Robotic cars set to roll out in 2020

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 

Nissan Motor Company recently took the automobile industry by surprise when it promised to deliver ‘autonomous cars’ in less than seven years from now.

The Nissan Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Carlos Ghosn, announced that the company would be selling the specially built vehicles to the general public by 2020.

An autonomous car, according to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, refers to a robotic car, or a self-driving vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car.

Experts say a robotic vehicle is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. It does this with such techniques as radar, lidar, Global Positioning System and computer vision.

The idea of having autonomous vehicles may sound unrealistic but experts say it is feasible.

Autonomous cars have at least been in the public consciousness for ages. If not around the corner, they were around the corner of the horizon, according an online auto reviewer, Car and driver.

It was as if other automobile manufacturers were waiting for the Nissan’s announcement. Mercedes Benz, General Motors, BMW, Google and several other firms have confirmed working on similar efforts. Many have settled for 2020 for the roll out.

For instance, Mercedes has just showcased its fully autonomous S-Class, promising the production version in 2020.

A report on Sunday by digitaltrends.com indicated that while the newly redesigned 2014 S-Class had some autonomous capabilities, mostly useful for driving in stop-and-go traffic, Mercedes has also built a fully autonomous prototype, the 2020 version, which would drive itself.

It reported that last month, the S500 Intelligent Drive went on a 60-mile road trip in Germany.

The S500 Intelligent Drive was said to have conquered traffic, stoplights, roundabouts, and other driving obstacles without crashing once, according to Mercedes. However, an engineer seated behind the wheel did have to take control in a few instances.

With its array of cameras, sensors, and radar, the 2014 S-Class already had the makings of an autonomous car; it could gather enough data about its environment to support an autopilot.

The S500 Intelligent Drive uses this data, along with a digital map, to determine where it can go. The map was developed by Nokia, and includes important details like the number and direction of lanes, position of traffic lights, and road signs.

The Japanese auto giant, Toyota Motor Corporation, is not left out of the autonomous car passion. It had unveiled the prototype in January but said it would keep drivers in control.

The firm said at a press conference in Las Vegas that the vehicle was based on a Lexus LS and used for research at the Toyota Research Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The car carries forward-looking and side-facing millimeter-wave radar sensors, as well as a 360-degree laser scanner that collects three-dimensional data on anything nearby.

But the product coming from the General Motors is a bit different. Rather than push for a fully autonomous car, it is working on a semi-autonomous Super Cruise.

Experts recalled that the product, which was first tested in April 2012, would be eventually used on some Cadillacs before trickling down to the rest of the General Motors’ family.

The system is still in development, according to a GM’s director, John Capp.

Another online report on the issue by Autoblog notes the worry in some quarters that semi-autonomous cars will lead to drivers treating the cars as fully autonomous (a seriously dangerous situation).

It quotes a GM engineer, Charles Green, as saying, “Super Cruise will be designed in a way to keep your visual attention on the road ahead. The ‘how’ is something that will become more apparent as we show Super Cruise in its later versions.”

Opinions are divided on the desirability of autonomous cars in Africa. The views are similar to those from experts and other concerned people in other parts of the world.

A technical officer in the Department of Violence and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organisation, Tami Toroyan, raises the fears that it may increase the accident rate.

Already, he said, “The African region has two per cent of the world’s registered vehicles but a disproportionate 16 per cent of the world’s road traffic deaths.”

A commentator, Joe Dokes, in a response, says, the development can reduce accidents.

He says, “There are a number of reasons for the high death toll in Africa, few of which would be mitigated by autonomous cars.”

He also identifies the lack of clear and consistent enforcement of traffic laws as a major hindrance.

“One of the main reasons that Google cars can safely navigate in the US and Europe is that the computer can assume the behaviour of other cars on the road,” he says.

Experts, however, note that before the world is ready for autonomous vehicles, the industry and policy makers should expect professional drivers to protest the expected loss of jobs. The legal issues surrounding such project will have to be fully addressed, they add.