Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are developing a system to enable self-driving vehicles to navigate rural and isolated roads that have few of the markings or signs found in cities. Dubbed MapLite and developed with support from the Toyota Research Initiative, the MIT system relies on GPS and lidar sensors to "read" up to 100 feet in front of a vehicle. The researchers hope their new system, which they call an autonomous vehicle autopilot, will be able to detect objects such as potholes and other obstacles before it hits them.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are developing a system to enable self-driving vehicles to navigate rural and isolated roads that have few of the markings or signs found in cities. Dubbed MapLite and developed with support from the Toyota Research Initiative, the MIT system relies on GPS and lidar sensors to "read" up to 100 feet in front of a vehicle. The early-stage project, which is not sophisticated enough to tackle elevated mountain roads, will be presented later this month at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Australia.