New documents provide a glimpse into Apple's self-driving car program

Apple's secretive self-driving car project just got a little less mysterious.

The Cupertino-based company was granted a permit by the California DMV to test cars on public roads in April, but the details on just what exactly it had planned were few and far between. We knew the permit applied to three self-driving Lexus RX540h SUVs, but not much more.

Thanks to California DMV documents obtained by Business Insider via a public records request, we now have a preliminary — emphasis on preliminary — look at how Apple intends to challenge Uber and Google in the race for self-driving dominance.

The documents refer to something called the "Apple Automated System," and note that Apple uses both a Logitech wheel and pedals to operate the remote driving system.

"The development platform is capable of sending electronic commands for steering, accelerating, and decelerating," wrote an Apple employee, "and may carry out portions of the dynamic driving task."

Apple reportedly has a system in place to train six engineers who will test the self-driving cars. This includes seven different challenges.

"Vehicle will make a sudden maneuver to the right or left turn of a wide straight lane," the document explains of one such test. The "safety driver should intervene by grabbing the steering wheel and correct the path to stay within the lane."

Another "Tight U-Turn" test has the engineer ensuring "the vehicle stays within the course while maintaining 15 mph."

Basically, it looks like Apple wants to make sure the cars don't drive themselves off the road. In the battle against Tesla, Uber, and Google, that's definitely a good place to start.

As to when we'll actually see a self-driving Apple Lexus on the road? We're not sure, but how well the cars (and testing engineers) do in the battery of tests will likely play a deciding factor.