

This Robot Will Make Any Car a Self-Driving Car

It doesn't look like much yet, but this highly adaptable robot is being developed to perform all the functions of driving a vehicle.

Asaf Kliger for EcoMotion
  • Israeli startup IVObility is developing a robot that can sit in the driver's seat of an ordinary vehicle and be the driver.
  • The robot does not require the vehicle to have special drive-by-wire equipment, because it has its own sensors and cameras that "see" what a driver sees.
  • The robot will launch in 2020, at first for government and commercial applications that don't run on public roads; a consumer-market version is being considered.

    It may not be the future we want, but it's undeniable that autonomous vehicles are coming. In the not too distant future, car and driver will become one and the same, and the cars we drive ourselves will eventually be replaced with those that drive themselves. But does that mean every car and truck on the road will need to be replaced with specially designed autonomous vehicles?

        Israeli startup IVObility has a better idea. It is developing a robot capable of driving ordinary vehicles that weren't manufactured with their own self-driving capabilities built in—plug-and-play autonomy, in a sense.


        The company's name combines "Intelligent Vehicle Operator" and "mobility" and is the work of Hugo Guterman, director of the Laboratory for Autonomous Robotics at Ben-Gurion University. Having already developed an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (a self-piloting submarine) called the HydroCamel, Guterman's team is now shifting its focus to dry land.

        Where most self-driving-car projects remove the vehicle's operations from the driver's seat, IVObility's device literally sits right in it.

        Where most self-driving-car projects remove the vehicle's operations from the driver's seat, IVObility's device literally sits right in it. The robot is almost humanoid in appearance, with a torso, a lap, a head full of sensors, arms to turn the steering wheel, and legs to work the pedals. Not quite Robocop in an '86 Ford Taurus, but not that far off, either.

        Because the "limbs" are mechanical, it doesn't require the vehicle it's operating to be fitted (as most self-driving prototypes do) with drive-by-wire controls. Nor does it need a proliferation of radar, lidar, ultrasonic, and other sensors to be installed around the vehicle, relying instead entirely on its own cameras to virtually see what a human driver would from behind the wheel.

        If the idea sounds simple, its execution will assuredly be anything but. CEO Tzvika Goldner told Car and Driver that IVObility aims to launch its driving robot by the middle of next year and intends to offer three versions: most will be fully autonomous, but some will offer more cost-effective semi-autonomous capability or remote-controlled operation.

        The startup is initially focusing on applications removed from public-street traffic, such as agriculture, mining, security, and border control. It's working to launch a pilot project at a European airport later this year and is currently seeking funding to continue development.

        Goldner remains reserved on the notion of a consumer version, but the prospect of augmenting existing, driver-operated cars with plug-and-play units like IVObility's may prove only a matter of time—whether this company makes it, or someone else does.


        Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

        Join the Conversation