The title of this week’s article may have surprised many people. After all, are we talking about the famous Herbie, who was successful in theaters during the 60s and 70s? In that case, the friendly beetle brought a fun spirit and soul with very interesting situations.
But in the case of the copy of this text, the story is a little different. As we know, artificial intelligence is making great strides in various segments of society. Transportation is one of them, and others also benefit from this technology developed over the years.
In the automotive segment, we can see artificial intelligence in multimedia equipment where drivers “talk” to a system by saying directions or choosing music or even giving small commands to the car, such as closing the windows or increasing ventilation and air conditioning temperature.
Those who like movies will also remember, among the cars that drove themselves, the iconic Pontiac Trans Am from the Super Machine series, my favorite of all time. There, the car performed small commands and did one of the coolest things: it was fully autonomous when necessary.
But in the case of this 1970 VW Beetle the story is quite different. It belongs to Professor André Godoi who uses the vehicle, in addition to his routine weekend trips, to develop technology and teach his students in practice.
The artificial technology allows the car to say a set of phrases, use facial recognition and also, through a mechanical mechanism installed on the pedals and another on the gearbox, It follows a few orders to start, shift into gear, use the clutch and move for a few meters.
The most interesting thing about this project is the idea of developing technology and disseminating knowledge for future use in conventional vehicles. Another cool thing is that these devices are removed and the classic beetle returns to being a stylish Volkswagen from the 70s.
