Epilog AI offering kit for hands-free driver assist

[diplomat33]

I found this and it looked interesting. It is from a company called Epilog AI. They are a 2015 start-up that specializes in AI vision. They are developing a product called "SideCar". It seems like it is similar to comma.ai's OpenPilot. It's a kit that you can add to the inside of the windshield. It has a 8K road camera, a 4K driver camera, GPS/4G, and a Xavier Nvidia GPU. From the video, it seems to offer hands-free driver assist, that includes, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, lane changes, and traffic light and stop sign control. It can also avoid construction zones. And it can work on highways, on and off ramps and city streets. It also connects your car to your phone to remotely turn on A/C, check your car's security, etc... It can also turn your car into a mobile wifi spot.

You can check out the marketing video here:

Here is their product website: Introducing SideCar — drive less, do more

They have a crowdfunding page: Epilog | StartEngine

I am not suggesting that they are a competitor to Tesla. But I do find it interesting because it seems like camera vision is not the property of just the "big guys". The "little guys" also have access to camera vision and can develop driver assist features with it.

 

[jboy210]

I found this and it looked interesting. It is from a company called Epilog AI. They are a 2015 start-up that specializes in AI vision. They are developing a product called "SideCar". It seems like it is similar to comma.ai's OpenPilot. It's a kit that you can add to the inside of the windshield. It has a 8K road camera, a 4K driver camera, GPS/4G, and a Xavier Nvidia GPU. From the video, it seems to offer hands-free driver assist, that includes, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, lane changes, and traffic light and stop sign control. It can also avoid construction zones. And it can work on highways, on and off ramps and city streets. It also connects your car to your phone to remotely turn on A/C, check your car's security, etc... It can also turn your car into a mobile wifi spot.

You can check out the marketing video here:

Here is their product website: Introducing SideCar — drive less, do more

They have a crowdfunding page: Epilog | StartEngine

I am not suggesting that they are a competitor to Tesla. But I do find it interesting because it seems like camera vision is not the property of just the "big guys". The "little guys" also have access to camera vision and can develop driver assist features with it.

It will be interesting to see how this works out. I believe Comma.ai dropped theirs over the liability issues. Also, a little concerned about using the Xavier GPU. I have one on my desk and it is fast, but there are some issues integrating it. Plus there may be a need for a failover/backup like Tesla has.

 

[diplomat33]

It will be interesting to see how this works out. I believe Comma.ai dropped theirs over the liability issues. Also, a little concerned about using the Xavier GPU. I have one on my desk and it is fast, but there are some issues integrating it. Plus there may be a need for a failover/backup like Tesla has.

I suspect if the GPU fails, it would notify the driver to take over. And the driver monitoring camera can sense if the driver is paying attention and able to take over.

 

[Enginerd]

They're claiming quite a lot of capability for what's primarily just a forward camera. I'm not sure how they can safely accomplish lane changes without dedicated cameras/radar/ultrasonics looking to the sides, blind spots, and rear. They probably get some useful info from what might be a fisheye "driver" camera, but the zones that would be visually blocked by passengers and pillars would be substantial. No doubt it would be helpful in a lot of situations, but I would hope they would appropriately restrict its capabilities.

 

[diplomat33]

They're claiming quite a lot of capability for what's primarily just a forward camera. I'm not sure how they can safely accomplish lane changes without dedicated cameras/radar/ultrasonics looking to the sides, blind spots, and rear. They probably get some useful info from what might be a fisheye "driver" camera, but the zones that would be visually blocked by passengers and pillars would be substantial. No doubt it would be helpful in a lot of situations, but I would hope they would appropriately restrict its capabilities.

I agree. I wonder if the driver will be responsible for checking if it is safe and initiate a lane change with the stalk and the car will simply automate the lane change itself.

 

[Microterf]

They are using the OpenAi software it looks like. Nothing wrong with that, but looks like they're just trying to get funding and don't have a product at this point yet.