DRIVERLESS CAR: The car of the future

-By: Minty Bedi

BCA (Morning) 2nd year
Drivability of a vehicle means the smooth delivery of power, as demanded by the driver.
Driving in traffic is more than just knowing how to operate the mechanisms which control
the vehicle; it requires knowing how to apply the rules of the road (which govern safe and
efficient sharing with other users). An effective driver also has an intuitive understanding of
the basics of vehicle handling and can drive responsibly. A driver must have physical skills
to be able to control direction, acceleration, and deceleration. All the above sounds like a
big and complex task in this modern world. So to reduce these complexities the technology
is working on Driverless car. Now as the name suggests a driverless car (sometimes
called a self-driving car, an automated car or an autonomous vehicle) is a
robotic vehicle that is designed to travel between destinations without a human operator.
Driver error is the most common cause of Traffic Accidents are cell phones in Car,
entertainment system, more traffic and more complicated road systems making it more
frequent. By this improving technology car will do the concentrating us. It is a vehicle that
can drive itself from one point to another without assistance from a driver; in other words,
with an autopilot system
How would this car work? How will the car detect the traffic lights? There are hundreds of
questions that would arise and Google has the answer with its own driverless car. A sensor
actinometer is used to detect the intensity of radiation. Light of different colors will radiate
different -2-intensity of radiation which will be detected by the sensor if the detected
intensity is of red color or yellow color then controller will send a command to stop the
vehicle .The command will be followed by robot(to convert the computer command into
mechanical input). This was about the traffic lights now lets see the basic technologies
involved in making this possible. Anti-lock brakes System (ABS) generally offers
improved vehicle control and decreases stopping distances on dry and slippery surfaces for
many drivers. ABS consists of Speed sensors, Valves, Pump and Controller. Automatic
Braking system senses an imminent distance with another vehicle or a velocity related
danger responds by either pre-charging the brakes or by applying the brakes to slow the
vehicle without any driver input. The Detection is done by radar, video, infrared, ultrasonic,
GPS sensors. This automatic braking system is introduced by Toyota. Another technology
is Electronic Stability Control (ESC) a computerized technology that improves vehicle's
stability by detecting and minimizing skids. It automatically applies the brakes and helps to
minimize a loss of control. Basically, ESC compares the driver's intended direction to the
vehicle's actual direction. Cruise control keeps the car at a constant speed by taking over
the throttle of the car. It also maintain a set distance between it and the car in front of it. It
uses either a radar setup allowing the vehicle to slow when approaching another vehicle
and accelerate again to the preset speed when traffic allows. Automotive Night Vision
(ANV) increases a vehicle driver's perception and seeing distance in darkness or poor
weather beyond the reach of the vehicle's headlights. There are various cars at present
using the ANV technology by Mercedes ,Toyota ,etc. Adaptive Highbeam automatically

and continuously adapts the headlamp range to the distance of vehicles ahead or which
are oncoming. The range of the beam can vary between 65 and 300 meters, depending on
traffic conditions. Self-parking System uses sensors all around the car to guide it into a
parallel parking space. The driver has to find a parking space, position the car next to it,
and use the in-cabin navigation screen to tell the car where it should go. The parking space
needs to be 6 feet (1.8 meters) longer than the car. Basically this car is a collection of all
the advanced technologies being used in present luxury cars. Backup camera & parking
sensors, LIDAR (light detection and ranging radar) and two forward facing cameras with 45
and 90 degree fields of view are the few more technologies used in driverless cars.
Driverless cars would help in managing traffic flow by providing quick reaction time to avoid
accidents.Increasing roadway capacity by reducing the distances between cars. The
current location of vehicle can be determined using GPS. But the technology can not only
benefit us, in some way or the other it affects us and so these cars would do. The hackers
can change the route of the car. In case of failure of main sensor and backup sensors the
vehicle can create a chance of accident. The most appropriate and valid disadvantage is
the expensive software.
Mercedes-Benz showcased its "Luxury in Motion" F 015 self-driving car, aimed at
revolutionizing the concept of autonomous driving, at a nonoperational naval base in
Alameda, California. The company first unveiled its latest self-driving concept car in
January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Although the vehicle, specially
designed for the "smart cities" of 2030, won't be released anytime soon, other companies'
self-driving vehicles could be on the road in as many as 30 U.S. cities by the end of 2016,
according to consulting firm Comet. It plans pilot programs for self-driving vehicles in the
coming months in Seattle as well as at sites in Florida and North Carolina. Google
announced earlier this year that its self-driving car will be ready by 2020. The company said
it is working with some of the world's top automakers, including General Motors, Ford,
Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen. Unlike Googles self-driving car prototype, the MercedesBenz F 015 also includes a steering wheel.