interstate 15?for every car except one.
Operating amid the traffic fray was an Audi SQ5 equipped with an automated driving system jointly developed by automotive suppliers Delphi and Mobileye.
During an autonomous journey that covered a little more than six miles, the car negotiated a highway merge from the on-ramp and later made a graceful exit, two challenges that many engineers consider some of the most complex in self-driving operations. Accomplishing the maneuvers at the peak of rush hour only enhanced the feat.
Among the dozen or so self-driving demonstrations taking place in Las Vegas during autonomous-addled CES, the Delphi-Mobileye vehicle was the only one to venture into the realm of highway merges and exits. Those were signature moments in a drive in which the SQ5 cautiously proceeded along major arterials teeming with pedestrians, handled an oddball 120-degree turn at the bottom of a steep exit ramp, and navigated through the usual cast of human motorists paying scant attention to the rules of the road. Other than the few feet it took to go from the parking lot onto the road, the entire drive took place under fully autonomous control.
Twenty-one years ago, Delphi became the first automotive company of any kind to showcase its products at CES. In ...