A few months ago Google disclosed that it has outfitted six Priuses and an Audi TT to run autonomously and has been testing them on the roads in California. This article from the New York Times provides some good information about this project.
The cars have covered over 1,000 miles on public roads while operating completely autonomously and an additional 140,000 miles with only limited human control. They navigate using a series of GPS waypoints. Additionally, a system of sensors and cameras are used throughout each car to find surrounding vehicles, stay within the lane lines and detect things such as stop signs, traffic signals and cross walks. The technology is still not perfect so during the tests the cars had a human sitting behind the wheel monitoring the situation and ready to take over if anything went wrong.
Eliminating the need for a driver could help to make driving safer since most automobile accidents are caused at least in part by human error. A computer doesn’t get tired or distracted (like in this video) and because of the multiple sensors it would literally have eyes in the back of its head.
One interesting point that the article makes is the current legal code assumes that cars are being controlled by a human driver so the eventual introduction of autonomous vehicles would probably require the addition of a whole new set of traffic laws. The most optimistic estimates say autonomous vehicles won’t be available on the market for another eight to ten years so it will be awhile before this is a serious concern.
When I was reading through your post, I was disbelieving that these companies(much less the government) would let the automated vehicle run itself, until I got to the part that said there was a human sitting behind the wheel. I like the idea of robots for conveniance, but this seems like a really high risk situation to just let robots go do as they please.
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too. Way to suck us in! I couldn't believe they would take that kind of risk.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to think about where this sort of technology could lead--pretty sci-fi. What do you think the implications are? Your last paragraph gets to it but I'd like to hear more.
You could probably fill a book with ideas and theories about how this technology might affect society once it's perfected. Along with being one of the most dangerous things we do every day, driving is a rite of passage for youth and automobiles are frequently considered a status symbol. This technology has to potential to change all that and more.
ReplyDeleteIt would definitely take some time to get accustomed to seeing a car with no driver. I am also iffy on how trusting I would be of an autonomous car. Yes, it probably would be safer and reduce your chances of getting into an accident, but in my opinion most accidents are caused by stupid drivers and will never be preventable unless all cars were autonomous. The car would also need some kind of programming to adjust to different road conditions (rain, snow, etc.) One of the biggest implications this could have would be having robotic chauffeurs. Driving sometimes is a huge chore in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteSince the entire system is computerized it seems like it would be easy to upload data from traffic lights from the government to know exactly what the status of the light was. It could then use this knowledge to determine when to stop, but I doubt the government would allow access to this.
All and all, I think a fully autonomous car would be really cool.
No robot can replace a human chauffeur. For me, I still prefer the human chauffeur over machine.
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