Self-Driving Cars… They’re Heading This Way!

Author: zohil
Published: June 04, 2013 at 6:31 am

It’s official, the future is here. Or at least it’s reverse parallel parking just around the corner. Autonomous cars, traditionally the stuff of science fiction, may be on the horizon at last. But the development of intelligent and autonomously responsive cars isn’t about finding a way to put your feet up and read the paper while you cruise into work; the technology is mostly aimed at improving car safety. The most ambitious car companies even hope that autonomous cars could spell the end of road traffic deaths and injuries.

So where are we on the road to robot cars? Well, they’ve not quite hit the streets for regular Joes yet, but one of the highlights in the race to build self-driving cars is Google’s autonomous vehicle technology, which they hope to complete within the next few years. Google’s self-driving car uses cameras and sensors to locate other cars and obstacles, and navigates using downloaded maps that were created specifically for the project.

Audi and Volvo have also both revealed that they are working on autonomous cars, with Volvo’s first attempt set for release in 2014 – although with a maximum speed of 31mph this car is clearly still an early iteration of the technology. Audi are actively developing cars with the capacity for self-parking, using sensors to find obstacles and maneuver into parking spaces.

As close as Google and other companies may be to perfecting the technology, there are massive legal and insurance hurdles to get past before you can expect to get your hands on a self-driving car of your own. Right now there is no chance of getting an autonomous car insured (you can try if you like) as it is unprecedented on our roads and there is a lot to figure out in terms of potential lawsuits.

However, although we might be some way away from having our own fully self-driving cars, it’s becoming fairly common to see some pretty advanced features on new high end cars. For example, cruise control (which allows you to take your foot off the accelerator when you’re doing high speeds on the motorway) now has extended capabilities in some cars to actually adapt a car’s speed autonomously to maintain a safe stopping distance from cars in front. Cars with adaptive cruise control have radars housed in the front grill of the car which allow it to respond automatically to the behavior of other cars on the road.

Other technologies include collision avoidance systems which use various radars and sensors to detect obstacles and respond accordingly without manual action from the driver. This isn’t about encouraging complacency though; it could be the solution to problems like blind spots – ensuring that brakes are applied or speed increased as necessary when there are dangers the driver couldn’t have seen. These systems can even tighten seatbelts, apply full braking or move head rests (as a protection against whiplash) when the sensors detect a collision risk.

With several car companies planning to roll out self-driving cars in the next few years there will certainly be work going on behind the scenes to develop insurance and legal recourse to deal with this new age of motoring. So keep your eyes peeled for developments… we might not be too far away from the dream car of the future.