Autonomous cars are no longer a thing of the future and are found in the present as well. Even though the technology has still a long way to go before being perfected, there are vehicles which can navigate on their own for certain parts of the journey, without needing the input of the drivers. However, another avenue for research currently is better ways to ensure that vehicles can prevent an accident or collision.
In a bid to do so, Apple has recently patented a technology which could in the future help cars and drivers avoid collisions with other vehicles.
The idea is that the cars would be fitted with Bluetooth sensor and would communicate with each other in a bid to stop potential crashes from occurring. The updated patent by Apple was published on Thursday, August 17.
How Apple plans to implement the technology?
Sensors in the car would be used to scan the surrounding of the vehicle using the Bluetooth functionality. This scan would then present an exact idea of the obstacles that the driver must avoid on the car’s GPS system. However, Apple has not specifically stated that it is designing this technology for autonomous vehicles only. Instead, it may house in normal cars as an advanced form of the parking system where the car detects the blind spot in an area.
This parking feature is already common in cars that are manufactured today.
The patent does not in any way prove that Apple will indeed launch such a system for vehicles in the future. Many such patents are issued but do not get used by companies, so this might also happen in this instance. However, seeing as how Apple is working on its own self-driving car at the moment, such a feature would come in very handy for the vehicle.
The company is also known to be fixated with Bluetooth devices. It recently launched the AirPods wireless earphones for its iPhones. While some may feel that equating the mobile device with that of the car technology is a bit far-fetched, one of the engineers working on the patent is also known for his work in terms of iOS Bluetooth.
Similar ideas by other companies
Using such technologies for clash detection and prevention of car accidents is an idea that is not a new one. In fact, in 2002, the CAR to CAR Communication Consortium was founded. Broadcom has been working on similar lines for years now. Qualcomm has several ideas of the same including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even 3G or LTE networks.
