An AI start-up from Bengaluru has revealed India’s first self-driving Autonomous electric car. Bengaluru-based Company, Minus Zero has presented its new product, zPod.
The vehicle’s shape is like a toaster, which will be helpful in many ways. The zPod has become India’s first autonomous vehicle.
About the company “Minus Zero”
Minus Zero was founded in the year 2021, by Gagandeep Reehal and Gursimran Kalra in Bengaluru, to achieve their vision of safe and scalable autonomous driving through their proprietary technological innovation of AI implementation known as the Nature Inspired AI (NIA), and True Vision Autonomy (TVA).
“Minus Zero zPod” Autonomus Vehicle
The Minus Zero zPod has a camera-sensor suite. This feature of the car makes it a self-driving car. The start-up founders claim that the vehicle can drive through every type of weather and conditions.
The AI System in zPod
The camera-sensor suite of the vehicle can take real-time pictures of the automobile’s surroundings and then be shared with the artificial intelligence system provided with it.
Then, the information is processed through the images by the AI system for navigating the vehicle. This is also done to avoid obstacles, control its speed, and stop.
The only difference between the zPod and other global companies’ autonomous cars like Google Waymo is that the Indian start-up depends on camera technology rather than on costly sensors. As per the start-up, the Minus Zero zPod is suitable for transport within a closed and controlled place like a campus or big residential complex.
Words by the Management on its unveiled
Reehal said, “Because of the lack of safe autonomous vehicles, many lives are lost yearly, and economies lose much money. With true vision autonomy coming to the fore, one can make autonomous vehicles a reality, solving main pain points of the mobility paradigm”.
The co-founder of the company, Kalra told “TVA is a new inflection point in the mobility sector. It can adjust to any situation and vehicle form factors, helping next-generation vehicles extract the potential of full autonomy in the future.
Through its innovations and AI breakthroughs, Minus Zero provides a blank canvas to all automotive OEMs.”
Further, he said “Our concepts are a modern revolution in the automobile industry. They enable automobile manufacturers to explore new design possibilities for vehicles presently limited by the constraints of a driver-led design. We have an objective of redefining mobility from a driver-centric hassle to a user-centric experiential design”.
Minus Zero zPod Other Features
One of the basic features is that it does not have a steering wheel. Instead, the autonomous vehicle uses a series of high-resolution cameras carefully to analyze driving conditions, including traffic.
Also, the zPod can be leveled up to Level 5 Autonomy, the greatest a self-driving car can have. An autonomous vehicle made with the help of level 5 autonomy can drive without any type of human help.
Company’s Future Plans
The start-up wants to use artificial intelligence to develop autonomous vehicles suitable for Indian roads. Also, there are plans to increase the company’s trials in foreign markets, with stable regulatory rules over the next two years, including public roads.
According to Minus Zero, the autonomous vehicle sector’s growth is covered by 3 challenges – costly hardware, the need for extensive information, and navigation through complex traffic situations and unruly infrastructure.
These challenges can be overcome with the help of level 5 autonomous vehicles in every country of the world.
Therefore, zPod would prove to be beneficial to society as an autonomous vehicle.
