Photo: Carteav
You know the hotels where the reception is light years away from the rooms, and you have to wait for golf cart drivers to take you and your luggage to the room? So it may be that on one of your next vacations in the “White Lotus”, you can stop waiting for a driver, and get on an autonomous golf vehicle that will take you where you need to go – and an Israeli startup is the one that will be responsible for this.
It is much easier to create an autonomous vehicle that does not travel at 100 km/h
The Israeli startup Carteav is developing a system for autonomous driving that is not intended for private vehicles on the highway, but rather for vehicles traveling at low speed in managed sites such as hotels, campuses, airports, hospitals, etc. The system includes the autonomous vehicles themselves, a site management system and also a passenger summoning system. In a conversation with Geektime, Eli Doron, co-founder and CTO of the company, explains that the company chose to focus specifically on this type of vehicle because it is a much simpler and clearer process than a fully autonomous vehicle: “This focus makes it possible to reach a working system faster due to the simplification of the technological challenge. Low speed Allows for a very short stopping distance (a few meters) and clearer identification of obstacles. Traveling on managed sites allows the site to be mapped in advance and the use of a smart map allows the system to deal better with the environment in which you travel.”
The company actually takes existing golf vehicles and installs LiDAR sensors, cameras and short-range radars on them, and Doron explains that these are cheaper components than those of the fully autonomous vehicles. At the same time as the vehicles are active, the site administrator can see on the dashboard alerts about certain situations and solve them remotely, and also see data about the quality of the service. The system is able to classify and send customers the closest and most suitable vehicle to them, and also knows how to take into account other elements such as the availability of vehicles and their battery condition.
With 6.5 million dollars in his pocket
Today, Creative carries out a number of paid pilots in Israel, among others in “Poleg Estate”. In 2023, Doron explains, additional pilots will be launched in Israel and abroad. At the beginning of the year, the company will present its development at the world’s largest electronics exhibition, CES, and also at the prestigious PGA golf tournament. Today (Monday) Carteav announces the completion of a fundraising of 6.5 million dollars, among others Mazohar Zisafel (who also serves as the company’s chairman), Yehuda Zisafel, Altshuler Shaham and the Mobilion fund. The member established in 2020 by Avinoam Barak (CEO), Eli Doron (CTO), Zvika Weissbaum (VP of Development) and Zohar Zisafel.