Cars drive themselves in a ghost city

The uninhabited city in Michigan, USA, allows self-driving cars to run at high speeds and experience many real-world situations.

According to Discovery News, MCity is a 130,000m ² city ​​located on the campus of the University of Michigan, USA. MCity has been developed by the university in conjunction with the state government to try new technologies that can change the automobile industry in the future. The design of the city allows to create situations where self-driving cars must handle in daily life in urban areas, such as the case of a child suddenly crossing the road.

MCity is equipped with traffic lights, street lights, crosswalks, bike lanes, loops and train tracks. The streets with shopfronts, bus stations, waiting chairs, mailboxes and trash bins give MCity the same appearance as a lively town. However, this place is not for people to live. The only things that work here are data collection devices like cameras, radars, ultrasound and laser devices.

Panoramic view of the ghost city from above.(Photo: University of Michigan).

Over the past year, MCity has served as a laboratory to test self-driving technology developed by companies, according to Jim Sayer, director of operations at the University of Michigan's Mobile Transformation Center. "They tested software and sensors as well as how the system responded in specific hypothetical situations , " AFP quoted Sayer.

Automakers and technology companies can run self-driving cars at speeds of 100 km / h regardless of the driving situation in the city, driving in the suburbs, driving on highways, on those Different types of sugar such as gravel, asphalt and concrete.

The US automaker Ford has begun testing a self-driving Fusion car in MCity. These cars will run in extreme weather conditions such as snowfall and rainstorms, with the intervention of sensors and satellite navigation systems.

"We ran a self-driving test car in practice, but a place like MCity will allow us to improve the algorithms and calibrate the sensor better thanks to specific, repeatable situations." Jim McBride, head of Ford's self-driving car program, said.

For Sayer, the main value of MCity lies in the variety of vehicle tests. Each kilometer in the test area corresponds to 100 or 1,000km on the actual road. In addition, each situation can repeat countless times, which is impossible on public roads. Through repeated tests, the manufacturer can adjust the design of sensors and software, helping the car to operate better.