Future Enhancements
Despite the fact that this paper discusses various issues to be covered while implementing a GPS based autonomous car, I have discovered several issues if this solution is to be practical. The first part of the solution is based on retrieving a GPS based location. Here is the glitch. This is entirely dependent on the visible GPS value retrieval, so what if the GPS is not available in the first place. Here are few problems and proposed enhancements
1. Unavailability of a reliable GPS signal and solution
This is a problem, which occurs many times when the car is in the middle of nowhere. It is quite common that we usually see our GPS system trying to get a location form the satellite. So if a location is not found the solution should be cache the last known location. This caching should be periodic. Modern cell based GPS systems use network provided GPS coordinates to track the car on the globe. So the main idea behind this is to retrieve the last known location from the GPS cache and then implement a network based tracker to retrieve the location coordinates. This is proven to be more accurate and it also implemented by the maps application on Android. So assuming that we have access to the network based access to coordinates, car will get better location retrieval. One more thing to remember here is that this is also not 100% dependable, in fact any solution cannot be always accurate but the idea is to get better.
2. Computing distance based on the compass module
The paper works on this calculation,
d =R • cos−1(sinφ1 • sinφ2
+cosφ1 •cosφ2 •cos(λ2 −λ1))
Where R is the radius of the earth and d is the distance between two points. Keeping aside the very low-level implementation details, lets discuss ho...
... middle of paper ...
...ake when on red. Now considering Vehicle & Pedestrian interactions, we always need to prioritize Sensor data (for Pedestrians) thereby controlling the Driverless Vehicle running into pedestrians. Algorithm, which acts as a brain for Autonomous Vehicle should also able to make decisions whether to apply brakes or not based on the speed of the Vehicle and the distance of the approaching object.
Further research can be done on increasing the reliability of the autonomous car system, like safety enhancements, what must the car do when there is a roadblock – (implement a alternative routing algorithm) or how to handle lane changes or encounter a diversion on the road, these can be numerous other issues. These are all hot research areas of now and many ideas are coming up and implemented. But as per this topic is considered a solution MUST be found to all these problems.
The space-based global navigation satellite system that provides reliable location and time information in all weather and at all times and anywhere on or near the Earth with sub-meter accuracy is called Global Positioning System (GPS) [1]. It consists of a constellation of 28 satellites in six different orbits which give the information of the position of the user with sub meter accuracy [3]. If there are four or more GPS satellites in unobstructed line of sight with the receiver, accurate spatial co-ordinates can be obtained [2]. The datum obtained from the satellites, contain the information about the position and timing by calculating the the Keplerian orbit elements. The location information from GPS is based on the choice of coordinate system and datum [3]. The coordinate systems that are mostly used in GPS are Wor...
GM is already producing the technology catering to the autonomous driving system in instalments as each new car produced, displays a prototype of a sophisticated “assisted driving” feature. Drivers of the Cadillac ATS sedan, a mid-sized car with a driver assistance, can now leave it to drive itself and maintain a safe distance in steady traffic. It can also measure a parking space and steer itself into it, read traffic signals, and warn the driver if he breaks the speed limit. Emergency brakes that overrule the driver’s actions in the case of an accident, add to special features that will be seen in automatic cars.
The term autonomous refers to the capability of acting independently, or having the freedom to do so. A self-driving car is an autonomous car, which has the ability to sense its environment and navigating without any human operations. These types of cars are built to make safe and smart decisions on the road. In the past years, automobile companies have begun to introduce advanced driver assistance systems that are capable of parking, switching lanes, and braking in case of an emergency on their own, without the driver’s assistance. Automated vehicles are capable of maneuvering through street traffic, as well as other natural and man-made obstacles along the way. Therefore, this technology might completely change the methods of transportation.
One of the Google self-driving cars experienced an accident on September 23 of 2016. The car drove through a green light but stopped in the middle of the intersection. The car sensed another car going to run a red light and applied its brakes. The car kicked into manual mode, but the passenger’s reaction took too much time. The speeding car rammed into the autonomous car and caused an accident. Both vehicles sustained heavy damage. (Hartmans 2)
The goals behind self-driving cars are to decrease collisions, traffic jams and the use of gas and harmful pollutants. The autonomous automobile is able to maneuver around objects and create swift lines of cars on roadways (How Google’s self-Driving Car Works, 2011). The autonomous vehicle can react faster than humans can, meaning less accidents and the potential to save thousands of lives. Another purpose and vision for these cars is that vehicles would become a shared resource. When someone needed a car, he or she could just use his or her Smartphone and a self-sufficient car would drive up and pick him or her up.
There were several ways for me to look into this problem. One way was to design a car that would be self-aware and be able to prevent accidents. However, there were already “smart cars” at the time that
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), fatalities involving a vehicle have reduced by 64% from 1994 to 2013[2]. Many of these accidents are avoidable and some occur in a variety of situations. These situations include times when a distracted driver collides with a vehicle in its blind spot while attempting to change lanes, or fails to notice a stopped vehicle ahead to properly apply the brakes in time. Through the aid of modern technology, more accidents can be avoided. Automotive Sixth Sense is a transformation of non-autonomous vehicles into autonomous vehicles. Automotive Aftermarket Automatic Accident Avoidance Apparatus (A6th) will help to reduce collisions. This aftermarket product accomplishes goals
As more testing is done on it and new technologies, such as blind spots monitoring systems and lane departure warnings are added, self driving cars are becoming a reality. No doubt about it, these cars are much safer than human drivers. Unlike human drivers who are prone to getting distracted and can get under the influence, the cars are programmed to be aware of their surroundings at all times. They are able to make quick, fast decisions without hesitations; in the road, a slightest bit of hesitation can be lethal. Since self driving cars have direct access to GPS, they are able to locate the quickest route to the user’s destination and if more self driving cars are put onto the streets, there would be less road congestion as each vehicle can coordinate to ensure that traffic doesn’t build up. With such advances in technology comes major benefits and with self driving cars comes the elimination of human error, the cause of a majority of road incidents; the option of using self driving cars should definitely be considered.
Technology has advanced so much over the years and it is impressive about how the automobile industry has played such a huge role in the development of technology over the years. One of the most amazing things is the autonomous car, which is important in the safety of people who are driving. The autonomous car is a car that is automatic when it is driving. This does not just mean that it has an automatic transmission. It also means that the car is actually driving itself. That means that it is actually steering the wheel in the directions that it needs to go. That is important because the car would need to know where to turn if it is going to get to where it needs to go and if it is going to be a car that is driving itself. Not only is that
Technology is evolving faster than ever these days, however there is one technology that could revolutionize the transportation industry. This technology is called autonomous cars, also known as self-driving cars. Autonomous cars can be defined as a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment, and navigating without human input. Using different techniques such as GPS and radar, autonomous cars can detect surroundings, thus removing the human element in driving. This would have a positive effect in more ways than we could ever imagine. Research suggests that self-driving cars will become more abundant in the future because they will be more cost-effective, enhance safety, and decrease traffic congestion.
Companies like Google, Tesla and Nissan, among others, have announced over the past few years that their companies are trying to develop self-driving or autonomous cars [Ref. 1 and 2]. Self-driving cars can provide many benefits to the average consumer. Studies have shown that because computers can react and process information many times faster than a human being, crashes on streets and roads can be decreased with quick and consistent evasion maneuvers by the autonomous car. They can also help maximize fuel economy by calculating the most direct and fastest routes. When the driving of an autonomous car demonstrates that the computer can safely and reliably transport the passengers to their destination, this frees up the passengers to do other things that they would not normally be able to do if they were driving the car manually. For this reason, self-driving cars can help maximize productivity of their passengers.
The engineering that goes into a driverless car covers all areas of mechanics, computing software and so on which still tends to frighten some drivers of its monstrosity on the inside. In the article “Google Cars Becoming Safer: Let the Robots Drive” it states that, “The economic lift from ridding the roads of human-driven vehicles would be over $190 billion per year. That would primarily come from reducing property damage caused by low-speed collisions”(Salkever). The point is that when driverless cars hit the road the cost of low-speed collision and save consumers money will be reduced. In the article “ Google Driverless Cars Run Into Problem: Cars With Drivers” Slakever states that “One Google car, in a test in 2009, couldn’t get through a four-way stop because its sensors kept waiting for other (human) drivers to stop completely and let it go. The human drivers kept inching forward, looking for the advantage — paralyzing Google’s robot”(Bosker). Current drivers have never followed the rule of the road, which have made the road more prone to any accident. Drivers have found the upper hand on not following traffic laws that makes manufacturing driverless car more meticulous to decrease accidents and breaking traffic laws. The fact that driverless car sensors can detect the errors of other human driven car is extraordinary. Human driven cars are trying to stick to the status quo of the roads when in reality human driven cars are breaking valuable innovation that will make the roads safe for generations to
Self driving cars are a monumental topic in improving the technology of cars. There are many people who like this idea and many who hate it. Many companies are racing to build a flawless self driving car. Although the self driving car is going to be a thing in the near future there are still a lot of flaws that companies need to fix. Self driving cars have many good things as well as many bad things.
point out your destination by searching through a lot of menus until you find it,
Have you ever imagined how many more things you could do in your life without the burden of driving everywhere? In our modern technologically advanced society, experts are finding that we are closer to the era of self-driving cars than many of us think. Multiple car and car-driving companies have made it one of their top priorities to create a self driving car that can be used commercially within the next 10-15 years. However, there had been much debate between groups as to whether or not self-driving cars should be made for the public to use regularly. Self-driving cars should replace human drivers because of the significant amount of accidents that will never occur due to the marriage of machine and technological accuracy, the less amount