Apple CEO Tim Cook likens automatic driving to the mother of all AI programs, and recently the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has disclosed a patent applied by Apple, which allows self-driving cars to reduce reliance on maps, highlighting Apple's unique thinking about self-driving technology. Apple is trying to harness the advantages of its advanced AI systems and visual processing technology to give self-driving features such as self navigation, no need to refer to a map or keep the map updated. The patent is named ' Autonomous Navigation System ', which, according to the document, has been developing the technology at least since 2015. At present, many self-driving navigation systems are based on statistical data such as maps, and use sensors to identify real-time information, so that when the vehicle is moving, the power of intensive computing is minimized. But Apple's technology can dictate vehicles, instead of having to accept any data that the external device transmits to the vehicle and the navigation data that is stored in the vehicle, it is the use of sensors and processors on the vehicle to constantly produce new virtual models to predict the route, which appears to confirm the Bloomberg (Bloomberg) 2016 about Apple's use of virtual reality ( VR) test self-driving reports. Business Insider reports that Apple's strategy is different from other self-driving development companies such as General Motors (GM) and Uber. Uber self-driving the current road test is limited to pre-charting areas, allowing computers within the vehicle to receive information from the LiDAR, and to compare them with known reference information. GM's Super Cruise semi-automatic system can only be used on highways with specific maps. Avoiding reliance on maps allows Apple to create a more versatile self-driving system, but there are even greater technical and operational hurdles, as the use of off-the-shelf maps can reduce the burden on computers in the car compared with the virtual model of driving environment that is constantly being recycled between vehicles. Because just compare the map information with the information collected by the sensor. However, using map navigation means that the area of the vehicle will be restricted and can only be used within the map range drawn by the vehicle manufacturer or partner. Most self-driving tests use a mini or RV, and the car has room to accommodate all the necessary hardware for automatic driving, but Apple can use its AI knowledge, as well as the expertise to make chips to overcome these challenges and let the vehicle execute the system described in the patent. Tim Cook first set the spin on the AI project, and if Apple can create an AI that can drive without reference to the map, and a computing system that can build the AI inside the car, Apple's drive will probably Trump other competitors.
