Cars That Drive Themselves | Guide | Everything You Need to Know About a Car That Drives Itself

The Chauffeur of the Future: A Car That Drives Itself

Not too long ago, one needed to turn on Saturday morning cartoons to find a peaceful, calm commute to work. Usually the main character hopped into the driver’s seat of a vehicle and pulled out the morning paper.

No worries about the commute or traffic. Just a stress-free trip to work.

Why? Because the cartoon’s protagonist, and all the other animated commuters, had cars that could drive themselves.

Seemed like the stuff of science fiction, but now, major car manufacturers can produce cars that drive themselves almost entirely free from a driver’s input.

Don’t get too excited about a car that drives itself for now, though; it still won’t let you read the paper while in the driver’s seat. At least not yet.

We’re living in an in-between era where many of the things that seemed too technologically advanced a decade ago, such as cars that drive themselves, have begun developing before our eyes.

Not fully functional but capable of actually roaming among us, the car that drives itself remains stuck somewhere between now and the future.

A car that drives itself, or a fully autonomous vehicle that can independently function on current roads and highways, does not exist. But it’s on its way. And, some would say, well ahead of schedule.

But as with any new and emerging technology, cars that drive themselves present a few dilemmas:

Can a car that drives itself meet current safety standards?
How far along is the technology in current cars that drive themselves?
If I see a car that can drive itself rolling down the street, should I panic?
When can I stop having to worry about traffic, long commutes, other drivers… and driving overall? I want to be chauffeured!

All fair questions, which we hope to answer with this guide on cars that can drive themselves.

We’ll explore the current state of cars that drive themselves and where the technology needs to go before it’s safe and fully street ready.

Categorizing Cars That Can Drive Themselves

You’re walking down the sidewalk and an empty car rolls by. Seems like a prank from some hidden camera show. But it will one day be witnessed by pedestrians and drivers alike.

Yes, a car that drives itself will roll past you one day. Don’t worry; it’ll know what it’s doing.

While a fully autonomous, or “robot car,” has yet to hit the market, many current vehicles have features which put the car in control over the driver. It’s a car that drives itself, but only sometimes.

Image Source: Pixabay

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released its own five-level classification of cars that drive themselves, meant to help differentiate what different autonomous vehicles are capable of. They are:

Level 0: The driver has full control of the vehicle at all times.

Level 1: The driver has control of nearly all functions except one, such as steering, which is done by the car.

Level 2: The car controls more than one system, allowing the driver to have his foot off the pedal and steering wheel — while remaining ready to intervene. (Most of the current cars that drive themselves are at this level.)

Level 3: This level of autonomy means the car drives itself while the driver kicks back with no need for constant vigilance — but still ready to intervene.

Level 4: This is the definition of a car that can drive itself — fully autonomous with minimal input from the driver.

Level 5: The full autonomy reaches a point where a car that drives itself is the same as, or better than, a human.

Many of the sensors and cameras which help cars that can drive themselves are also in higher-end luxury vehicles. The companies tout these as safety enhancements that allow a car to intervene when it senses hazardous conditions ahead.

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How Cars That Drive Themselves Work

The most complex part of any cars that drive themselves? Their brains.

As the car drives itself, it’s computing thousands of inputs per second coming from various sensors placed on the car. A car that drives itself must be able to quickly differentiate between a pedestrian, bike, truck, or other car, not to mention the many obstructions which suddenly arise.

Put together, the system, sometimes called SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping), creates an accurate picture of the environs as the car drives itself.

To create this picture, a car that drives itself uses rudimentary sensors to determine its position on the road. A broader GPS signal tells it where it is on the planet.

Cars that can drive themselves typically use Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), essentially a rotating laser mounted to the hood of a car like a police siren in a 1970s movie. This device constantly scans conditions as the car that drives itself makes quick adjustments.

A car that drives itself also uses classic radar to gauge the distance between itself and other cars. This, along with gyroscopes, cameras, and accelerometers, give the car’s inboard computer a full 3D image of its surroundings.

Predecessors to the car that drives itself may already be built into your vehicle:

Adaptive cruise control, which varies the cruising speed of your car to match the pace of traffic using lasers, light and range sensors, as well as radar.

Self-park systems, which have already become somewhat dated, are one of the oldest ancestors to what will one day be a car that drives itself.

Collision avoidance systems also incorporate the laser, radar, and light sensors to detect an upcoming hazard, deploying the brakes early or helping the driver execute evasive maneuvers.

Lane departure systems may also be the parent to a major chunk of driverless technology: keeping your car in its lane. Sensors help correct a car that may be drifting off the road, most likely due to a sleepy driver.

Who Will Manufacture a Car That Drives Itself?

Cars that can drive themselves, and their larger siblings, hit the streets big in 2016, after a car that drives itself reportedly made it across the continental U.S. in 2015.

Image Source: Google

Everyone’s favorite search engine has been taking a stab at being the first to make an autonomous vehicle. You’ve likely seen photos in which a cute Google car drives itself.

The tech giant has teamed up with recruits from Stanford University. The sight of as Google car that drives itself has become common in the tech-happy parts of California.

The company hopes to create, essentially, a futuristic lounge on wheels. Compact on the outside but sprawling on the inside, a Google car drives itself. Literally — there will be no driver’s seat.

In fact, the Google car drives itself as soon as you hit the “GO” button. You press “STOP” after reaching your destination. Those are the car’s controls, in their entirety.

Other major manufacturers, including Ford, General Motors, Daimler (Mercedes), and nearly every major company you can name are all in a race to build a car that drives itself.

The company has also tested its driverless technology in Toyotas and Lexuses, which have been cruising around California for almost five years.

Mercedes and Audi just recently announced the companies will incorporate Artificial Intelligence into their vehicles, allowing cars to become self-taught drivers. The German car giants aren’t alone.

Toyota, for a time the world’s largest car manufacturer, has reportedly allotted $1 billion for AI research in the hopes of creating cars that drive themselves. The company first hopes artificial intelligence will improve its driver assist technology, before being fully incorporated into a car that can drive itself.

Not Only Cars That Drive Themselves

It’s not just personal transport, but also public. Bus manufacturers are hoping to insert driverless technology into their vehicles.

The popular ride-sharing app Uber is also testing cars that drive themselves in Pittsburgh. The program may revolutionize the taxi industry once again, eliminating the need for drivers altogether.

Just last year, several tractor-trailers hit the highways while a professional driver simply sat at the wheel, tapping away at a tablet. The manufacturer, Freightliner, says the autonomous technology will help keep drivers rested and, as a result, safer.

The company, as well as another freight truck manufacturer, Volvo, claim tractor-trailers can form a column in highways, which increases efficiency and reduces traffic.

Many futurists and tech lovers believe bulkier vehicles which log many miles more than your average commute will benefit from autonomous technology first; that the nation’s highways will be filled with trucks delivering products and goods themselves.

The car that drives itself will only arrive well after the tractor-trailers and trucks have perfected the technology.

What Are Some Roadblocks Facing Cars That Can Drive Themselves?

A major deterrent to cars that drive themselves is the current patchwork of driver safety laws crossing the country. Many states have outlawed distracted driving — paying attention to something other than the road while at the wheel.

These are most commonly applied as “No texting while driving” laws, though the rules clearly become problematic with a car that drives itself.

Other states, such as New York, have regulations requiring drivers to have at least one hand on the wheel. Does the digital hand of a car that can drive itself count?

A car that drives itself, and its “driver” must follow those laws. For now.

Insurers will also have a hard time with cars that drive themselves. What exactly is the company insuring, and who is at fault when a car that drives itself has an accident?

Cars that can drive themselves also present a new form of automotive safety hazard: vehicles prone to hacking. As the “internet of things” begins forming, many worry hackers will overtake the controls of autonomous objects — include cars that drive themselves.

The worst case scenario includes a large-scale hacking of cars that drive themselves, putting passengers and pedestrians at the mercy of hackers who may not have the best intentions.

Conclusion

Many experts believe a fully operational grid of cars that can drive themselves is decades away — some predict 2030, others even later. You will have to continue driving yourself to work for the time being.

But the future looks bright. As more manufacturers try to perfect cars that drive themselves, the industry will begin establishing safety standards and conventions.

Government regulations will also likely catch up, creating the legal wiggle room necessary to own and operate a car that can drive itself.

Besides, you can already enjoy some of the features of a car that drives itself. Volvo has also been incorporating piecemeal autonomy features in its vehicles for years now, and other manufacturers are catching up.

Also, Tesla’s Model S has a cruise control-like feature called “Autopilot,” which uses various sensors to guide the car down the road.

Press the button and — amazingly — the car drives itself. The feature has had some early hiccups, though, and is still considered a “public beta” requiring more polish.

But as the technology evolves and companies perfect the car that drives itself, some day autonomous vehicles may consistently become safer than cars manned by humans. Should we then ban driving, removing steering wheels and pedals altogether? No more driver’s licenses necessary?

Given the rate with which cars that drive themselves are evolving, we may know the answer to that question sooner than expected.

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