1980
Mercedes-Benz develops the first true autonomous vehicle prototype, “The VaMoRs” (Vehicle for Advanced Mobility Research), but the technology was rudimentary.
Mercedes-Benz develops the first true autonomous vehicle prototype, “The VaMoRs” (Vehicle for Advanced Mobility Research), but the technology was rudimentary.
CMU’s “Navlab 5” successfully drove across the highway in a test, covering 98% of the route autonomously. This marked a key step toward practical autonomous driving.
DARPA’s Grand Challenge — The first official competition for autonomous vehicles took place in the Mojave Desert, though no vehicles completed the 132-mile course.
Google started developing self-driving cars, marking a significant leap in autonomous vehicle development under Waymo (a Google sister company).
Tesla introduced its Autopilot system, which offered semi-autonomous driving features, like lane-keeping and adaptive cruise control.
Waymo launched the first commercial self-driving taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, operating without a safety driver in some vehicles.
Tesla announced Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta for selected users, showcasing its vision for fully autonomous vehicles, though human intervention was still necessary.
Cruise, owned by General Motors, began offering autonomous taxi services in San Francisco with safety drivers on board.
According to GlobalData, a research firm, it could be closer to 2035 before we begin to see any meaningful deployments of fully self-driving vehicles.