Google, Uber and Apple are all well known to be working hard on the future of self-driving cars, and now Samsung is looking to get in on the act too.
Despite having no prior experience in the automotive space, the Korean tech giant has been granted permission to test its own self-driving car tech on public roads.
Unlike much of the competition, which are testing their driverless cars on the roads of California, Samsung has been approved to test its futuristic vehicles in its native South Korea.
According to The Korea Herald, South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approved the Galaxy S8 maker’s proposal to trial its driverless cars on open roads.
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Although Samsung is currently remaining coy with regards to its overall plans, it’s believed the firm’s test vehicle is a modified Hyundai.
The car – which can operate without a person behind the wheel – has been fitted with an array of sensors and cameras to allow it to better assess its position on the road, surrounding vehicles and potential obstructions and dangers.
It’s also confirmed that the cars will utilise deep-learning technologies in order to address ways to better navigate certain situations, such as poor weather or heavy traffic.
Despite Samsung’s push into self-driving car testing, the company recently confirmed it has no plans to launch its own cars. Instead, the firm’s tests are believed to be leading to Samsung providing software services for the future of autonomous vehicles.
“We don’t really want to build cars,” Samsung’s president and chief strategy officer said in a recent interview.
“It is important to recognise what we believe going forward is that we are not interested in the more traditional area of business or technology, such as power trains or seats or bodies. We don’t add a lot of value in that area.”
Samsung is just the latest in a growing list of companies testing driverless car technologies, with the likes of BMW, Hyundai, Tesla, Honda, and Ford all trialling the tech.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
