Minus Zero, a Bengaluru-based autonomous driving start-up, has unveiled the zPod, which it claims is India’s first autonomous vehicle. The zPod showcases self-driving tech developed by the artificial intelligence (AI) firm. Minus Zero says it is not an automotive manufacturer, but a tech firm that will provide its autonomous driving tech to other manufacturers to help improve their ADAS suite.
Minus Zero’s AI tech
The zPod is merely a technological showcase of what it is trying to achieve, says Minus Zero, adding that its motives are to reduce traffic congestion, as well as road accidents and the injuries and fatalities associated with them. Citing an example of Bengaluru, Gursimran Kalra, COO of Minus Zero, says the city “wastes 2.5 lakh litres of fuel every hour, every day just in traffic”, and that all the costs of the inefficiencies when accumulated together “leads to whopping $22 billion of losses to a single nation over a period of one year.”
