Autonomous Vehicles

http://www.automotto.org/entry/driverless-cars-to-be-a-reality/

History

• The first actual representation was in 1977 at the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab in Japan- Got up to 30 km/h by tracking white street markers

http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/east/melbourne/slides/fitzroy065567.htm

History Cont.• 1980s DARPA-funded Autonomous Land Vehicle in U.S. achieved first

road following demonstration that used:- laser (Environmental Research Institute of Michigan)

- computing vision (Carnegie Mellon University and SRI)- autonomous robotic control (Carnegie Mellon and Martin Marietta)- Goes up to 30km/h

http://www.studentsreview.com/PA/CMU.html

History Cont.

• In 2000 three U.S. Gov’t funded military efforts known as Demo I (Army), Demo II (DARPA), and Demo III (Army) are underway.

• Demo III demonstrated the ability to drive on off-road terrain and avoid obstacles.

http://carriedaway.blogs.com/

History Cont.• In 2010, VisLab ran VIAC

(VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge)- 13,000 km test run- 4 driverless vans ended the drive from Italy to China by arriving at Shanghai Expo on October 28

• In 2008, General Motors said they would begin testing driverless cars by 2015 and could be on the road by 2018. http://www.howgreenworks.com/driverless-cars-begin-

8000-mile-journey-from-italy-to-china/italy-driverless-odyssey/

http://www.howgreenworks.com/page/90/

http://selectluxury.wordpress.com/page/2/

Paved Road Autonomous Vehicles

• Google Driverless Car• Euro EUREKA

Prometheus Project• VIAC Challenge• DARPA Grand Challenge• Argo Vehicle • Stanford’s Racing Team’s

car• Volkswagen Golf GTI

53+1

http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/08/soon-a-car-that-drives-on-its-own.htm

http://www.speedace.info/darpa_defense_advanced_research_robotic_vehicles.htm

Free Ranging Autonomous Vehicles• DARPA Grand

Challenge• European Robot

Trial• Israeli Military-

Industrial Complex

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21625291/

Automated Highway System

• Efforts to construct special lanes with magnets to allow vehicles to stay in the center of the lane while communicating with other vehicles

http://www.accelerationwatch.com/articles/undergroundhighwaysystems.html

Free Ranging Grid

• Combination of autonomous vehicles and a supervisory central system- The vehicle locates itself using odometer readings, recalibrating themselves occasionally using a “maze” of magnets embedding in the environment, and GPS-They avoid wrecks using lasers and ultra sonic sensors-Only for commercial use.

http://www.gpsgazette.com/category/automotive-gps/

Sensorial-Informative• Warn or inform drivers about events that

have passed unnoticed such as- Lane Warning system- Rear-view alarm- detect obstacles

behind- Visibility aid for the driver to cover blind

spots and enhanced vision system such as radar, wireless vehicle safety communication, and night vision

- Infrastructure-based, driver warning/ information-giving systems such as those developed by Japanese government

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/BlindSpot.htm

http://www.prom.no/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=202_3&products_id=705

Actuation- Corrective• Modify driver’s instruction to

execute them in a more effective way- anti lock brakes- traction control system- four wheel drive- electronic stability control- dynamic steering response

http://www.nissan.com.my/vehicles/xtrail/xtrail/safety/safety2.html

Systemic

• Automatic parking• Following another car• Distance control assistance• Dead man’s switch

http://accessories.bmwusa.com/error.aspx

http://www.sae.org/mags/sve/ELECT/6892

Existing and Missing Technologies

• Understanding immediate environment (Sensors)

Knowing where it is and where it wants to go (Navigation)

• Finding its way in Traffic (Motion Planning)Operating Mechanics of the vehicle

(Actuation)

Short Term Advantages

• Increasing roadway capacity by reducing distance between cars

• Reduce congestion by controlling flow of traffic

• Can do work or rest while driver• No longer need to leave work to do errands• Takes itself to gas station and to get

repaired/serviced

Long Term Advantages

• Longer commutes will be more tolerable.• Cut down on commuter rail ridership• Cut down on costs of bus service• You can just click an app on you Smartphone to get a car to

you immediately• Become a much cheaper way to live in the city without a car

- like owning a car without worrying about parking• Increase safety by reducing driver error• Fewer mechanical problems and breakdowns.• Decrease amount of import oil• Reduce urban greenhouse gas emissions by 80%

Ethical Implications

• Not enough proper training on vehicles for users

• One corporation may control all technology and may not take ethical considerations seriously- Could create monopoly

Bibliography• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdEygVOHE3E• Forrest, Alex. "Autonomous Cars and Society." WPI. N.p., 01/05/2007. Web.

2 Nov 2010. <http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-043007-205701/unrestricted/IQPOVP06B1.pdf>.

• "Driverless Car." Wikipedia. N.p., 31/10/2010. Web. 2 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_car>.

• Schmidhuber, J. "Robot Cars." idsia. N.p., 2005. Web. 2 Nov 2010. <http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/robotcars.html>.

• Templeton, Brad. "Where Robot Cars Can Really Take Us." Templetons.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov 2010. <http://www.templetons.com/brad/robocars/>.

• Finn, Anthony. Developments and challenges for autonomous unmanned vehicles : a compendium . 1st ed. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2010. 23-49. Print.

• Smith, Mary. "Driverless Car Technology Through GM." Newsoxy 14 Nov 2010, Print.