As we look to the future and know that cars will eventually be able to drive themselves, the actual application of this quality isn’t nearly as simple as turning over technology to machines as the humans did in the movie Wall-E. Hopefully, we don’t ever get to the point of being that dependent upon machines but the future of seeing cars drive themselves is being brought to us as a romantic feeling of being cared for on our way to and from work every day in order to have the comfort and relaxation we want. Before this can happen, there are a number of questions that will have to be answered.
When does the car take over?
During this transition to the use of self-driving cars, we will have to navigate the semiautonomous world first. The systems to make fully autonomous driving a reality will take a long time to put into place and may even cause us to need to have a variety of changes built into roads and within the infrastructure of a city and throughout the country. During this changing world you will have cars that can do some of the driving for you when you want it to, but knowing when you can let go will certainly be a concern to start with.
How soon do we expect to have this technology available?
Some cars already have enough systems installed in them to make them extremely close to being autonomous. The challenge is not only getting these cars in more driveways but also in making sure the systems can’t fail. It’s easy to blame the AutoPilot system of Tesla for some of the accidents that have happened in the Model S over the past couple years, but the reality is, this system wasn’t built to allow a driver to completely forget why they are in the left front seat.
Will your next car drive itself?
Probably not, your next car is most likely to have more standard items that bring you closer to having a semi-autonomous driving experience, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to have a car that can fully drive itself. There are still many other vehicles on the road that will not have these systems in place, which means you may have a car that can handle the drive to wherever you need to go without your inputs, but you still need to pay attention to the road.
How will the car see the road?
Right now there is not one single system in place and most of the automakers are working on a variety of ways for their cars to see the road. Some car companies have partnered with technology companies in order to help create these systems. In the most basic sense, the cars will see the road using a combination of cameras, LIDAR systems, RADAR system and GPS to make the right decisions for the driving that needs to be done. Because the road can always be unpredictable, automakers continue to test and work toward creating the right way to have this ride.
Will autonomous cars be better drivers?
Absolutely, these cars are going to be able to respond to the information and inputs much faster than what we can when on the road. The computerization of all systems will be able to respond and react much faster than any human can. As we see more Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) systems being added to the mix we’ll have information to allow cars to talk to each other and offer real-time information regarding what’s ahead on the road.
What is the legal aspect of autonomous driving?
Right now vehicles that can drive themselves are being tested in a number of places and in most cases, they have to be piloted by a human driver behind the wheel during testing. As we move toward cars that can drive themselves being offered on the market for the future, we will see more legislation offered in order to figure out where the blame of an accident should be and whether or not these cars will be offered and legalized across the nation for the driving that we want to experience on the road.
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