Let it Take the Wheel

Driveless cars have become a big part of our world within the past few years, along with most AI. What most people say is, “no I don’t want to drive a driveless car because I don’t trust it,” yes, they can malfunction but its not frequent, and there are somedays where us as drivers shouldn’t be driving due to being tired or other reasons and we get in accidents. Everything has a flaw sometimes, and with how advanced technology has become, we should put more trust in it. We have to be in the driver’s seat, paying attention anyway, so if something does malfunction, we can take over.

There are so many different things with driverless cars, that the technology in the car processes instantly and creates the car to be safe, “Google employs Velodyne’s rooftop Light Detection and Ranging system, which uses 64 lasers, spinning atupwards of 900 rpm, to generate a point cloud that gives the car a 360-degree view.”( Vanderbilt 3) This is the main technology in driverless cars, and the 3D mapping allows for the vehicle to accurately detect anything that could get in the way, like pedestrians, obstacles, and other vehicles that could be in the wrong spot. Another big factor of self-driving cars is the cameras, it allow the technology in the car to know where things are, and it allows the driver to know where the autopilot is taking them, “Windshield-mounted cameras recognize lane markings by spotting the contrast between the road surface and the boundary lines. If the vehicle leaves its lane unintentionally, brief vibrations of the steering wheel alert the driver.”( Vanderbilt 2) Some newer driverless cars have cameras on the exterior of the cars to allow us to see if there are any cars in our blind spots.

There still are some limitations with the driverless cars, which are all situational, but as our technology keeps progressing, “When Delphi sent an autonomous car 3,400 miles across the US in April 2015, engineers had to take control of the car only for a 50-mile stretch. The reason? Unpredictable urban conditions with unmarked lanes and heavy roadworks. In other words, an average city commute.”( Solon 3) It’s hard for the technology to know something that isn’t accounted for, the technology isn’t going to know exactly where repairs are taking place, but with the 3d scanning, that should all be fixed now. Another thing that people are worried about is hacking, and how hacking the main technological cars will be a problem and cause accidents. “As cars become more hi-tech, they become more vulnerable to hacking. With driverless vehicles, the extra computers, internet connectivity, and sensors increase the possible vulnerabilities. In a proof-of-concept attack, security researcher Jonathan Petit showed that lidar can be easily fooled into detecting a non-existent obstacle using a handheld laser pointer, which can force the car to slow down, stop or swerve” (Solon 3). This isn’t a common enough thing to be worried about because, yes some people will hack your car but it won’t happen often enough where you shouldn’t drive a car you enjoy because of someone hacking it. I would be more worried about people hacking them and stealing them than the misinterpretation of the road and causing an accident.

Driverless cars are being put to use because its showing what we can accomplish when we try to do something, they set their mind on making the driverless cars full work by itself and its making progress fast, “Volvo’s latest XC90 includes a raft of autonomous driving features, including lane assist, adaptive cruise control and a suite of automatic emergency systems that stop the car from pulling into oncoming traffic or from rear-ending cars,”( Gibbs 2) “Tesla’s Model S has an advanced cruise control feature called Autopilot, which uses cameras and radar to detect the car’s position in lane, the proximity of other cars and the speed limit. It can control the car’s speed and steering to keep it in the middle of the lane, reacting to other cars and changing lanes on command.”(Gibbs 2) Driverless cars haven’t been a hot topic for too long and they are making so much progress that sooner than later they will be completely driverless. A good number of people will switch to driverless cars because its electric and its healthier for the environment than gas and the more and more companies make them, the more gas cars will fade out.

“Tesla Model S electric car at Union Square, San Francisco” by mariordo59 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.