Apple Developing Self-Driving Campus Shuttle Service as Part of Scaled Back Car Effort

Apple is planning to develop a self-driving shuttle service that will transport Apple employees from one building to another as part of its autonomous vehicle efforts, reports The New York Times in a piece that explores why Apple scaled back its car ambitions.

Apple's "open secret" car project shifted focus from a full autonomous vehicle to an autonomous driving system last year, and to test that system, Apple will reportedly use employee shuttles.

appleautonomousdrivingtestlexus

One of the Lexus SUVs Apple is currently using to test its autonomous driving software

Called "PAIL," an acronym for "Palo Alto to Infinite Loop," the shuttle program will transport employees between Apple's myriad offices in Silicon Valley. Apple is said to be planning to use a commercial vehicle "from an automaker" paired with its own autonomous driving technology for the shuttles.

Five Apple employees familiar with Apple's car project spoke to The New York Times about the shuttle program and also shared some details about the technologies Apple explored before the project was downscaled from car to software.

When Apple first started exploring car technology under the "Project Titan" name, it hired hundreds of people with expertise in everything from automation to car manufacturing. The team explored a wide range of technologies, including silent motorized doors, car interiors sans steering wheel or gas pedals, augmented reality displays, an improved LIDAR sensor that protrudes less from the top of a car, and spherical wheels.

Apple even looked into reinventing the wheel. A team within Titan investigated the possibility of using spherical wheels -- round like a globe -- instead of the traditional, round ones, because spherical wheels could allow the car better lateral movement.

As has been previously reported, Apple's car project suffered from delays, internal strife, and leadership issues. According to the people who spoke to The New York Times, there was no clear vision for the Apple Car and there were internal disagreements over whether Apple should pursue an autonomous vehicle or a semiautonomous vehicle and what language should be used for the CarOS software (Swift or C++).

Steve Zadesky, who initially led Project Titan but stepped down in early 2016, pushed for a semiautonomous vehicle, while Jony Ive's industrial design team wanted an autonomous vehicle that would "allow the company to reimagine the automobile experience."

Bob Mansfield took over the car project in mid-2016, and the project shifted from vehicle to software. Many members of the hardware team were laid off, but morale is said to have improved under his leadership now that Apple has a clear focus on an autonomous driving system.

Apple is now far enough along in its software development that the company is testing it in several 2015 Lexus RX450h vehicles equipped with a host of sensors and cameras. The vehicles have been out on the roads in the Cupertino area since April. It's not yet clear when Apple plans to expand that testing to encompass the campus shuttles.

Back in June, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke publicly about Apple's work on autonomous driving software in a rare candid moment. "We're focusing on autonomous systems. It's a core technology that we view as very important," he said. "We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It's probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on."

Related Roundup: Apple Car

Top Rated Comments

kironin Avatar
82 months ago
I'm missing the whole point of self-driving cars.

For seniors or people with physical challenges, self driving cars would really enhance the quality of their lives, so develop on. Guess alcoholics
would benefit too, but I can't see why anyone from 16 to 60 is going to want to be driven around.

Driving is fun. It's freedom. Owning a unique car is great. Ever go to a car show? I don't understand why all the investment not only of money, but in trying to convince the public that this is something we want. I mean, do we really?

To me it's like someone trying to convince you to stop using the potty, and go back to wearing diapers.
You're right, you are completely missing the point. Humans are generally sh*tty at driving. Our attention is easily distracted. We easily miss things in the environment and kill or maim others. Most people are not driving around for fun. They are driving to get to work or run errands or something else just as mundane. Most traffic jams could be avoided by better more cooperative driving. Mass transit is certainly one solution that many countries do much better than US. Pay more taxes to spend billions on infrastructure for more mass transit would still not result in a car culture changing. Change the car instead.

"Nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled. More than half of all road traffic deaths occur among young adults ages 15-44"

It's more like putting diapers on you because you only think you are potty trained.

Besides that, when you are that aging person that has their car taken away from them and becomes dependent on others for your mobility, crow about your freedom then.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Piggie Avatar
82 months ago
So....

"Apple even looked into reinventing the wheel. A team within Titan investigated the possibility of using spherical wheels -- round like a globe -- instead of the traditional, round ones, because spherical wheels could allow the car better lateral movement."

Really? Is that so? "Apple even looked into reinventing the wheel" Did They

So the team were totally unaware at all about this concept from Goodyear shown to the public a year and a half ago ?

Goodyear... You know. The actual people who actually MAKE tyres for cars

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Corps Avatar
82 months ago
How many billions of dollars have or will be wasted on this crap? So this is some of Timmy's "Magical Pipeline'? As the years roll on it looks like his pipeline is filled with garbage and hot air.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
82 months ago
Behind Tesla, Mercedes, rest of the world much? What a joke of a program...
Behind Erickson, Motorola, Siemens, Sony, Alcatel, Nokia, rest of the world much? What a joke of a cellular phone program...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lowendlinux Avatar
82 months ago
What would happen when reach 88 miles per hour?
Everyone gets an Apple II
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LizKat Avatar
82 months ago
Not gonna lie, ball shaped wheels sounds awesome...
I like to see how it works steering out of encounter w/ black ice on a bridge...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how NameDrop functions. As noted by The Washington...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Apple 5G Modem Feature Triad

Apple to Discontinue Custom 5G Modem Development, Claim Reports

Wednesday November 29, 2023 4:19 am PST by
Apple is discontinuing in-house modem development after several unsuccessful attempts to perfect its own custom 5G modem chip, according to unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources related to Apple's 5G modem departments claim that the company's attempts to develop its own modem have...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...