Development in driverless cars
The vision of driverless cars exists since lots of
years. But the way to create a driverless car needs lots of engineering,
communication systems and technologies.
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| Mercedes-Benz INTELLIGENT DRIVE - Daimler Global Media Site [1] |
The beginning of realizing driverless vehicles was
already made with the first assistance system in cars in 1970: it is the ABS,
which is known as the first step in car-networking , because sensors detect if
a driver brakes hardly and give this information to the brakes. The ABS prevents
that the brakes lock – they open and close the brake again and again, so that
it cannot block – it allows braking and steering at the same time. To make it
easier to understand how the system works, please take a look at the following
video [2]
The ABS was the first milestone in drivers’ assistance
systems, by the time there more and more systems are introduced. A pioneer in
car safety system is the German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. They have a wide
range of different assistant systems which makes riding a car safer. The main
target of all the assistance systems is to create a “Road to Accident-free
Driving” [3]
To have all the assistance systems is one thing but to
create a car where no driver is needed anymore a lot more is needed. Another step
to get closer is the introduction of communication between vehicles,
infrastructure and service providers. There are already connection systems
developed:
- Car-to-Car/Vehicle-to-Vehicle: networking between cars themselves; e.g. warnings regarding Aquaplaning, traffic jams… Data transfer is supported by sensors a technique based on optical and acoustic signals. The main-advantage of this technique is that cars on one hand share information and on the other hand get information in real-time.
- Car-to-X (=many)-connection: target is the connection between infrastructure, traffic facilities and services. This concept is getting more features all the time, so that car-to-x-connection will become car-to-x-communication. This means that all the facilities are not only connected, they even communicate with each other.
Targets of car-to-x technology is to make driving more environmental friendly,
saver and more comfortable: "Mit schlauen Anwendungen können wir das
Autofahren dann zu einem umweltfreundlicheren, rundum sichereren und
komfortableren Erlebnis machen", Helmut Matschi (Member of the Board at
Continental) says in an interview with „Spiegel Online“ [4]
All the connections and communication in and between
cars and infrastructure opens the way to self-driving cars. Some cars already allow
the driver to remove the hands from the steering wheel for around 30 seconds,
up to a speed of 30km/h especially in traffic jams this is useful – to follow
vehicles in tailbacks. Actually it is possible for cars to drive larger distances
autonomous but in Germany for example there is no law that definitely allows
autonomous driving. So the car manufacturing companies state that by the time
they are ready to produce autonomous cars in series the law will be ready as
well. The car industry’s target is to enter the market with these robotic cars
in 2020. [5]
Not only car manufacturers are working on autonomous
driving. The best known company that also wants to enter the market is Google
with its “Google Self-Driving Car Project.
What it is?
Technology
based on the target to create a completely driverless car. This car needs a lot
of sensors and technique to ensure the connectivity in the car and the
communication between the car and other vehicles or infrastructure, like
mentioned at Car-to-X communication.
 |
| Google Self-Driving Car |
“The cars use a mixture of 3D laser-mapping, GPS, and radar to analyze and interpret their surroundings”[7]. With the radar the car is able to see through things. This can be an advantage as well as a disadvantage. Sometimes the radar analyses too much, so that it detects things that aren’t already in the area where they could cause trouble. [8]
Which are the
risks of driverless cars?
In the vision of driverless cars, there is one point
that really can create dangerous situations for all the car drivers. If a
connected car is attacked by hackers there are several issues that will cause
problems:
- data privacy
- accidents
- spying code words from other cars
- influencing the functionality of connected cars
- manipulating GPS
- and so on
I don’t like the idea of self-driving cars. For me it
would never be an option because I love riding a car on my own so much and
would never give up. Maybe autonomous driving cars are an option for people
that cannot ride a car on their own, but to be honest, for me it just sounds
creepy, if I think of cars moving on their own – without any influence of the
passengers.
[1] Daimler Global Media Site [Internet]. Mercedes-Benz Autonomes Fahren Vernetzte Sensorik des Forschungsfahrzeugs S 500 INTELLIGENT DRIVE Hochautomatisiertes Fahren auf Basis von zusätzlichen seriennahen Sensoren; 2014 November 17. Available from: http://media.daimler.com/dcmedia/0-921-614216-49-702589-1-0-0-0-0-1-12759-614216-0-0-0-31-0-0-0.html
[2] YouTube [Internet]. Allegroracing: How ABS
(Anti-Lock Brakes) work; 2011 September 14. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwwXukJaTlM
[3] Daimler AG [Germany]. Stuttgart. Available from: http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-1210212-1-1538192-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html
[4] Spiegel online [Internet]. Germany: Car-to-X-Kommunikation:
Autoindustrie einigt sich auf Technik-Standard; 2012 November 08. Available from: http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/car-to-x-kommunikation-autoindustrie-einigt-sich-auf-technik-standard-a-866125.html
(only available in German language)
[5] Zeit online, dpa, Reuters, rav [Internet]. Germany: Dobrindt entwickelt Regeln für Roboterautos; 2015 February 01. Available from: http://www.zeit.de/mobilitaet/2015-02/alexander-dobrindt-selbstfahrende-autos-strassenverkehr
[6] Google
[Internet]. USA: Google Self-Driving Car; Available from: https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/
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