Driverless Car
Driverless cars by Google has become the talk of town. Some individuals are seeing it as yet another step in the mechanization of the human activities. On the other hand, some other individuals are speculating that it will cut down on the number of road accidents, most of which are caused due to driver's mistakes, and save some of the 1.2 million lives lost. It is not the first time that humans have let go of the control of a device. Airplanes such as Airbus incorporates on-board computers which can take off and land the plane after completing the journey. A driverless car, when it is instructed to go to a certain destination, navigates towards it with the help of inputs from a GPS real time tracking system, i.e. coordinates describing its present physical location on the land and that of the destination. It then proceeds along streets following road maps that are loaded into its computer. It ensures that it is approaching the destination by requesting time-to-time GPS inputs regarding its present whereabouts and comparing it with that of destination.
Cars that are Driverless
Since 1933, attempts are being made to come up with similar cars. Norman Bel Geddes was the first one to enter the field by exhibiting his auto-guided car named Futurama, in the 1933's World Fair. Since then, various entities such as Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering, Ernst Dickmanns, US Army, Daimler-Benz, Carnegie Mellon University, Alberto Broggi, and General Motors have come up with their models. Competition such as the DARPA Grand Challenge, announced in 2002, and VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge announced in 2010, also helped to attract creative minds to the creation of this concept car. The same car by Google is also the latest attempt in this direction.
If you go by the statistics related with Google's attempt, a bunch of driverless cars has covered almost 140,000 miles, completely relying on the efficiency of their sensors and response mechanism provided by the on-board computer. This car by Google uses video cameras fixed on the roof, radar sensors and a laser finder built for detecting other traffic which may come in its direction. According to experts, even after Google's success of putting this car on the road, today, is not possible because of some of the factors such as cost, besides others. However, in next 5 - 6 years, we might be able to use this technology in restricted space, such as, hospitals or airports.
Technology in Driverless Cars
You may be surprised to know that even in today's car, the technology is being used in one or the other.
Cruise Control
Cruise control is considered as a similar technology that is found in many car models. Although it enables the driver of the car to take off his or her foot from the gas pedal and set the desired speed, it is not a complete driverless system. The driver has to maintain a lookout for bends and turns in the road and the cars that are traveling at less speed than he is and take proper action to avoid any mishap. Adaptive cruise control employs refined form of the technology used for the cruise control. With the help of radar sensors placed at its front, these automobiles can detect presence of moving objects in their path, and predict their speed, direction and calculate how to maintain a safe distance from them.
Pre-safe System
Pre-Safe system that are outfitted in some of the models of the luxury cars is a form of driverless car technology. These are programed to anticipate crashes and take precautionary measures to prevent the occupants of the car from coming to any harm. What happens when the car equipped with pre-safe system is about to collide with another object. The system will, first of all, prime the breaks which on a little bit of application of force will be applied with full force. The system will, at the same time, begin to reduce the engine power which will dampen the impact of the collision. In case the contact is unavoidable, pre-safe system will tighten safety-belts and deploy the airbags at the right moment.
Self Parking
Cars manufacturers have come with the car models that can look after their own parking. All the driver has to do is to locate the parking space and ensure that it is at least 6 feet bigger than the size of the car. Sensors present on all sides of such vehicles enable them to sense the presence of the other vehicles in the vicinity and the information is used in parking the vehicle without mishap.
Traction or Stability Control
Traction or Stability control is a driverless car technology which is much similar to ant-lock breaks system. However, it is much more complicated and is always active when the car is moving. It keeps on monitoring inputs from many system about the car's present speed, direction as well as the quality of the wheel contact with the road surface. If the car seems to go into a skid, the system steps in and tries to rectify the situation.
All the technology in use, point that the car is a distinct possibility. It will take some time to be on the roads of this world on a mass scale.
