Learn the technology of self-driving cars

Self-driving cars are gradually becoming a reality - that's for sure. However, the future of this vehicle is not as clear and easy as saying 'I will change to a self-driving car soon'. Let's see if GM's experimental Super Cruise technology responds to problems such as how the car works, how good the robot is driving and whether people are allowed to drive autonomously on the inner road. in the future or not?

1. When can I leave the steering wheel?

When I pressed the control button into the black lane, the steering wheel of the car was hard. Suddenly the light key on the steering wheel turns green, indicating the vehicle is driving itself. Jeremy Salinger, working for GM's semi-automatic program, has worked on this vehicle for dozens, sometimes up to a hundred times, still stating clearly: 'Cars are in self-driving mode.' That means the driver has just delivered the acceleration and stop for the modified Cadilac SUV's adaptive cruise control device. The vehicle has a built-in tailgate computer to collect data from cameras and sensors to read electronic signals on the road and determine the location of the vehicle. Using this information, the car will control the electronic steering system to keep the vehicle in the right lane.

Safe driving system has appeared in many modern car products.

Witness the test vehicle hissing forward at nearly 100km / h, easily breaking the steering wheel for the car to turn into an oval line and periodically turn and go straight at GM's Milford Experimental Zone in the state of Michigan. feeling nervous and nervous, like a ghost driving a car. But actually, there is no ghost here, but GM's Super Cruise technology. It is likely that it will become a product on the market within the next 5 years.

2. How long will this take place?

Although GM has not confirmed the timing of the deployment, it also hopes Super Cruise will be available by the end of this decade, as early as 2017 or 2018. Super Cruise is part of a trend that has emerged in public car buyers. Safe driving system has appeared in many modern car products such as collision warning system, parking assistance, adaptive cruise monitoring, blind spot control system and other features. This trend is shifting users to buying auto cars. By using a combination of sensors, radar, GPS and camera, this system allows the vehicle to identify objects in the pulse and warn the problem, even stopping the vehicle if it is about to collide. with another car or pedestrian on the road.

Technically, GM's Super Cruise is similar to Mercedes-Benz's driver assistance system and other automakers. However, these systems also require drivers to regularly touch the steering wheel to ensure that the person still controls the steering wheel. The difference of Super Cruise is that it is the first time GM allows the driver to completely remove the hand from the steering wheel for a period of time. Functionally, this is a revolution. Vehicles can be fully self-driving on the highway. Super Cruise represents an important change in driver and vehicle relationships in the history of automotive technology.

3. So next is a self-driving car?

Not so fast. The well-equipped Cruise SRX Supper is a self-driving car but can't do everything on its own. This car can only drive itself in highway conditions, with limits on speed and direction change. In terms of definition, this is a semi-automatic vehicle (self-driving cars by Google's definition are semi-automatic). The future of an autonomous car, when you simply identify the destination on the GPS, leave the car on your own and watch a movie for two hours, is still far away, although technology can progress very quickly. Recently, Audi and Volvo have produced products that can park themselves. Volvo said this feature may soon appear in 2014.

However, systems like Super Cruise challenge the common notion of who is driving or who actually is doing when driving. This makes car manufacturers and regulators worried. David Strickland, NHTSA - The US National Traffic Safety Committee said: 'One of the things we always want to maintain and car manufacturers need to know is that the driver is still responsible for driving. car. This will never change. '

4. How does the car see the road?

Super Cruise and other similar systems can do more than just look at the road. Vehicles use a lot of sensors, lasers, radar, cameras and GPS technology to analyze objects around the car.

Super Cruise and other similar systems can do more than just look at the road.

Super Cruise is a combination of two technologies. Firstly, adaptive cruise monitoring technology is gradually gaining popularity. This technology features a long-range radar (about 100m) placed in a radiator grille to keep the vehicle at a uniform distance from other vehicles while maintaining a set speed. The second is the lane positioning technology. Vehicles are equipped with many cameras with computer vision software to scan lanes and detect objects. This information is sent to a data processing computer and modifies the electric steering system to keep the car in the right lane. Because Super Cruise technology only applies to highways, GM will use GPS technology to determine the location of the vehicle before allowing the driver to participate in driving the vehicle.

In addition, GM also considered using short-range radar (30-50m) and ultrasonic sensors to enhance the overall awareness of the car. Vehicles equipped with parking assistance systems have four similar sensors in the front and rear of the vehicle. GM also tested LIDAR technology (top laser scanning technology not used in remote sensing) using lasers instead of sound. This technology is stronger and more accurate than ultrasonic sensors. However, LIDAR has been put into a car like the Super Cruise is still a question.

5. Is the semi-automatic car suitable for the driver?

Definitely yes. According to Nady Boule, director of GM's R&D Research Center, the semi-automatic cars also drive much better than the driver in many respects. Unlike humans, vehicles can constantly monitor all sides of the vehicle, react almost immediately and cannot be distracted. Also driving is more efficient. A recent study in a conference of the American Academy of Electrical and Electronics Engineers estimated that a vehicle with sensors increased highway driving capacity by 43%. If the cars can talk to each other, this number is surprisingly increased by 273%.

According to NHTSA and some carmakers have tested for vehicles that can talk to each other. This is vehicle-to-vehicle interaction technology, being tested at GM's technology center in Warren, Mich. In a large parking lot, GM engineers who let the driver run through the two cars are equipped with GPS technology and a small Wi-Fi transmitter. GPS technology to identify wallet and car Wi-Fi transmitter can 'talk' to other vehicles. The car warned the driver when there was a braking device in front of him, at a blind spot or approaching from a hidden corner. Unlike radar and camera, V2V technology does not use light to communicate but a transmitter. The cost of the transmitter is cheaper than the hardware used in today's safety warning systems. V2V technology can be said to be very attractive, but once connected to other safety warning systems, it also contains potential risks.

6. Is this legal?

Yes, but because the law stipulates that self-driving cars have not been born yet. Currently, within a few states in the United States, such as Nevada, California, and Florida, it will be Michigan through the law of testing self-driving cars on the road. These laws simply emphasize the need for people in the car and can take control of the vehicle in an emergency. Last May, NHTSA issued specific guidelines to guide the development of self-driving cars, but there is no official federal law yet. Bryan Walker Smith at the Network and Social Center of the Stanford Law School and the Car Research Center also pointed out that, together with the development of new laws, it is necessary to review existing laws for systemic vehicles. autopilot

This is a big problem that NHTSA and automobile manufacturers only dare tiptoe by asserting that the driver will bear all the responsibility. However, semi-automatic technology has great significance for insurance companies. Loretta L.Worters, vice president of communications at the Insurance Information Institute, shared that insurance companies are welcoming safety driving systems. However, when the car becomes semi-automatic, this is another area. For example, this will increase the potential liability of manufacturers or car maintenance if the accident stems from improper design or maintenance.

7. How safe are these cars?

Semi-automatic vehicles operate based on safety warning systems, so they can be considered safe.

In general, semi-automatic vehicles operate based on safety warning systems, which can be considered safe. The US Highway Insurance Institute has discovered the benefits of the front collision warning system in reducing traffic accidents even though not 100% of the evidence is true. Chris Urmson, head of Google's self-driving car program and an assistant professor at Carnegie University Melton, has worked on the challenges of self-driving cars in DARPA (Advanced Defense Research Projects Agency). ). Although Google's testing team tested 500,000 miles without any major risks, Urmson admitted that there was no perfect technology.'We can make better vehicles than manned vehicles but there is no way that no mistakes will happen'.

Besides the risk of system errors, semi-automatic technology also has general limitations. For example, the Super Cruise is no longer effective in a blizzard because the camera on the vehicle cannot determine the way because the snow is covered. This is a minor incident.

8. Can I take a nap after the steering wheel?

The answer is no. No matter how capable the car is, the semi-automatic car cannot operate without attention. Sleepiness is a pretty serious thing for drivers. Eric Raphael works on Super Cruise SRX, saying: 'We can't let anyone crawl to the back seat and hit a nap, but we know it might be tried.' To prevent the driver from leaving the driver's seat or in a bad situation, GM developed a monitoring system that uses the visual and sound system and can be tactile feedback to remind the driver to take control. in an emergency or dispersed. For example, the light key on the steering wheel will turn red when warning the driver to control the vehicle.

Of course, at speeds close to 100km / h and heavy traffic, the system cannot force the driver to return to control, and this is indeed worrying. Bryan Reimer, a researcher at AgeLab Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-director of the New England University Traffic Center said: 'Who says you will wake up when you really need to turn? Get back to the steering wheel. All the psychological documents show that people are terrible supervisors of automated systems: Easy to be sleepy, easily discouraged and not interested ".

9. How will driving take place in the future?

Semi-automatic technology and V2V can lay the groundwork for changes in traffic flow and even highway design. There are 3 scenarios:

Near future

When there are self-driving cars on the road, the first change we can see is a self-driving HOV on the highway. When entering the lane, the car is installed to run at the desired speed and you have 3 hours of monotonous driving.

Medium-term future

When entering the lane, the car is installed to run at the desired speed and you have 3 hours of monotonous driving.

When semi-auto cars go further, hopefully they can start communicating with each other and even infrastructure. At intersections, the smart red light will automatically turn green if no vehicle arrives. This will make traffic more smooth, reduce idle waiting time and traffic accidents.

Long-term future

When the vast majority of vehicles on the road are semi-automatic and can talk to each other, high speed monitoring, driving shaping and merging are possible.

10. Can cars avoid objects on the road?

Most front-end collision warning systems can identify other vehicles, pedestrians, animals, or bicycles. Some vehicles can also start braking at low speed to moderate speed. But no system has been produced to avoid obstacles. Salinger said the cars in the future may have this ability, although that is not what GM is currently developing.

But this ability poses a very important problem: If a directional decision needs to be made, do you want to let your car do it yourself? When must I decide to let the car hit a child on the road or change direction or crash into a telephone pole? Does the car endanger the people on the car when avoiding hitting the child? From a technical problem has become a moral problem.

11. Is there any possibility that the driver can drive the car poorly?

Usually, the more we use the self-driving system, the more we depend on it. Therefore, there is a reason to say that the less you drive, the less you drive. Citing a typical example of a driver error that was the cause of the Air France 447 crash, Reimer at the Massachusetts Academy emphasized that an integrated warning system was needed on his car.'If we look at other industries, where the aviation industry is a good example, then the fact that it must be accepted is that autopilot is reducing the driver's vehicle control skills.'

12. What if I want to drive?

This is the most important question. As long as you have a traditional steering wheel in your car, you can still drive yourself. Now things become more interesting: If the semi-automated system in the car is safe and reliable, then having a driver is considered an irresponsibility of the insurance company. This will not happen in the coming time but is still possible after all.

During a test of the model Super Cruise, a Chevy Volt shot out in front of the SRX while driving. Despite running at nearly 100km / h, the car immediately stopped, adjusted the speed at a safe distance from the Volt and gently turned the handlebars into the center of the lane. In a situation where people can overreact and startle on the steering wheel, can tilt into another car or bounce off the road, the person on the car has done nothing, just sitting there, even I don't even think I was hesitant.

There are many people who love driving but who doesn't want another option for their next car?