Ahhh the future. We asked for hoverboards and for self-tying shoes. We asked for robots with waffle making mouths who could spit out our breakfasts in the morning. Instead, Calgary might see self-driving vehicles and mass employment. Which is kind of cool we guess? It’s no waffle-mouthed robot, but it is a bank heist getaway car in the right direction.
We know Elon did it first, but these particular bad boys were developed by Calgary based company, Hexagon Positioning Intelligence. They hope that their autonomous vehicle will eventually employ hundreds, maybe thousands, of job-hungry Calgarians. Take that Tesla.
How though? If the whole thing is that they’re self-driving why do they need us?
Autonomous cars are pricey. Yes, they’re already on the market, but the average person can’t afford them. HPI believes that if they test these things enough, they’ll be able to develop the same sensors and parts that make the Autopilot tick – for less. And in turn, can create more cost-friendly self-driving vehicles.
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Once they’ve accomplished this, and have successfully tested these babies on the mean streets of C-town. People will practically be banging on Calgary’s door for their piece of the future.
Supply equals demand. Supply for even cheaper vehicles equals even HIGHER demand. With that, Hexagon is thinking that Calgary will be the perfect spot to develop these vehicles, meaning a plethora of car-making jobs will arrive. Well, our fingers are crossed.
“We’re really hoping that Hexagon can take part in the global economy and develop products and help diversify the Calgary economy.” Sandy Kennedy, spokesperson from Hexagon Positioning Intelligence told CBC News.
Getting it all just right is going to take some time though. Last year, Hexagon successfully ran a 22-day trial of their driverless shuttle between the Calgary Zoo and Telus Spark. They ended up shuttling over 4,500 visitors. Based on the data they collected from last year’s run, they’ve made a few adjustments and improvements.
Testing for the more updated vehicle began late September and will continue into the rest of 2019. But we’ll just have to see how this goes. Right? Next time you’re yelling at the driving who cut you off, take into consideration that there might not be one. Instead, feel free to curse the robots who will inevitably be our overlords.
But…. if this doesn’t work out, we hear there’s quite the market for breakfast robots.
