CES 2018 (Las Vegas) introduces us to the dawn of #DriverlessHotelRooms #DriverlessOffice #DriverlessMeetingRooms #DriverlessPartyBus and #DriverlessStores. My one pick for innovation and concept is Toyota's E-Palette. It's an "on demand city" platform as Toyota calls it. It is basically a driverless shuttle, the driverless technology of things so to speak, that most likely is an EV and a Level 5 autonomous vehicle that can be multipurpose. Companies can deploy them as a mobile retail outlet, emergency medical clinic, meeting room and even private dining experience. Imagine you and your spouse going on a date inside a driverless restaurant, just the two of you. The whole time won't be spent inside a building, instead the driverless restaurant will drive all around Santa Monica let's say to give a great wine and dine experience. There are so many uses for these driverless shuttles and it makes so much sense. Why does everyone have to drive separately to a meeting when the "meeting room" can pick you up and drop you off safely as well? One of the developers explained that the E-Palette concept aims to be environmentally friendly and socially acceptable as well. This also explains why automakers are developing vehicles with no steering wheel. It is for the purpose of full autonomy like in driverless shuttles. Now should one of these break down, is there a way for humans to control them? Actually there is but it still doesn't involve a steering wheel. Steering wheels are constructs of mechanical systems. The cars and vehicles of the future are electronic and use a concept called "steer by wire" which is already being used on the #InfinitiQ50. Basically an ECU controls the wheels of the vehicle by means of sensors and actuators for manuevering. Now if the vehicle actually stalls, then it requires towing. Much props to this concept though, one of the best highlights at CES.
Definitions:
CES - Consumer Electronics Show
ECU - Electronic Control Unit
EV - Electric Vehicle