TECH

This is the experience of riding in an autonomous car through the streets of Moscow

Surely the name of Yandex is not familiar to virtually anyone, but the reality is that it is the largest Internet company in Russia. With 65% of the market share, the Yandex search engine could be called as the Google Russian. And like the Silicon Valley company, Yandex encompasses more than just the network business. Electronic payments, maps, search and storage of images, translator and now also an app for taxis that is evolving to its next stage: autonomous cars. The race to be the market leaders in this sector is not only played on Uber or Google with Waymo; in the Old Continent there are also several versions.In the framework of the Open Innovation held in Moscow at the Skolkovo facility, what is called to be the Russian Silicon Valley, Yandex and the Skolkovo Fund have launched an agreement to launch the network of self-employed cars within the entrepreneurial city. At the moment in the test phase, and with an employee of the company always aboard the car, the objective of the technology is to put these vehicles in circulation through the streets of the Russian capital sooner than later. In fact, Moscow is one of the first cities outside the United States to accept the test of these car models in its streets.In this context, Hipertextual has had the possibility to test one of the first versions of the Yandex car in Moscow. With a route pre-established by Skolkovo, without human participation and complying with traffic regulations, the reality is that the experience seems different than riding in a traditional vehicle. Do you feel insecure? The reality is that at no moment does the passenger feel a sense of insecurity or doubt on the part of the autonomous car; it is also true that the presence of a co-driver in charge of taking the reins of the autonomous car in case of necessity helps to have more confidence in the system.

The image of riding in a car in which the pilot's grip remains deserted is, at the moment, too strange. There is still a long way to go in this regard. From time to time, users will need an adaptation time to understand a very simple fact: the steering wheel of the car moves alone, at ease, without anyone having to interact with it.

Using the indicators (a novelty for many drivers) and interacting with the rest of the track elements, the Toyota Prius model has a monitor connected in which, in real time, the different elements of the circuit are analyzed through the sensors integrated in the vehicle and that are concentrated in the system installed in the trunk of the vehicle. Pedestrians crossing the tracks, cars, obstacles in the middle of the road, badenes or traffic lights have their reflection on the monitor. Prediction of the possible problems in the track in a radius of 50 meters, plans of execution of the possible trajectories of both the car in question and the rest of the obstacles in movement and geologalización are some of the integrations that Yandex has implemented in the vehicle.

H. T./mundophone