Autonomous Vehicles

[Sparky]

Would you be happy for your car to drive you to work tomorrow morning?

While the idea of a truly Autonomous Car (AC) might sound attractive, the technology required just to get you safely to the end of the street would be huge.

Design studios and tech institutes around the world (including a large staff at Mercedes) are striving to be the first to offer a vehicle that truly has a ‘self-drive’ capability. It is the dream of many to have a completely independent, autonomous car, one that can greet you as you climb aboard, allow you to work or conduct a conversation on a video-phone, while it delivers you to you destination and then bids you farewell as you leave. The reasons given are primarily those of safety, but fuel economy and reduced travel times are also cited as achievable goals.

We don’t think twice about jumping on an aeroplane and allowing the pilot to switch on ‘Auto-Pilot’ once we’re underway. Some systems even have landing capability. The systems within the aircraft can handle side-winds, fog and a multitude of hazards that the pilot would have difficulty dealing with alone. But with aircraft, there are tower staff, traffic controllers and highly trained pilots in charge. Driver-less trams in Europe rely on rails and overhead cables for central control. What when Joe Public jumps behind the wheel of an AC, and the system has a glitch? Who will hold the safety net?

The plan is that you would never have to lift a finger to deal with a road situation. But the requirements are many. Traffic, positioning, obstruction, congestion, road signs, jay-walkers – all would be dealt with by a small super computer. Image recognition systems would deal with road signs, radar with traffic proximity, sensors and transponders with position. Global positioning Satellites would map yours, and every other vehicles position, 24 hours a day. This includes non-AC vehicles, surely?

But what if a road sign has been knocked over by a non-AC? What if a child steps out into the road? What if the brake lights on the car in front, the very ones the sensors in your car rely on to maintain a distance, fail? I can’t see how a computer can begin to estimate which way a hesitant driver is going to jump. What about impatient businessmen that override the controls, in order to exceed the programmed speed limit? Can a computer deal with EVERY variable. Constantly?

Another difficulty I see with the system is one of stalemate. Imagine two AC’s that approach a junction at the same time. Which vehicle would have right of way? Who/what would decide? What if the car ‘drivers’ were reading and hadn’t noticed? The cars would need to have a developed sense of protocol, to be able to recognise a precedent, a series of events that suggest a course of action, and make a decision.
I think a whole new way of computer management needs to be developed before any AC system on this scale could begin to work.

Can you see this way of thinking ever becoming more than just a dodgy Knight Rider script?

[Sharky]

Mhhh....well.....believe it or not I enjoy driving a lot therefore I wouldn't really be happy if the car drove itself and I ended as a spectator.

However you shouldn't forget that these improvements wont suddenly appear in one car. They'll do every thing step by step and make sure it works fine....or at least I would hope so.

But I don't think that relying on a computer is such a big concern. The example of the airplane is a very good one. If you take a look at today's airplanes, what the pilot really does is feed some info into the compu and the plane more or less flies by itself. If you take a closer look at the way we live nowadays we depend on computers a lot and most of the time they don't make mistakes. If a system like the one you're saying should appear...I don't think that computer reliabilitie would be a big concern....that is unless it runs on Windows or any other microsoft product (bad joke...I know). I find a problem with a sensor or something like that to be a bigger concern....but no so big as it would surely have backup systems.

However (and I'm thinking "start wars" on this one)...should such a system be implemented it would also require a complete change in the road infrastructure. Your junction concern is a perfect example. You just can't build such a system into our current roads. However....if it was implemented on current roads my guess would be that the system would only work on highways and other roads where obstacles like pedestrians are no concern and in ihabited zones and such then the driver would have some kind of control over the vehicle. Mhh....I guess that you could say that it would be more or less like a modern plane. The pilot executes the take off and the landing but the plane does the rest.

But the only true thing is that such a system is still so far away that it's just as probable that we'll be driving flying cars before such a system is implemented. However some parts of that system could be used and in fact they are. If I'm not mistaken the Mercedes S class has a function in the cruise control that always keeps a safe distance with the car in front regardless of weather the driver brakes or not. Trucks that travel one behind the other and are only separated by inches, and therefore needing less space and increasing aerodynamic efficiency, are just a few years away from the real roads. But if you take a look...all these systems still depend somewhat on the driver.

I think it will still be a long time before the driver becomes a passanger. Fortunately for the very few of us that find driving to be relaxing.

[Sparky]

Well, I guess I made a mistake when I called this the ‘Autonomous vehicles’ thread.
I should have called it the ‘Automated Highway System’ – everyone and his brother would have understood what I was trying to say!

Mention Autonomous vehicles to anyone from a scientific background, and they’ll describe a golf cart or motorised wheelchair with sensors and controllers that allow it to navigate difficult terrain – such as may be found on Mars. This is where the research began, it seems: Development of an all-terrain, autonomous vehicle (as remote control would carry unnecessary time delays) for Mars exploration.

The Automated Highway System is something else, however.

While research continues to develop systems that can control motor vehicles independent of the driver, the point of advancement so far is that of dedicated sections of highway, as my good friend Sharky describes above.
The driver navigates to and from this section of road, utilising all controls, and once he is on the section of road, the vehicles assume a train to reduce stress and fuel consumption.

There is a good description of how the system will work here

Car manufacturers are determined to reduce our input and control of our cars, and eventually, they will whisk us to our destination as if we had boarded a train, with no thought to the navigation, motive power or hazards of the road.

Toyota is one such company. On their site, they describe the tests they have carried out in California recently.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 7 -- As today's passenger cars become safer and more
fuel efficient, they're also becoming smarter. Toyota will demonstrate
the features of several automated cars it is developing at a special public
event to be held here August 7-10.
Sponsored by the National Automated Highway Systems Consortium, the
program will showcase what a number of automakers and universities are doing
to develop a network of "smart highway" systems for the future. It will
feature driving demonstrations, lectures and exhibits on what motorists can
expect in the 21st Century.
According to Scott Andrews, project general manager of the Intelligent
Transportation System Group for Toyota Motor Corp., Toyota has divided
automated driving functions into two groups: driver assist and automated
driving functions.
The driver assist function includes a lane departure warning system that
alerts the driver when the vehicle leaves the lane unintentionally without
signaling a lane change. The system corrects the vehicle's path if the driver
fails to respond to the lane departure warning. Also part of the driver
assist system, an adaptive cruise control system automatically sets the
following distance to the preceding vehicle, even if the cruise control is set
to a higher speed than the prevailing traffic.
Toyota also will demonstrate long-term systems that will require more
consumer acceptance and higher levels of technology. These automated driving
systems include a stop-and-go system that allows the vehicle to operate
partially autonomously in heavy traffic and a lane keeping system that guides
the vehicle within the lane without any driver input. They also feature
obstacle avoidance which steers the vehicle around obstacles in the lane,
cooperative vehicle following which allows similarly equipped vehicles to
safely operate at reduced following distances at relatively high speeds and
automatic emergency-stop braking to avoid or reduce the severity of collisions
when there is no way to steer around an obstacle.
"Unlike other companies' systems," said Andrews, "Toyota's vehicle
automation does not require a dedicated infrastructure such as magnets
imbedded in the road or special magnetic tape lane lines."
At the heart of the system is an advanced image processing system and
several laser range sensors. The laser sensors are used to measure the
distance and approach speed of obstacles or other vehicles on the road, as
well as measure the lateral separation from the guard rail barrier.
The imaging system uses a forward looking-camera to sense the road edges
and the vehicles ahead, and side cameras to sense the presence of vehicles in
the vehicle blind spot. Toyota has integrated these sensor systems with a
high-speed computer and electronically controlled steering, brake and throttle
actuators to make a complete automated vehicle.
While much of these vehicles' automation is still in the development
stage, it is possible that some of this technology will be available on Toyota
or Lexus vehicles in the future.

So, I guess my fears are allayed a little.

I'm still unhappy, as are many of you, about the actual 'joy of driving' being denied as an option.

Perhaps our grandchildren will ask why we had to control our motor cars by hand - as I expect by then the 'Blade Runner' vision of the future will be upon us...

Me, a pessimist?

[Diabando]

Dont even GO there Sparkster!!

Imagine....if that was truly the fate of vehicles....then our whole happy bubble world of motorsport would be down the tube...no longer reliant on driver skill..

No no...dont EVEN go there...

Is this the point where I bury my head in the sand and begin talking about the good ol' days?