Autonomous or self driving cars
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Transcript of Autonomous or self driving cars
Content
Introduction
V2V Communication
Augmented Reality Windshields
Energy Storing Body Panels
Personal Preference Pre-sets
Advantages
Disadvantages or Obstacles
Public Opinion Surveys
Conclusion
Self Driving Cars
Self driving cars are also known as driverless car, self driving car or robotic car.
Autonomous vehicles sense their surroundings with techniques such as radar, lidar,
GPS, and computer vision.
Self Driving Cars
This might be the single biggest technology that will hit the automobile
industry.
It might seem like an idea from an old sci-fi movie or some Japanese
anime, but google is already in the process of testing out the prototypes.
Currently the design has drawn a lot of flak but tie
ups with major automobile giants can push this
Technology into the main stream.
V2V Car Communication
V2V stands for vehicle to vehicle communication.
Cars will be equipped with sensors and communication mechanisms that
will enable them to transfer data to each other. This will help avoid
accidents, chalk out new routes in case of log jams. For example if the
driver of one car were to jump he traffic lights other cars in the vicinity
would be notified to slow down in order to avoid any accident.
Also V2I i.e. vehicle to infrastructure seems another possible avenue which
can prove useful. For e.g. slow down or stop signs can signal cars to slow
down or stop in specific areas such as schools or hospitals.
Augmented Reality Windshields
These will be similar to the Nokia City Lens features but on the windshield.
Here, all the places being viewed through the screen have basic details
shown beside them and you can use gestures to select and obtain more
details about the place.
BMW is already testing this out with basic data of places being displayed
on the windshield of its prototype. But this technology has the potential to
have the whole UI of the in-built computer to be displayed on the
windshield.
Energy Storing Body Panels
These panels are fashioned out of thin yet tough materials used in
satellites. They have tremendous energy storing capacity and are much
more efficient as compared to the lithium ion batteries in cars today.
These panels can be integrated with solar panels to store energy, the
dynamo in the wheels to store energy generated when driving and also
through the friction generated during breaking.
Personal Preference Pre-sets
Cars to have intuitive bots that record every drivers’ preferences and
habits and thus offers a better and personal driving experience to each
driver.
For e.g. the temperature settings, pre checking daily routes for jams and
accidents etc.
Advantages
An increase in the use of autonomous cars would make possible such
benefits as:
Fewer traffic collisions, due to an autonomous system's increased reliability
and faster reaction time compared to human drivers.
Increased roadway capacity and reduced traffic congestion due to
reduced need for safety gaps and the ability to better manage traffic
flow.
Relief of vehicle occupants from driving and navigation chores.
Higher speed limit for autonomous cars.
Advantages
Removal of constraints on occupants' state – in an autonomous car, it would not matter if the occupants were under age, over age, unlicensed, blind, distracted, intoxicated, or otherwise impaired.
Alleviation of parking scarcity, as cars could drop off passengers, park far away where space is not scarce, and return as needed to pick up passengers.
Reduction of physical space required for vehicle parking.
Elimination of redundant passengers – the robotic car could drive unoccupied to wherever it is required, such as to pick up passengers or to go in for maintenance. This would be especially relevant to trucks, taxis and car-sharing services.
Advantages
Reduction in the need for traffic police and vehicle insurance.
Reduction of physical road signage – autonomous cars could receive
necessary communication electronically (although physical signs may still
be required for any human drivers).
Smoother ride.
Reduction in car theft, due to the vehicle's self-awareness.
Disadvantages Or Obstacles
In spite of the various benefits to increased vehicle automation, some
foreseeable challenges persist:
Liability for damage.
Resistance by individuals to forfeit control of their cars.
Software reliability.
A car's computer could potentially be compromised, as could a
communication system between cars.
Implementation of legal framework and establishment of government
regulations for self-driving cars.
Disadvantages Or Obstacles
Drivers being inexperienced if situations arose requiring manual driving.
Loss of driving-related jobs.
Loss of privacy.
Competition for the radio spectrum desired for the car's communication.
Self-driving cars could potentially be loaded with explosives and used as
bombs.
Ethical problems analogous to the trolley problem arise in situations where
an autonomous car's software is forced during an unavoidable crash to
choose between multiple harmful courses of action.
Disadvantages Or Obstacles
Susceptibility of the car's navigation system to different types of weather. (As of 2014
Google's prototype has not driven in snow or heavy rain.)
Autonomous cars may require very high-quality specialized maps to operate properly.
These maps would be costly to produce for roads worldwide. Where these maps may
be out of date, they would need to be able to fall back to reasonable behaviors.
Autonomous cars have to be able to respond correctly to police and other pedestrian
gestures and non-verbal cues.
To function optimally autonomous cars need changes in road infrastructure with many
design and cost implications. For example, traffic lights may need to be re-designed
and upgraded to communicate with the vehicles and street lighting may need to be
re-designed. These changes may have profound social, legal and financial
implications.
Public Opinion Surveys
In a 2011 online survey of US and UK consumers by Accenture, 49% said they would be comfortable using a "driverless car".
A 2012 survey 37% initially said they would be interested in purchasing a fully autonomous car. However, that figure dropped to 20% when told the technology would cost $3,000 more.
A 2013 survey across 10 countries found a full 57% "stated they would be likely to ride in a car controlled entirely by technology that does not require a human driver", with Brazil, India and China the most willing to trust autonomous technology.
In a 2014 three-quarters of licensed drivers said they would at least consider buying a self-driving car, rising to 86%.
Official Predictions
By 2015, Audi plans to market vehicles that can autonomously steer,
accelerate and brake at lower speeds, such as in traffic jams.
By 2016, Mobileye expects to release fully autonomous car technology.
By 2020, Google expects to release their autonomous car technology,
which is a tie up with Toyota.
By 2020, BMW, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz all expect to sell autonomous
cars.
Conclusion
The most effective gain of this system will be control on traffic congestions
and avoiding accidents. The public opinion surveys in all these past years
clearly shows the growing interest of an autonomous car and, technology
is in favour of it.
So the time is not far ‘2020’ when we are going to have our self controlled
vehicles and we say “THE FUTURE OF AUTOMOBILES IS HERE”.