George Hotz needs no introduction. In August 2007, he proved to be the first enthusiast to achieve a carrier unlock on the original iPhone, and in early 2010 he shook the security of the PlayStation 3, an effort that later saw him face Sony in court. Now, Hotz returns with nothing less than a self-driving car based on a heavily modified 2016 Acura ILX, which he "built" inside his garage in just one month.
Self-driving cars represent a development line that keeps companies like Google, Tesla, and Uber awake at night. In the first case, the Mountain View giant continues to accumulate hours with its fleet of vehicles, while Tesla already offers its Autopilot in its latest model. On the other hand, Uber's desire points to a complete legion of driverless cars to transport its millions of customers, significantly lowering costs. The general idea not only implies making this technology safer, but also more economical. Tesla's Autopilot is a striking example, since besides software it depends on at least a dozen components, including one from the Israeli company Mobileye. The relationship between self-driving cars, Tesla, Autopilot, and Mobileye brings a famous name back: George Hotz.
Through a friend, Hotz was contacted by Elon Musk himself, who apparently offered him a multi-million dollar bonus (and a job at Tesla), but when he saw Mobileye's implementation in action, the 26-year-old became convinced that he could do much better on his own. The result is a modified 2016 Acura ILX with a LIDAR platform, several sensors, a mini-PC, and a 21.5-inch touchscreen, among other things. The ultimate goal is to sell (through his own company comma.ai) a compact package with maximally trained artificial intelligence software and six cameras that can be installed without major inconvenience in almost any car, at a price of one thousand dollars.
Hotz's approach to this enormous challenge has a very interesting angle. Instead of bombarding the system with defined rules and structures to obey, what he proposes is that the artificial intelligence learn to drive just as a human does, that is, by observing how others drive, imitating their techniques, and improving more and more. Hotz acknowledges that he has a lot of work ahead, but the journalist from Bloomberg who visited him not only went for a ride in the self-driving car (video above), but also left impressed.
Bloomberg
