Today’s technology reflects the innovation and creativity that people have. People are now not only seeing autonomous driving technology, but they are also experiencing it firsthand. And as if nothing could be more exciting than that, the creative minds from Udacity and DiDi have decided to launch the first-ever Self-Driving Car Challenge.
More than 1000 teams accepted the challenge. They come from all over the world – China, US, Germany, UK, Japan, Canada, India, and much more. The deadline for registration is on the 21st of April 2017, and the first round of challenge begins on the 22nd of March.
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What are the basics of the challenge?
People consider the Self-Driving Car Challenge of Udacity-DiDi the first-of-its-kind since it is the only competition so far that aims to gather autonomous driving enthusiasts in a contest. The winner will get a $100,000 prize and an amazing chance to run their code on the world’s first open-source autonomous vehicle of Udacity.
The competition will have teams focusing on an important and major feature of self-driving cars, which is the Automated Safety and Awareness Processing Stack (ASAPS). The ASAPS will identify all moving and stationary objects surrounding a moving car and will use information that includes radar objects, camera image frames, and the Velodyne point cloud.
It will be the objective of all competitors to come up with a system that is reliable and safe for use when detecting hazards to decrease the chances of a car accident. The end goal is to increase road safety for self-driving vehicles and cars with human drivers.
Running the First in the World – Open-source Autonomous Vehicle
The competition began when Udacity decided to develop an ingenious open-source autonomous vehicle. Udacity Vice President Oliver Cameron remarked that they want to pave the way for the world to contribute code for running a self-driving car.
The company intends to create a community that generates a different kind of learning experience. There are various opportunities to add to the development of projects under Linux, React, and other open-source avenues. However, there is still none quite like the chance to write a code for something that runs on an actual self-driving car on public roads.
The initial challenges people had to address regarding this particular innovation are issues involving the mounting of a 3D camera and the use of deep learning to gauge correct steering angles. Addressing such issues eventually led to the idea of developing an open-source autonomous vehicle, the first of its kind in the world.
Takeaway – The Positive Reason Behind Open Source
People could benefit primarily from an open-source and fast-paced environment where developers could freely contribute innovative ideas. Contributing code and providing developer time will help not just one company but the wider community as well.
Aside from a decrease in the chances of hiring the services of an automobile accident attorney in Torrance for filing a lawsuit, doing the open source way is also about applying and sharing the principles of open source development of software. It is to change the world in a way that is not necessarily profit-driven but centers on a creative and useful idea.
Contributor Credits: Jenn LiakosJenn puts the compassion, kindness, and work ethic she learned growing up in the Midwest to work for you. Jenn was born and raised in the small farming community of St. Johns, Michigan. After law school, she craved a change and moved to Los Angeles, where she has practiced law for the past twenty years. Jenn knew from growing up with two brothers that life isn’t always fair: sometimes you get outnumbered, but that doesn’t mean you get out-smarted. It is with that mentality that she has made it her mission to be the most prepared person in the room – maximizing her ability to zealously represent her clients regardless of who she is up against.
