Autonomous Proton Exora took Malaysian PM for a ride

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is frequently seen in engagement with the nation’s first national badge carmaker Proton. A few days back he was found unveiling the new Proton Iriz and Proton Persona at the 2019 Malaysia Auto Show. Now he is spotted again riding in the autonomous Proton Exora at the 5G Malaysia Showcase in Putrajaya. In the ride, the prime minister was also accompanied by the nations’ communications and multimedia minister Gobind Singh Deo.

As per reports, the demo vehicle was manufactured by Celcom and was equipped with a plethora of cameras, radar and LIDAR sensors in order to sense the surroundings. These are further connected with a driverless system developed by eMooVit Technology. The firm is an startup, headquartered in Singapore and mainly focuses on developing autonomous driving technologies.

The autonomous Proton Exora developed by Celcom is capable of offering Level 4 autonomous driving, that means, the four-wheeler can drive itself without any human hand. This, however, does not eliminate the need of a driver and hence cannot obliterate the equipment of steering wheel and pedals. Furthermore, the vehicle is connected to a central server in order to obtain uninterrupted mapping information. Alongside this, communication goes both ways and the vehicle send information to the server that can be used by other vehicles too.

This technology undoubtedly requires a robust connection and the necessity is fulfilled by 5G’s ultra-low latency. However, in case of any breakdown in connectivity, the vehicle will depend on the in-built systems and will roll back the control to the driver. Since it is a test vehicle, there is also an emergency button located next to the gear shifter, which can be used to gain full control of the car in any case.