Autonomous cars seem to be everywhere nowadays (that’s an exaggeration, I know), with the latest sighting being a driverless Audi A8 L W12 that served as a VIP shuttle at Berlinale.
The driverless Audi in question apparently relied upon easily identifiable buildings for its orientation, along with other computations. This was then compared against a map to allow the vehicle to chauffeur the VIP passengers in question to the event’s red carpet.
The Audi Board Member for Technical Development, Dr Ing Stefan Knirsch, commented: “We are developing and testing our technologies for piloted driving under all conditions. We have already proven that we can have piloted cars drive safely on a race track and on the expressway. At the Berlinale, we have now mastered a complex urban traffic situation with maximum ease.”
The picture above certainly seems to show just that, and the occupants themselves appear to be quite happy with the results. The autonomous Q7 was reportedly programmed to drive the way a chauffeur would, making a slow and smooth approach right to the curb.
Green Car Congress provides some related news:
Audi is deploying some 300 vehicles at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, roughly 100 of which are equipped with hybrid drivetrains. The stars of this year’s Berlinale will ride to the Berlinale Palast in the new Audi Q7 e-tron quattro.
For more information on the Audi Q7 e-tron Quattro SUV, see: Audi’s e-Tron Quattro To Possess “New Standard For Vehicle Handling” and Audi Q7 e-tron 3.0 TDI Quattro Specs Revealed.