2. History
• The first actual
representation was
in 1977 at the
Tsukuba Mechanical
Engineering Lab in
Japan
- Got up to 30 km/h
by tracking white
street markers http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/east/melbo
urne/slides/fitzroy065567.htm
3. History Cont.
• 1980s DARPA-funded Autonomous Land Vehicle in U.S. achieved
first road following demonstration that used:
- laser (Environmental Research Institute of Michigan)
- computing vision (Carnegie Mellon University and SRI)
- autonomous robotic control (Carnegie Mellon and Martin
Marietta)
- Goes up to 30km/h
http://www.studentsreview.com/PA/CMU.html
4. History Cont.
• In 2000 three U.S.
Gov’t funded military
efforts known as Demo
I (Army), Demo II
(DARPA), and Demo III
(Army) are underway.
• Demo III demonstrated
the ability to drive on
off-road terrain and
avoid obstacles.
http://carriedaway.blogs.com/
5. History Cont.
• In 2010, VisLab ran VIAC
(VisLab Intercontinental
Autonomous Challenge)
- 13,000 km test run
- 4 driverless vans ended
the drive from Italy to
China by arriving at
Shanghai Expo on October
28
• In 2008, General Motors
said they would begin
testing driverless cars by
2015 and could be on the
road by 2018.
http://www.howgreenworks.com/driverless-cars-begin-
8000-mile-journey-from-italy-to-china/italy-driverless-
odyssey/
http://www.howgreenworks.com/page/90/
7. Paved Road Autonomous Vehicles
• Google Driverless Car
• Euro EUREKA
Prometheus Project
• VIAC Challenge
• DARPA Grand Challenge
• Argo Vehicle
• Stanford’s Racing Team’s
car
• Volkswagen Golf GTI
53+1
http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/jul/0
8/soon-a-car-that-drives-on-its-own.htm
http://www.speedace.info/darpa_defense_ad
vanced_research_robotic_vehicles.htm
8. Free Ranging Autonomous Vehicles
• DARPA Grand
Challenge
• European Robot
Trial
• Israeli Military-
Industrial Complex
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21625291/
9. Automated Highway System
• Efforts to construct special lanes with magnets
to allow vehicles to stay in the center of the
lane while communicating with other vehicles
http://www.accelerationwatch.com/articles/undergroundhighwaysystems.html
10. Free Ranging Grid
• Combination of
autonomous vehicles and a
supervisory central system
- The vehicle locates itself
using odometer readings,
recalibrating themselves
occasionally using a “maze”
of magnets embedding in
the environment, and GPS
-They avoid wrecks using
lasers and ultra sonic
sensors
-Only for commercial use.
http://www.gpsgazette.com/category/automotive-gps/
11. Sensorial-Informative
• Warn or inform drivers about events that
have passed unnoticed such as
- Lane Warning system
- Rear-view alarm- detect obstacles
behind
- Visibility aid for the driver to cover blind
spots and enhanced vision system
such as radar, wireless vehicle safety
communication, and night vision
- Infrastructure-based, driver warning/
information-giving systems such as
those developed by Japanese
government
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/BlindS
pot.htm
http://www.prom.no/store/index.php?main_page=product_i
nfo&cPath=202_3&products_id=705
12. Actuation- Corrective
• Modify driver’s instruction to
execute them in a more
effective way
- anti lock brakes
- traction control system
- four wheel drive
- electronic stability control
- dynamic steering response
http://www.nissan.com.my/vehicles/xtrail/xtra
il/safety/safety2.html
13. Systemic
• Automatic parking
• Following another car
• Distance control assistance
• Dead man’s switch
http://accessories.bmwusa.com/error.aspx
http://www.sae.org/mags/sve/ELECT/6892
14. Existing and Missing Technologies
• Understanding immediate environment
(Sensors)
Knowing where it is and where it wants to go
(Navigation)
• Finding its way in Traffic (Motion Planning)
Operating Mechanics of the vehicle
(Actuation)
15. Short Term Advantages
• Increasing roadway capacity by reducing
distance between cars
• Reduce congestion by controlling flow of
traffic
• Can do work or rest while driver
• No longer need to leave work to do errands
• Takes itself to gas station and to get
repaired/serviced
16. Long Term Advantages
• Longer commutes will be more tolerable.
• Cut down on commuter rail ridership
• Cut down on costs of bus service
• You can just click an app on you Smartphone to get a car to
you immediately
• Become a much cheaper way to live in the city without a
car
- like owning a car without worrying about parking
• Increase safety by reducing driver error
• Fewer mechanical problems and breakdowns.
• Decrease amount of import oil
• Reduce urban greenhouse gas emissions by 80%
17. Ethical Implications
• Not enough proper training on vehicles for
users
• One corporation may control all technology
and may not take ethical considerations
seriously
- Could create monopoly
18.
19. Bibliography
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdEygVOHE3E
• Forrest, Alex. "Autonomous Cars and Society." WPI. N.p., 01/05/2007.
Web. 2 Nov 2010. <http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-
project-043007-205701/unrestricted/IQPOVP06B1.pdf>.
• "Driverless Car." Wikipedia. N.p., 31/10/2010. Web. 2 Nov 2010.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_car>.
• Schmidhuber, J. "Robot Cars." idsia. N.p., 2005. Web. 2 Nov 2010.
<http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/robotcars.html>.
• Templeton, Brad. "Where Robot Cars Can Really Take Us."
Templetons.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov 2010.
<http://www.templetons.com/brad/robocars/>.
• Finn, Anthony. Developments and challenges for autonomous unmanned
vehicles : a compendium . 1st ed. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2010. 23-49.
Print.
• Smith, Mary. "Driverless Car Technology Through GM." Newsoxy 14 Nov
2010, Print.
