Jaguar's Land Rover hopes to develop self-driving cars for all terrain

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British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover is researching all-terrain self-driving technology for Land Rover vehicles that can adapt to different road surfaces, according to Engadget.

The technology the company is developing would utilize a mix of cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sound to help cars adapt to the surface they’re driving on, such as automatically slowing down to adjust to a rocky dirt road. The system could also map out obstacles like low-hanging tree branches to help the car avoid them.

Automakers and tech companies have only focused on self-driving car technologies for on-road purposes so far. Self-driving car software typically relies on markings in the road to understand the car's position and stay in its lane, as well as determine where to stop at intersections. But in off-road situations, self-driving cars won’t be able to rely on those same road markings to navigate safely.

Land Rover is also working on a system that would link self-driving cars together. This could create an “off-road connected convoy,” where vehicles would share data on their suspension and wheel positions to help each other avoid getting stuck. Land Rover did not comment on when it plans to bring the system to market, but off-road vehicles are central to Land Rover’s business, and it will likely put the technology in its vehicles as soon as consumers are ready for it.

Before self-driving cars can go on or off road, they must clear several hurdles to mass adoption. And some of those will not be so easy to overcome.

John Greenough, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, has compiled a detailed report on self-driving cars that examines the major strides automakers and tech companies have made to overcome the barriers currently preventing fully autonomous cars from hitting the market. Further, the report examines global survey results showing where fully autonomous cars are highly desired.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Three barriers have been preventing fully autonomous cars from hitting the road: 1) high technological component prices; 2) varying degrees of consumer trust in the technology; and 3) relatively nonexistent regulations. However, in the past six months, there have been many advances in overcoming these barriers.
• Technology has been improving as new market entrants find innovative ways to expand on existing fully autonomous car technology. As a result, the price of the components required for fully autonomous cars has been dropping.
• Consumer trust in fully autonomous vehicle technology has increased in the past two years.
• California became the first US state to propose regulations. California's regulations stipulate that a fully autonomous car must have a driver behind the wheel at all times, discouraging Google's and Uber's idea of a driverless taxi system.

In full, the report:

• Examines consumer trust in fully autonomous vehicles
• Identifies technological advancements that have been made in the industry
• Analyzes the cost of fully autonomous technology and identifies how cost is being reduced
• Explains the current regulations surrounding fully autonomous cars

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