CES 2016 not only introduced the public to the  most interesting new products on the market , but also made it possible to find out which technical trends will set the tone in the coming years.
 

 
 

Ford makes serious commitments

So far, Ford has nothing to show. But the manufacturer has already announced a decision to expand its research fleet to 30 cars and has turned its eyes on the latest developments by Velodyne - an inexpensive PUCK laser sensor from the 3D LiDAR series.

Ford is also working on a project to use one car by several people called “GoDrive” ( Daimler has “Car2Go” and BMW have “DriveNow”). This will strengthen his position on the idea of ​​selling not cars, but trips. Do not forget about the obvious success of Uber and its application of the same name, with Uber competing not with taxis, but with automobile companies.
 

 
In addition, Ford is developing an interesting car exchange program. The details are not yet clear, but it is assumed that Ford car owners will be able to exchange a car with another driver. For example, if someone has an F-150 or Transit Van and he is sure that he will not need the cargo capabilities of his car at the weekend, he can give it to you for a while, and during this period use your sedan.

Nothing was said about the many-to-many alliance between Ford and Google. The automaker does not reject this option, but states that at the moment the company has enough partners. Such cooperation would be very beneficial, therefore, perhaps, at other upcoming events (for example, at the Detroit auto show) we will hear confirmation of these rumors.
 
 

Faraday Future, where is the promise?

 

 
The big disappointment at CES 2016 was the concept of a racing car presented by Faraday Future. Of course, this is a pretty cool racing electric car, but it has nothing to do with what many have heard about the upcoming presentation. It is by no means a self-driving electric car of a consumer class with a set of individual functions. Perhaps the company reserved a place at the exhibition, but did not have time to complete the creation of the much-anticipated car?
 

 
 

Nautical Chart Racing

A Google car drives using a super-detailed map that shows all the roads, and that's the right approach. It is unlikely that the corporation will provide its card to other developers of self-driving machines, therefore Here / Navteq (owned by a consortium of automobile companies in Germany) and TomTom plan to issue their own map following the example of Google, but the approach to its creation will be completely different.

An interesting fact is that these companies plan to cooperate with large car manufacturers, not only providing them with cartographic data, but also receiving response information. This means that map developers will receive a constant stream of road information that they can use to improve and clarify details and correct inconsistencies.
MobilEye announced a similar plan of action and has already begun to collect data from many cars.
 

 
Tesla also reads information from cars about the condition of roads, but so far, as far as is known, it does not develop detailed maps.

Google is the No. 1 company in the field of cartography, and thanks to hundreds of thousands of cars whose drivers use Android smartphones, it has access to a huge array of data about the speed and route of cars, but it can be inferior to partners of Here and TomTom in the number of cars, which are used as a source of information. Even if the data of the latter will not be so accurate.

Apple also has a division that develops cards , and the company also intends to enter this market.

The Navigation Data Standard consortium is trying to develop a standard map format so that self-driving cars can switch between them and use the content of various suppliers. Competition is good, especially for consumers.
 
 

Nvidia could be a good platform

Nvidia, known for its development of GPUs for most computers, is expanding its capabilities. The Nvidia GPU has already become the foundation of modern supercomputers, and the company has begun promoting its new Drive PX2 product, which has a number of processors, including GPS, to create a supercomputer for self-driving machines. Such devices will allow a self-driving car to quickly perform the necessary operations and calculations, control the processes of localization, perception, monitoring of sensors and sensors, traffic planning, etc.
 

 
The company believes that such a supercomputer will more efficiently perform the necessary tasks compared to the specialized video processing devices that MobilEye is developing, and will be able to work only through cameras, without the need for LIDAR technology. However, the company is not opposed to this technology, unlike the same Elon Musk and MobilEye, and claims that its technologies will still be compatible with LIDAR. One of Nvidia’s demotechnologies is the pedestrian detection system, which combines the Quanergy 8 plane LIDAR and the camera system of the company itself.

Nvidia is not the only one who works in this direction, but the most successful. NXP, Qualcomm, Intel, QNX and other companies also have something to say. Other processor developers, such as TI and CEVA, are targeting the ADAS market, and the success of MobilEye in this field will attract many other companies.
 
 

New members - VF and IAV

German Tier One VF introduced two developments: an electronic control system engine and ADAS tools, as well as turnkey systems for those manufacturers who do not want to develop them on their own.

The most meaningless presentation was a joint project of IAV, Microsoft and some other companies. A self-driving car must drive along the road to a traffic light near which there is a pedestrian. The pedestrian has a Microsoft bracelet that sends GPS data to the server, and the server sends it to the traffic light. That, in turn, sends a signal to the car about the presence of a pedestrian and switches the light.

Having received a signal, the car slows down and stops, letting a pedestrian pass. Not bad at first glance, but the idea is still very crude, because even the developers themselves say that the car reacts and slows down every time it approaches the transition. In addition, to date, not many people are willing to share their location, even if the GPS data were accurate enough for this purpose.
 
 

Toyota relies on AI

In addition to Toyota’s unusual concept cars, its new $ 1 billion artificial intelligence lab led by Gill Pratt attracted interest at the CES. Such a huge budget of the laboratory will be aimed at working with artificial intelligence, in particular its use in the development of self-driving cars.
 

 
 

New LIDAR from Quanergy

Quanergy announced its new development in the LIDAR series. The review of the new device is 120 ° and can be successfully used in self-driving cars, while its price remains quite moderate. So those who claimed that Quanergy products, in particular the LIDAR line, would be very expensive, were mistaken.

To launch LIDAR into the automotive industry, Quanergy sought the help of Delphi.
 
 

Delphi V2 - the system of everything

Speaking about Delphi, it should be noted that the company has demonstrated the capabilities of the vehicle-to-everything (V2E) vehicle-to-everything environment technology used in self-driving cars . The latest developments of devices and software allow the car to "communicate" with streets, road signs, traffic lights, other cars and even pedestrians.
 

 

The innovations demonstrated at the exhibition should include:

• Car-to-Car Technology: Delphi cars can recognize other vehicles and instantly determine when a car decides to change lanes.
• Car-pedestrian technology: with the help of a special chip in a pedestrian’s mobile device, the car lets a person know that he does not pay due attention to movement.
• Car-traffic light technology: using the DSRC system, a car is able to detect light at traffic lights and react accordingly when yellow and red light up.
• Blind Corner: A Delphi recognizes situations where there are sharp street turns that prevent the driver from recognizing a traffic flow towards you.
• “Ride on Demand”:  Another new technology is informing friends and family of the car owner about his location. Thus, loved ones have the opportunity to ask the driver to give them a lift.

 
 

New Lidar Systems from Velodyne and Valeo

Quanergy is not the only one who is developing a technology for obtaining and processing information about the remoteness of LIDAR objects.

Velodyne, which is developing the expensive but powerful 64-laser LIDAR technology, which is used in many self-driving cars at the development stage (Google also used it until it developed its own), introduced a new 32-laser device the size of a large washer . In particular, it will be used in the new Ford research vehicle. The cost of the new LIDAR is not yet known, but it should be below $ 10,000 - the current cost of the version of the 16-laser Velodyne LIDAR.
 

 
Based on IBEO developments, Valeo is also developing a $ 250 LIDAR 4-laser system.
 

 
And although the company does not have much to do with self-driving cars, it introduced its own system, which is able to replace side mirrors, equipping them with cameras and monitors. According to the law, driving without side mirrors is prohibited. Even the 3rd generation Google car has them. However, they are often damaged during accidents, so manufacturers want to try replacing them with cameras, the advantage of which is also the lack of blind spots.
 
 

Volvo, TV and self-driving car

Volvo said that, together with Ericsson, they are developing a channel for the uninterrupted supply of information so that passengers can enjoy their favorite shows and films while traveling in a self-driving car .

With the help of the Ericsson network and its cloud research experts, Volvo plans to develop a system that will determine the duration of the trip and select content that suits your tastes in accordance with it.
 

 
 

Nissan promises 10 standalone models

Nissan was not present at CES, but its CEO held a press conference at a research center in Saniveil. He promised that the automaker will introduce 10 models of self-driving cars. 
 

 
In 2018, the presentation of the autopilot function is expected (similar to the development of Tesla), and by 2020 - an even greater expansion of the autonomous powers of the car.

Nissan is the leader in the Japanese market, but Toyota’s artificial intelligence products can shake its position. Honda, Mazda and Subaru are not yet able to present impressive developments in this area.

Nissan said that they did not plan to join the currents, the purpose of which is to share a car, such as Uber, Lyft and Robotaxi, but want to concentrate on personal cars.
 
 

Tesla Car Challenge

Recently, during a teleconference, Elon Musk announced that in 2 years we will have cars that can be “called out” from the other side of the country. For example, you are in New York and call your Tesla car from Los Angeles, which arrives using the self-management system. The concept is quite interesting, but its implementation in two years is an overly optimistic forecast.
In the meantime, the presentation of new software and a new autopilot:
 

 
 

Audi quiet performance

Audi's developments in self-driving cars are impressive. However, at CES 2016, the company only repeated that it would continue to work on improving the concept without going into details.
 

 
 

BMW presented its concept

BMW has long been a leader among major automotive companies. Unlike the last exhibition, where the BMW i3 demo was available , this year the company limited itself to a car presenting common possible and expected ideas that are already presented by many other cars. Visitors to the exhibition are interested in knowing what the company is actually doing, and not about what will never be realized.