Mobileye and Intel test Autonomous Vehicles in Jerusalem

In March 2017, Intel bought Israeli tech company Mobileye – this was not Intel’s first step towards autonomous driving, but definitely one of the most important ones. Mobileye provides computing capacity and sensors for the area around Jerusalem. The company also uses its expertise to guide several countries on the implementation of autonomous driving. Mobileye’s expertise is undisputable, at the latest since they sent 100 self-driving test vehicles onto the streets of Jerusalem.

The operation’s slogan: If you can do it in Jerusalem, you can do it everywhere, as its traffic is said to be extremely heavy and exhausting for human drivers. Apart from that, Jerusalem is also Mobileye’s company location.

For the moment the testing fleet is only equipped with camera sensors. 8 cameras capture images to detect obstacles and traffic signs and for positioning and mapping. By this the vehicle can develop optimal routes by itself. The procedure of using camera sensors only is called “true redundancy”. The advantage over the use of different kinds of sensors (“real redundancy”) is the small amount of data processed.

Data is processed by AI and converted into corresponding actions. In order to prevent AI from commanding dangerous maneuvers, Mobileye developed the so-called Responsibility-Sensitive-Safety (RSS) – a mathematical model that aligns AI orders with internal protocols. If a certain action or maneuver is not listed in the safety protocols, RSS prevents the execution. Intel has published the standards behind these protocols.

Today, all testing vehicles are equipped with the EyeQ4 chip. However, Mobileye has already unveiled its successor, the EyeQ5 chip, with a computing power ten times as strong as the current chip. The EyeQ5 will be in full mass production by 2020 and was already ordered by BMW for 2021.

Shortly after sending out the test fleet, first issues emerged. One car ran over a red light despite the efforts of a safety driver. At least Mobileye already discovered the cause of the malfunction and solved it: A TV camera interfered with the transponder signal of the traffic lights. Because of the missing signal, the car crossed the road as if there were no traffic lights.

David Fluhr is journalist and owner of the digital magazine “Autonomes Fahren & Co”. He is reporting regularly about trends and technologies in the fields Autonomous Driving, HMI, Telematics and Robotics. Link to his site: http://www.autonomes-fahren.de