THE DRIVER-LESS CAR, THE FUTURE OF MOTORING?

How do driverless cars work?


Driverless cars used to be seem a fantasy from the futuristic realm of science fiction, today however it is coming to a road near you, with giant strides from the likes of Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Google and Audi amongst other companies that have made considerable advancement in driverless car technology.

The advantages of driverless cars are quite numerous, From reducing the number of car accidents on the road to improved pollution emitted into the environment by vehicles.

Human mistakes and carelessness while driving is the most common cause of road accidents, and with the recent influx of sophisticated gadgets in today modern cars, drivers get more easily distracted. But if drivers aren't going to concentrate on the road, who is?

If technology continues on its current course, your car will do the concentrating for you. Automakers are developing complex systems that allow cars to drive themselves. They're also furthering existing technologies such as self-parking and pre-safe systems.

So how do driverless cars work?


A self-driving car is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. In other to complete this task, each vehicle is equipped with state of the art GPS unit, an inertial navigation system, and a range of sensors including laser rangefinders, radar, and video.

The vehicle uses positional information from the GPS and inertial navigation system to localize itself and sensor data to refine its position estimate as well as to build a three- dimensional image of its environment.

Most self-driving cars control systems implement a deliberative architecture i. e they are capable of making intelligent decisions by
1. maintaining an internal map of their world and

2. using that map to navigate an optimal path to their destination avoiding obstacles (e.g. road structures, pedestrians and other vehicles) from a set of possible paths. Once the vehicle determines the best path to take, the decision is dissected into commands, which are fed to the vehicle’s actuators. These actuators control the vehicle’s steering, braking and throttle.
This process of localization, mapping, obstacle avoidance and path planning is repeated multiple times each second on powerful on- board processors until the vehicle reaches its destination!

There are several systems that work in conjunction with each other to control a driverless car.

1. Radar sensors dotted around the car monitor the position of vehicles nearby. With two
sensors in the front bumper, and two in the rear, the radar units allow the car to avoid impact by
sending a signal to the on-board processor to apply the brakes, or move out of the way when
applicable.

2. Video cameras detect traffic lights, read road signs and keep track of other vehicles, while also looking out for pedestrians and other obstacles.

3.LIDAR sensors help to detect the edges of roads and identify lane markings by bouncing pulses of light off the car’s surroundings. The Google Car uses a Velodyne 64-beam laser in order to give the on-board processor a 360-degree view by mounting the LIDAR unit to the top of the car (for unobstructed viewing) and allowing it to rotate on a custom-built base.

4. Ultrasonic sensors in the wheels can detect the position of curbs and other vehicles when
parking.


5. A central computer analyses all of the data from the various sensors to manipulate the steering, acceleration and braking. The software processes all of the data in real- time as well as modeling behavioral dynamics of other drivers, pedestrians, and objects around you. While some data is hard-coded into the car, such as stopping at red lights, other responses are learned based on previous driving experiences. Every mile driven on each car is logged, and this data is processed in an attempt to find solutions to every applicable situation.

6. Positioning A car with no steering wheel, no brakes and no accelerator would be essentially useless without advanced positioning systems to track its course and plot an appropriate route to its destination. For this challenge, Google uses its own map system, as well as GPS satellites, inertial measurement units, and a wheel encoder to determine actual speed. The system works alongside the on-board cameras to process real-world information as well as GPS data, and driving speed to accurately determine the precise position of each vehicle, down to a few centimetres all while making smart corrections for things like traffic, road construction, and accidents.


The driverless car future is increasingly become a reality. Of course it is still far from perfection and is ridden with its own challenges. Manufacturers have made significant advancements towards making self-driving cars a reality; however, there remain a number of technological hurdles that manufacturers must overcome before self- driving vehicles are safe enough for road use.
GPS can be unreliable, computer vision systems have limitations to understanding road scenes, and variable weather conditions can adversely affect the ability of on-board processors to adequately identify or track moving objects. Self-driving vehicles have also yet to demonstrate the same capability as human drivers in understanding and navigating unstructured environments such as construction zones and accident areas.
The transition from human-operated vehicles to fully self-driving cars will be gradual, with vehicles at first performing only a subset of driving tasks such as parking and driving in stop-and-go traffic autonomously. As the technology gets better, more driving tasks can be reliably outsourced to the vehicle.


http://www.everydaycarz.com.ng/2016/12/the-driver-less-car-future-of-motoring.html?m=1

everydaycarz.com.ng

THE DRIVER-LESS CAR, THE FUTURE OF MOTORING?

How do driverless cars work?


Driverless cars used to be seem a fantasy from the futuristic realm of science fiction, today however it is coming to a road near you, with giant strides from the likes of Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Google and Audi amongst other companies that have made considerable advancement in driverless car technology.

The advantages of driverless cars are quite numerous, From reducing the number of car accidents on the road to improved pollution emitted into the environment by vehicles.

Human mistakes and carelessness while driving is the most common cause of road accidents, and with the recent influx of sophisticated gadgets in today modern cars, drivers get more easily distracted. But if drivers aren't going to concentrate on the road, who is?

If technology continues on its current course, your car will do the concentrating for you. Automakers are developing complex systems that allow cars to drive themselves. They're also furthering existing technologies such as self-parking and pre-safe systems.

So how do driverless cars work?


A self-driving car is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. In other to complete this task, each vehicle is equipped with state of the art GPS unit, an inertial navigation system, and a range of sensors including laser rangefinders, radar, and video.

The vehicle uses positional information from the GPS and inertial navigation system to localize itself and sensor data to refine its position estimate as well as to build a three- dimensional image of its environment.

Most self-driving cars control systems implement a deliberative architecture i. e they are capable of making intelligent decisions by


1. maintaining an internal map of their world and

2. using that map to navigate an optimal path to their destination avoiding obstacles (e.g. road structures, pedestrians and other vehicles) from a set of possible paths. Once the vehicle determines the best path to take, the decision is dissected into commands, which are fed to the vehicle’s actuators. These actuators control the vehicle’s steering, braking and throttle.
This process of localization, mapping, obstacle avoidance and path planning is repeated multiple times each second on powerful on- board processors until the vehicle reaches its destination!

There are several systems that work in conjunction with each other to control a driverless car.

1. Radar sensors dotted around the car monitor the position of vehicles nearby. With two
sensors in the front bumper, and two in the rear, the radar units allow the car to avoid impact by
sending a signal to the on-board processor to apply the brakes, or move out of the way when
applicable.

2. Video cameras detect traffic lights, read road signs and keep track of other vehicles, while also looking out for pedestrians and other obstacles.

3.LIDAR sensors help to detect the edges of roads and identify lane markings by bouncing pulses of light off the car’s surroundings. The Google Car uses a Velodyne 64-beam laser in order to give the on-board processor a 360-degree view by mounting the LIDAR unit to the top of the car (for unobstructed viewing) and allowing it to rotate on a custom-built base.

4. Ultrasonic sensors in the wheels can detect the position of curbs and other vehicles when
parking.


5. A central computer analyses all of the data from the various sensors to manipulate the steering, acceleration and braking. The software processes all of the data in real- time as well as modeling behavioral dynamics of other drivers, pedestrians, and objects around you. While some data is hard-coded into the car, such as stopping at red lights, other responses are learned based on previous driving experiences. Every mile driven on each car is logged, and this data is processed in an attempt to find solutions to every applicable situation.

6. Positioning A car with no steering wheel, no brakes and no accelerator would be essentially useless without advanced positioning systems to track its course and plot an appropriate route to its destination. For this challenge, Google uses its own map system, as well as GPS satellites, inertial measurement units, and a wheel encoder to determine actual speed. The system works alongside the on-board cameras to process real-world information as well as GPS data, and driving speed to accurately determine the precise position of each vehicle, down to a few centimetres all while making smart corrections for things like traffic, road construction, and accidents.


The driverless car future is increasingly become a reality. Of course it is still far from perfection and is ridden with its own challenges. Manufacturers have made significant advancements towards making self-driving cars a reality; however, there remain a number of technological hurdles that manufacturers must overcome before self- driving vehicles are safe enough for road use.
GPS can be unreliable, computer vision systems have limitations to understanding road scenes, and variable weather conditions can adversely affect the ability of on-board processors to adequately identify or track moving objects. Self-driving vehicles have also yet to demonstrate the same capability as human drivers in understanding and navigating unstructured environments such as construction zones and accident areas.
The transition from human-operated vehicles to fully self-driving cars will be gradual, with vehicles at first performing only a subset of driving tasks such as parking and driving in stop-and-go traffic autonomously. As the technology gets better, more driving tasks can be reliably outsourced to the vehicle.


http://www.everydaycarz.com.ng/2016/12/the-driver-less-car-future-of-motoring.html?m=1

everydaycarz.com.ng[/quote]