Swedish carmaker Volvo has admitted that its self-driving car is unable to detect kangaroos because hopping confounds its systems. The company’s “Large Animal Detection system” can identify and avoid deer and elk but early testing in Australia showed that the system cannot adjust to the kangaroo’s unique method of movement. This may hit the company’s plans to introduce driverless in Australia, the Guardian reported.
Volvo has reportedly been trying to solve the kangaroo problem for nearly two years and in 2015 had sent experts to examine them in their natural habitat. The company has been working on tweaking its self-braking system to deal with the problem.
David Pickett, Volvo’s technical manager told the Australian broadcaster ABC that tracking a jumping kangaroo is difficult for detection systems to monitor. “When it’s in the air, it actually looks like it’s further away, then it lands and it looks closer.”
