Auto technology defined
With the advent of driver assist and driver warning systems, pairings with technologies not previously associated with automobiles are emerging. The tech elements of those once uncommon systems will be ever more integrated with the development of self-driving vehicles.
For example, cameras, besides becoming a big part of our phones, are taking positions in our automobiles. First appearing as an aid to visibility while backing up, they now play a vital role in adaptive cruise control and other warning systems. Their use and development will grow with the emergence of autonomous vehicles.
Basically, cameras will replace the human eye for driverless cars. Jeremy Carlson, automotive technology analyst at HIS Markit, said, “There is a difference between detection and recognition.” Cameras can better recognize objects than radar can, for instance. He added, “The one thing a camera is good at is recognizing and interpreting that image. It can say if an object is a tree, car, stop sign, pedestrian, whatever.”
Cameras, however, cannot measure distance. Radar, once identified more with boats and airplanes, can take on the measuring task for autos. Radar accomplishes an accurate measure of distance and determines an object’s positioning relative to a vehicle via radio waves.
Radar has proved its worth in driver assist systems such as blind spot detection, and will pay a vital role when combined with technologies like cameras and lidar.
Lidar works very similar to radar, but employs pulses of light as opposed to radio waves. It is also used to determine the distance of objects to vehicles. More expensive than radar systems, lidar can also help “build” a picture of an item by coupling its abilities with data gained from cameras and radar.
There will be a host of technological principles assigned to future automobiles. Ultrasound, vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to grid (V2G) communications will also be a part of automotive future. Those elements are all essential in developing a safe and accurate image of “the road ahead” for autonomous operation.
Painting a detailed picture of the roadway to be travelled is essential for safe vehicle operation if human drivers are expected to relinquish control of their cars and trucks.
The technology now being adapted to passenger vehicles is giving us blind spot detection, lane departure warning, emergency autonomous braking, automatic parallel parking and much more. According to the fury of current development, those advancements will help lead to safe operation of self-driving automobiles. A major factor driving that development is the predicted improvement in safety of autonomous operation when compared to human control.
While the new technology has shown to be fallible, the record of human operation of cars and trucks is judged to be even more error-prone.
On another topic, development of artificial intelligence (AI) will be a crucial element of making the machines more “trustworthy” and dependably safe in more situations more of the time. Advanced AI will ever-evolve to make proper judgments of the input coming from camera systems paired with radar and lidar along with other emerging automotive technologies.
The role of advanced AI will be to make decisions about age-old hazards like a child chasing a ball into the street, recognizing weather changes, adapting to changing road conditions, et cetera. Safety is the main element driving the research and development of self-driving cars; let’s hope those efforts pay off in the real world.
Readers may contact Bill Love via e-mail at precisiondriving@spokesman.com.
