What is Self Driving Car ? Full Details
A self-driving car detects the surroundings and works without human
involvement.. A self-driving car requires various types of sensors and camera that
is used to automatic barking system, generate the mapping, automatic parking
and much more. A driver need not take control of the vehicle at any time. An
autonomous car also known as a self-driving car that can go wherever a
traditional car goes and do whatever an experienced human driver does.
What is Self Driving Car ?
The
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a world-renowned organization, currently
describes 6 levels of self-driving cars, essentially from level 0 to level 5.
Here level 0 means that the vehicle is fully manually and level 5 means that
the vehicle is fully automated. The U.S. has accepted those standards
Transportation department.
Level
of the vehicle
Level 0- in the level 0, the human do everything to operate the vehicle like steering, acceleration, braking and so on.
Level 2- level 2 is also known as the
partially automated technology. In this the steering and acceleration of
vehicle can be operated automatically. But the driver can monitor the every
task and can take charge any time.
Level 4- This level is known as high
automation. In this the vehicle performs all the driving functions. Human
riding option is still available.
In The level 0, 1 and 2 the humans monitor the driving environment while in level 3, 4 and 5 the automated system monitors the driving environment.
How self-driving car works?
Self-driving
cars and autonomous cars completely depend on sensors, actuators, complex
algorithms, machine learning systems, and powerful processors to run the
software. These types of cars are capable of generating and maintaining the map
of their environment with the help of a variety of sensors located in various
parts of the vehicle. The Radar sensors help monitor nearby vehicles '
position. Video cameras help detect signals from traffic lights, read signs
from the lane, watch other vehicles and check for pedestrians. Lidar is a light
detection and range sensor that produced light pulses off the surroundings of
the vehicle to help measure distances, detect edges of the road and identify
lane markings. Located in the spokes, ultrasonic sensors help detect curbs and
other vehicles while parking.
Challenges with self-driving car-
Lidar and Radar- Lidar is a costly sensor and it constantly tries to make the right balance between the range and resolution. The main question arises what happened if multiple autonomous cars were to drive on the same road, would their lidar signals interfere with one another?
Weather condition- The second big problem is that what happened when an
autonomous car drives in heavy snowfall? If layer of snowfall on the road
covers the lane dividers than how will the cameras and sensors of the car track
lane dividers?
Traffic- Another big question is will self-driving cars face
tunnel or bridge problems? How are they going to be doing in bumper-to-bumper
traffic? Will it relegate autonomous cars to a particular lane? Will they be
allowed access to carpool lane?
Accident- Another major question is who would be responsible
for autonomous car accidents? The Fabricator? The passenger? The latest
proposals say that a fully autonomous Level 5 car won't have a dashboard or
steering wheel, so a human passenger wouldn't even have the option of taking
control of the vehicle in an emergency.
Benefits of self-driving cars-
- Reduced traffic congestion.
- Cut transport cost by 40 percent.
- increased walk ability and livability free parking lots for other users.
- reduced urban CO2 emission by 80 percent.