Minus Zero start-up unveils zPod - India's first driverless vehicle

The zPod is only a technological demonstration of what Minus Zero is attempting to do. The company states that its goals are to reduce traffic congestion, road accidents, and the injuries and fatalities resulting from them. The zPod employs six AI cameras.

Minus Zero, an autonomous driving start-up located in Bengaluru, has introduced the zPod, which it says is India's first driverless vehicle. It demonstrates the artificial intelligence (AI) firm's full-self driving technology.

Minus Zero claims to be a technology startup that will supply its autonomous driving technology to other manufacturers in order to help improve its ADAS suite.

The zPod is only a technological demonstration of what Minus Zero is attempting to do. The company states that its goals are to reduce traffic congestion, road accidents, and the injuries and fatalities resulting from them. The zPod employs six AI cameras rather than the LIDAR technology. It has an array of six cameras - four on the sides and two on the front and back.

The company also demonstrated its True Vision Autonomy idea. This concept will detect and navigates obstacles using the camera sensor system. The camera sensor system will assist in reducing expenditures.

Minus Zero also claims that it can be fitted to any existing vehicle form factor, whether electric or conventional.

According to Minus Zero, their new Nature Inspired AI (NIA) will address a few key issues encountered during the development of autonomous vehicles. These issues include expensive technology, enormous data requirements, navigating complex traffic circumstances, and so on.

According to Minus Zero, the present AI development paradigm is prone to failure in settings in which it has not been trained. zPod, like a human brain, will use physics-aware vision and predictive decision-making.

Also Read: Zen Mobility introduces the Zen Micro Pod, an electric cargo three-wheeler.

Interestingly, Minus Zero states that it has no plans to put the zPod into production and that it was only a demonstration of the AI-based autonomous driving technology that it has developed.

According to the company, the processing unit used on the Z Pod utilizes less power than a gaming PC used to play GTA 5. It does not want to sell the vehicle directly to consumers, but rather to companies that provide ride-hailing or shared mobility services.

The zPod can also inspire automakers to explore non-driver-centric car designs. This type of vehicle design will allow humans to interact with one another in the way that nature intended – face-to-face.

Concept of zPod

The zPod is a self-driving vehicle that can drive in any geographical or environmental conditions. Minus Zero claims that its AI system can reach autonomous level 5 (no human intervention when driving in real-world settings).

The zPod is a four-seater electric vehicle with seats facing in opposite directions. The AI does all of the driving and evaluates all of the information recorded by the cameras' photos in real-time to make an intelligent judgment.

According to Minus Zero, the zPod and its AI technology will be confined to in-campus mobility - movement within the limits of a geo-fence, away from public roadways - in the near future.