Freshly Published Patent Keeps the Dream of an Apple Self-Driving Car Alive

Bumpy car drive suck and a newly published letters patent reveals Apple has fairly recently been exploring a “ full - actuated reprieve organization ” using variable pressure air springs and a haptic - feedback system to create a smoother drive .

The patent of invention wasoriginally filedin March 2016 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and originates from Apple ’s Project Titan division . It was finally published this calendar week . The filing features a mickle of technical gobbledygook , but in essence , it account a suspension system that can “ compensate for vehicle oscillations at oftenness below the principal ride frequency , ” which would in turn potentially reduce motion sickness . It also detail improvements to its braking and suspension for a generally smoother ride .

That ’s all well and good , but one of the more interesting parts of the patent of invention is a plane section where Apple details a tactual feedback system . The filing notes that its particular actuation scheme could relay specific information to a driver that could improve situational awareness . For representative , because each of the gondola ’s wheel can be actuated , a number one wood might get haptic feedback about which instruction to ferment . The patent also supply an example where a railcar ’s sensors may be able-bodied to observe oncoming vehicles , or interbreed pedestrians and deliver feedback to the gadget driver .

Graphic: (Gizmodo)

So is Apple in truth serious about grow tech for auto ? Possibly , it ’s own self - ride car ? Perhaps . Tech behemoth file cabinet patents all the time for instauration that may never see the brightness of sidereal day , and Apple is no exception . Earlier in January , Applelaid off more than 200 employeesworking on Project Titan — its secretive self - ram car initiative . That layoff wasreportedto be part of a restructuring . Then , back in April , Apple was again describe to be hunting for abettor self - driving car detector .

The head at hand here is n’t whether Apple isinterested in cars . It ’s whether it ’s working to build up a so - called “ iCar ” , or just attend to grow software . The layoffs seemed to hint at the latter , while the purported hunting for better detector suggests the former . Meanwhile , late report that Apple isbuilding large get roomsfor testing betoken that maybe the company has n’t truly give up on build its own car after all . At this pointedness , however , it ’s all speculation . The only people who really know are belike laughing at the sleep of us in a bunker somewhere in Cupertino .

[ USPTOviaApple Insider ]

Image: <a href=