Every AV startup ends up choosing where its model meets the physical world. Each option below is good at something real, so the choice depends on what you are training for.
The options
Simulation
- Good at: scale, rare and dangerous scenarios, and closed-loop regression on every commit.
- Limit: sensor noise, actuator lag, and real road users are modeled, not measured.
Outdoor research robot
- Good at: ROS-native development, rugged hardware, and campus paths or test lots, for tens of thousands of dollars.
- Limit: low top speeds and skid-steer or differential drive, so it moves nothing like a road vehicle and cannot share a lane with traffic.
Drive-by-wire passenger car
- Good at: true road dynamics at any legal speed, mature by-wire kits, and room for a full sensor suite.
- Limit: the vehicle, kit, and integration commonly reach about $250,000, with months of work before the first closed-loop mile.
Where EMC Driveware fits
EMC Driveware™ is the enclosed trike EMC Squared builds for food and grocery delivery, opened up for your stack.
- $30,000, available to order, and a road-going vehicle rather than a robot.
- Steered vehicle dynamics up to 40 mph, so your model learns lag, slip, and braking the way a street vehicle experiences them.
- Enclosed and 3 feet wide, built for weather and tight urban streets.
- An 8 kWh swappable pack that powers the cameras, lidar, and compute on the roof.
- Customizable for your program: the top rack takes whatever sensors and compute your stack needs, the platform supports add-ons beyond the base vehicle, and smaller robots can be integrated into the same system.
- High-level drive commands from PyTorch, ROS 2, or C++ over CAN-FD or Automotive Ethernet to an ASIL-D lockstep VCU, with firmware owning actuation and the safety watchdog.
- Your data stays yours.
The trade-offs, stated plainly
- Three-wheel kinematics differ from a four-wheel car. If your target platform is a sedan, train on a sedan.
- 40 mph is built for urban, campus, and last-mile work, not highways.
If your model is meant for city streets, the trike gives you real vehicle dynamics at a fraction of a car program's cost.
A real car. Just $30,000. Your model on top.