Self-Driving Cars

Cars that drive themselves? For some years now, automakers, college research institutes, independent inventors and even search engine companies have been working on cars that drive themselves. Aspects of automated driving can be observed in today's cars, from parking assist, accident avoidance, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Although driverless cars are captivating, there is still as much controversy surrounding the idea that vehicles make the decisions--especially without driver manual override.

As far back as the 1939, people were thinking about cars doing the driving with General Motors imagining automated highways and radio controlled vehicles in their Futurama exhibit at the New York World's Fair. The imagination of automated roadways has been driving itself, and the idea of unmanned vehicles has penetrated our collective conscious. Today, the self driving car is a mainstay in every futuristic vision of road reality--and it is a vision not always portrayed in a positive light.


Controversy
In the 2004 film "I, Robot," Will Smith's character Del shifts his driverless 2035 model year automated Audi into manual override, fending off an attack of feisty corrupted A.I. robots. Excitement of the scene aside, the film played off the long-held controversy that Artificial Intelligence and robotic advancements of the near future could get out of hand, rendering human beings as slaves to their own machines.

Sure, these apocalyptic terminator-like visions may be played upon, but aspects of these attitudes obviously hold some legitimacy in the minds of consumers today. How many of us would actually relinquish even momentary control of our vehicle, say to check a mobile text, to some computer?

Controversy largely surrounds fears that the technology will not be able to make the human decisions necessary for safe driving. Also, the legal framework to institute self-driving cars is generally murky, and is way behind the technology being developed. How would insurance claims work in a world of self driving cars?

The broader underlying fear is that as humans let go of some of the tasks we have come to enjoy, we will lose apart of ourselves in the process. There is a general anxiety that the American story of the open road, the feel of the pedal on your foot, and the wheel in your hands will be lost forever if cars become self-driven.

Captivation
Supporters of driverless cars believe that automated roadways and vehicles will reduce accidents, decrease fossil fuel use and pollution, and provide more people with transportation as road congestion increases.

Raul Rojas, head of the Berlin Free University's research group for artificial intelligence, even suggests that this technology could increase car sharing, and reduce the need for people to own vehicles. Rojas and others have been working for 4 years on a Volkswagen Passat that can drive itself--without a remote.

"This kind of car is actually perfect for car sharing," said Rojas, "There will be no more need for owning a car — once the automobile has dropped off its passenger it will drive on to the next passenger," said Rojas.

Utopian automated roadways aside, the major premise behind self-driving cars is safety, and the ability to create a road where accidents are a thing of the past. Supporters and researchers don't belittle human control of vehicles, but they do point out that computers are indeed up to the task.

"In fact, the car's recognition and reaction to its environment is much faster than a human being's reaction." said Raul Rojas.

Rojas may be right, and automakers, researchers, engineers and even search engine companies are definitely thinking about the benefits of automated vehicles too.

Although Google is designing the technology to be fully self-automated, they have basically wired the system to have an on/off button. They premise the automated-driving endeavor on safety, reduction of fossil fuel use, energy independence and even a way to cut accidents in half.

Google is not the only one advancing automated driving. Here are some recent self-driven updates of self-driven vehicles, from a few self-driven automakers.

In the semi- automatic driving mode – referred to as Pilot Mode, for short – TAP maintains a safe distance to the vehicle ahead, drives at a speed selected by the driver, reduces this speed as necessary before a bend, and maintains the vehicle's central position with respect to lane markers. The system also observes overtaking rules and speed limits. Stop and start driving maneuvers in traffic jams are also automated. With TAP, it is possible to drive at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour on motorways or similar roads. Drivers must still continually focus their attention on the road, so that they can intervene in safety-critical situations at any time."