Argumentative Essay On Self-Driving Cars

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Growing up everyone saw Star Wars or some other futuristic movie where people would put their vehicle on autopilot and it would drive itself. That knowledge alone shows the self-driving cars is by no means a new idea. The possibility of them being an actual legitimate goal however is the new idea. There are several different ways that these cars could come into existence all include sensors to gauge distances and all that, but the most prominent idea involves a lot of pre-mapping and understanding of the surrounding world. Many questions arise surrounding all of this, but this paper will focus on the map and the technology surrounding them. The idea of self-driving cars directed by pre-uploaded maps and surrounding sensors could either be a …show more content…

The two biggest disadvantages plaguing the use of LIDAR, is one that has followed many other types of technology, size and cost. To install the proper amount of LIDAR sensors on a car requires tens of thousands of dollars, this makes the cost rack up fast and makes the building of such a car just about pointless because only the very rich could afford it. Companies are rushing to find a solution for this, Velodyne the world’s leading LIDAR supplier is reported to possibly be able to manufacture a LIDAR sensor that will only cost $250, but the full details of the success befalling this project are unclear. The bulk of the LIDAR sensors is another obstacle that needs to be overcome. Waymo’s self-driving car is topped by a giant black dome, others produced by Toyota and Uber are fixed with spinning coffee can sized objects. Advantages to using LIDAR on autonomous cars is a good list. At the top of this list for me is safety and accuracy, manufacturers like tesla are using exclusively radar and cameras to sense where things are and to react to them. As proven when a self-driving tesla vehicle ran into a tractor trailer this tech is less accurate, radar doesn’t see in as great of detail as LIDAR and cameras can be blinded by extreme lighted conditions (this is why the car hit the tractor trailer, a glare blinded the camera.) LIDAR uses its accurate laser sensors on top of maps preprogrammed into it. The lasers are more accurate because they send so many out and bounce them back to form the shapes and distances. There is no right answer it’s just how each person perceives and decides to if autonomous cars using LIDAR is better or worth the extra

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