Accelerating Autonomous Car Development With Ready Access to Global Data

Imagine being able to let go of the steering wheel while driving and still be able to resume control of it—or to totally disengage from the driving process. Global automaker Mercedes‑Benz AG is moving closer to making this a reality as it works to develop highly automated and fully autonomous vehicles. 

The company believes that by developing such vehicles, it can provide accident-free driving and enhance vehicle and road safety. But achieving this requires rigorous testing and the ability to collect massive amounts of data from cameras and sensors attached to a car, to perceive its surroundings and detect issues. The automaker must then make this data available to developers and data scientists, who train algorithms known as deep neural networks. Through these algorithms, a car can learn to make smart decisions in real time using sensor data, enabling it to drive safely. Data scientists and developers also use this data to identify anomalies, helping them refine automated and autonomous driving systems