Self-Driving Cars
Tech Corner with Greg Enslen, 06/05/13: Self-Driving Cars – Google has been working on self-driving cars, the latest in the line of technological improvements that have come to cars over the last few years. Other car manufacturers have long included traction control systems, and recently parking assist systems have become available in some cars.
But Google means to completely revolutionize automobiles by allowing the cars to drive themselves, thereby reducing traffic and greatly increasing road safety. But could you sit behind the wheel and NOT want to be in control?
How it Works
As part of their off-the-wall Google X initiative, the Google company created several vehicles that use radar, lasers, cameras and computers to track exactly where they are on the road and navigate around obstacles. According to a recent article in USA Today on self-driving cars, “Google has more than 500,000 miles on Toyota Prius and Lexus RX 450h vehicles that autonomously go from point A to B” without having any accidents.
According to USA Today, “we can expect fast change, says Google CEO and co-founder Sergey Brin. ‘You can count on one hand the number of years until ordinary people can experience this,’ he said last September when California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law allowing self-driving vehicles.”
Government Oversight
You know things are getting serious with the Federal government steps in to start watching over an initiative like this. And although I’m usually wary of government interference (and taxation or tax breaks to play favorites), it seems like they’re taking the right approach when it comes to self driving vehicles: a cautious, wait-and-see attitude.
The government recently asked individual states to not begin routine licensing self driving cars quite yet, except for testing and research purposes. “We want to stay ahead on this issue,” said David Friedman, deputy administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which Thursday announced a policy, a research plan and guidelines “for states, and for the industry, on how to move ahead on their testing programs.”
NHTSA Creates Levels System
The NHTSA also has created a 0-4 level scale for the amount of “autonomous-ness” in a vehicle. Level 0 cars are the regular ones we drive every day. Levels 1 and 2 offer one or more automated systems to assist the driver, such as parking assist or traction control.
The Google cars are level 3, where a driver needs to be sitting at the wheel at all times, ready to take over. But experts seem to think we’ll be getting level 4 cars pretty soon – and it will be like having a chauffeur all the time.
The NHTSA statement says that “America is at a historic turning point for automotive travel” and cited the “enormous safety potential” of heavily automated cars. It announced a four-year study of automated vehicle systems to prepare for regulation and to make recommendations for state laws.
Next Time
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