Driverless Car Essay

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An autonomous, or driverless, car is one that contains an autopilot system that allows it to travel from one destination to another with no help from a human driver (Liden, 2015). Autonomous cars use several technologies such as 360-degree cameras, adaptive cruise control, and emergency brake assistance to drive itself (Lassa, 2013). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a formal classification system for autonomous cars (NHTSA, 2013): No-Automation (Level 0): The driver is in complete control of the car at all times. Function-specific Automation (Level 1): One or more specific control functions are automated, such as electronic stability control or pre-charged brakes. Combined Function Automation (Level 2): At least two primary control functions are automated in unison, such as adaptive cruise control in combination with lane centering. Limited Self-Driving Automation (Level 3): The driver can cede full control of all …show more content…

In October 2015, Tesla released its 7.0 software update that introduced Autopilot, a system that functions like an airplane’s autopilot when conditions are clear (The Tesla Motors Team, 2015). It is designed to relieve “drivers of the most tedious and potentially dangerous aspects of road travel,” but humans are still in control and responsible for the car (The Tesla Motors Team, 2015). The system can steer, match the speed of traffic or the speed limit, and change lanes, but is limited to highway use for now (Mills, 2015). It is also connected to the entire fleet of Tesla vehicles equipped with the system and will learn over time and improve (Scherer,

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