The technology involved is eye watering and pretty much beyond the grasp of ordinary humans, and is really rather boring, because most of us cannot comprehend it.
In this post I will try to explain things in terms I can just about understand.
Some of the technology is already in use.
Proximity sensors are already used to help with parallel parking on some vehicles, others have automatic braking, many have cruise control and if you add in the automated steering technology used for parallel parking, you have the bare bones of a self-driving car.
Driverless cars have eight sensors, the most unusual one being the rooftop "Lidar." This is a type of camera that uses laser beams to scan objects up to a range of 200 meters, building up a 3D image of all objects and therefore all hazards.
There is a camera directed through the front windscreen that looks for pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles, which can also read road signs, detects and understands traffic lights. There are also bumper height radar keeping track of vehicles in front and behind. This radar technology is also already in use in some cars.
Externally, the car has a rear-mounted aerial that receives geolocation information from GPS satellites, and an ultrasonic sensor on one of the rear wheels that monitors the car’s movements.
Internally, the car has altimeters, gyroscopes and a tachometer (a rev counter) to give finer measurements on the car’s position. These combine to give the car the highly accurate data needed to operate safely.
I will be doing some more revision in the next few days and try to figure out how these things actually get moving. As soon as I can make sense of it, I will pass it on in another post.
As always, be careful out there!
Warm Regards, John Lowe.
http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org
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