14 DAY TRIAL // George Hotz made a name for himself by being the first to hack the iPhone and PlayStation 3. He's now trying to build his own autonomous car system, and he seems to be using Ubuntu to do it.
Autonomous cars seem to be the future, and more and more companies are working with this technology. The ability of a car to make its own decisions in traffic is something that automakers are looking for, and it's already here. Companies like Tesla or Google have proved that it can be done and that the technology is available now.
George Hotz thinks that this technology is actually outdated and that he can do better. For this purpose, he has re-purposed a 2016 Acura ILX. He added a Lidar (Light Detection And Ranging or, more simply put, a laser radar) on the roof, a 21.5-inch screen in the middle of the dashboard, a couple more cameras around the car, and all the hardware he needs to run Ubuntu.
The hacker wants to do better than the rest of the companies
Building an autonomous car seems like something that requires hundreds of engineers and the backing of a big company, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, according to a report on Bloomberg, he says that the current software used by the cars is behind the times.
It's easy to imagine why George chose a Linux operating system to run his car. In this case, it's an Ubuntu OS (not clear what version). It gives him the freedom to do what he wants, and he gets an added layer of security.
George is still far from a stable implementation of the software, but he says that it should get in a stable and working state in the coming year. He plans to sell the entire setup for about $1,000, and he already has some people waiting for it.