The company, bought by Amazon almost a year ago, has unveiled a report that details its latest innovations as it makes road safety its primary focus.
The car is not at the prototype or project stage. Unlike many players in the sector, it is functional and operating successfully.
The vehicle is designed for users and not for driving. There are no steering wheels or pedals, and in the passenger compartment, there are only two seats facing each other.
Entirely autonomous and electric, the vehicle is designed exclusively for the city and uses bi-directional wheels to manoeuvre easily. Sensors are placed all around the car so that it can detect its environment at more than 150m.
The objective of Zoox is to make urban travel pleasant, sustainable and safe.
Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration points to human error as responsible for 94% of crashes that could otherwise have been entirely preventable.
Safety features
Zoox vehicles use a location and mapping system to optimally analyse their environment. These are combined with physical sensors that allow the driving software to make the best decisions.
There are lidar sensors (laser remote sensing) that allow the car to map its environment in three dimensions, and radar sensors to create a 360-degree field around the car.
This information is essential for planning trajectories, predicting the behaviour of other road users, and controlling the vehicle in every circumstance.
Zoox’s braking and suspension systems are honed to avoid collisions, or at least reduce their impact to a minimum. Each wheel is independent and can be adapted to road conditions.
Zoox can also adjust its braking system to increase its stability and traction capacity, which translates to better braking control and shorter stopping distances.
Each wheel can adjust ride height and spring stiffness, adding stability for cornering and quickly compensating for road conditions such as bumps.
One of the unique characteristics of this vehicle is its ability to individually control the speed, power and direction of all four wheels, so it does not need to make complicated and dangerous U-turns.
While self-driving cars are increasing in number, production and rollout are dependent on traffic authorities and road infrastructure adapting to this new technology.
So far, Zoox has not provided a production date for its robotaxi.