Robot Cars in Our Future
October 13, 2005  Ken Drummond

The recent successful trial of autonomous vehicles in the Mojave Desert is a major step toward cars that we no longer have to drive.

Automatic vehicles have been talked about for so long that people have given up thinking much about them. Since they have not manifested in all this time, we have assumed that they are too difficult to bring about.

Now all that has changed! Autonomous vehicles really have been created, and they have been tested under the most rigorous circumstances - in the open desert in Nevada. Traversing open stretches of desert, dry lakebeds, winding mountain roads, tunnels where no GPS signals can reach, and various natural and man-created obstacles, four vehicles were able to navigate the challenging course in less than ten hours.

The vehicles were able to detect obstacles such as large boulders and bushes, and navigate around them where necessary. The winding mountain pass, ten feet wide in places, had a steep drop-off on one side. Once set free at the starting line, the vehicles were completely on their own for some 130 miles. And they had no advance knowledge of the course they were to travel.

Can vehicles such as these navigate among traffic and pedestrians? Can they replace human operators in day-to-day commuting? How close we are to that point remains to be seen. But we have made a major step forward, and I believe we have broken the ice in getting self-controlling automobiles off the runway, so to speak.

Imagine what it will be like when you can just step into your car, or order up a vehicle from the neighborhood vehicle pool. The car will drive up to your door, perhaps beeping softly to let you know that it is ready for you. The door will open as you approach, so that you won’t have to set down any bags or packages that you are carrying before entering.

You will speak or key in your destination. If it is a community vehicle maybe you will insert your charge card, or be identified by your thumbprint. Then off you will go toward your destination. You can sit back and relax, read a book, listen to the radio or watch a video. The car will take care of all the navigation.

If it is connected in with a coordinating computer, it will be able to select the most efficient route, planning the best way to merge into traffic, choosing highways with less traffic.
For the elderly and those not yet old enough to drive, intelligent vehicles will open up a world of possibilities. If incapacitating health problems should arise, your vehicle will be able to take you to a care facility. It is likely the roads will be safer because the computerized system can plan ahead to avoid traffic problems, minimizing any chance of accidents.

Is this science that is close to becoming reality? Or is it just science fiction, real or imagined ideas of some still far off future? If you talk to the creators of the vehicles that competed in the DARPA competition for autonomous vehicles you will get a very optimistic response. The creators of those vehicles are ecstatic with their accomplishments, comparing the successful trials with the Wright Brothers’ first flight. To hear then talk you would think that self-guided vehicles on our highways are just a few years away. In fact, that is what they are saying and it appears that may be the case. So happy motoring - while you still have to do the driving.