Are Open Source Autonomous Vehicles Possible?

Are open source autonomous vehicles possible? If not, why not? Is the reason technical, commercial, or legal? The answers to these questions are important because they may have a direct impact on the …

Are open source autonomous vehicles possible? If not, why not? Is the reason technical, commercial, or legal? The answers to these questions are important because they may have a direct impact on the widespread uptake of autonomous vehicles among consumers. Can open source provide the requisite transparency that regulators are looking for, that car companies need, and consumers demand? The answer may be yes, but challenges exist; FOSS licenses can be anathema to car companies, “unlimited liability” and indemnification are still hurdles, and some business models still rely on tightly controlled, proprietary code. We’ll look at new code projects that provide needed automotive functionality, discuss new license compliance approaches, and also discuss the approaches that various OEMs are taking to foster an ecosystem that may make autonomous open source vehicles possible.