Apple Working on Design and Testing for Self-Driving Cars

Apple Inc., the California based tech giant, is working on designs for a self-driving autonomous car, many reports suggest. Apparently, Apple is conducting tests of self-driving cars and other vehicles at a former US navy base.

Apple has been rumored to be scouting for secure locations in the San Francisco Bay area to test the prototypes. Documents show the Apple car project, known as Project Titan, appears to be further along than many predicted.

It hoped to conduct at the “GoMentum Station” an automotive testing facility that is a naval station in the San Francisco.

Analysts on Wall Street say that Apple has an ambition to pursue such a project, but is facing financial problems. Most of the analysts believe that it’s more certain that the tech giant is interested in developing software that can be used in cars made by other companies, such as Tesla Motors (headed by Paypal’s Elon Musk).

Recently, in a Lawsuit, Apple was accused of poaching engineers from A123 Systems, a Massachusetts-based startup, which is working on electric car batteries, further suggesting its entry into the autonomous cars market.

In May, engineers from Apple’s secretive Special Project group, Project Titan, met with officials from GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco that is being turned into a high-security testing ground for autonomous vehicles, having over 20 miles of paved highways and city streets. The base is closed to the public and guarded by the military.

“We don’t know. They haven’t said what they want to test”, said Jack Hall, program manager for connected vehicles and autonomous vehicles at GoMentum Station.

The “GoMentum Station” has been already used by Honda, as it has an agreement with, to the test automated vehicle systems there. The agency is offering a portion of the station as an ideal testing ground for carmakers and technology companies working on automotive technology. Apple declined to comment on any rumors.

“It’s got all the infrastructure of a city,” Hall said of the facility. “There are buildings, streets and intersections, but no people.” This security appeals to Apple, which has hundreds of engineers working on advancing automotive technologies in an anonymous office building four miles from its main office in Cupertino.

The move comes after tech companies like Google and Uber pouring cash into autonomous cars. Apple chief executive Tim Cook has held a series of meetings with car executives in recent months leading up to this event.

Visit Q3tech.com to know more about latest technologies in the industry!