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.
A robotic driver can think faster and smarter than a human driver -- and look in all directions at once. That’s the idea behind autonomous driving, where you take your hands off the wheel and let the car do the driving for you.
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...
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.
To tell where the car is, the car uses positional information from the GPS and the Internal Navigation system to restrict itself to a particular place, meaning is gets a baseline reading of where the car is in the world using GPS like your phone would. Then the car reads the information from the sensors to refine its position. After that, the car then gathers all of that information and creates a digital image of the environment around the car. This image includes all still and moving objects in its vicinity. This could range from buildings, traffic lights, stop signs, other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. Also, the blinker of the other cars in its range. All of the map making is handled by the control system, along with many other tasks. The control system is computer in the car that is able to make all of the intelligent decisions like where to turn, to stop if there is a car in front of it or if it's at a stoplight and the light is red, it will stop on the line. This computer must know everything that is around that car and also everything that is going on around that car. For example, a car pulled up to a stop sign next to a self-driving car. The computer in the self-driving car must be able to see the car pulling up and it must know when it stopped. It must also know how far away the car is to the side of it. Self-driving cars also has a model to
The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the Department of Defense and consists of a group of 24 satellites which are monitored by five ground stations. It essentially allows you to pinpoint your location anywhere on the surface of the Earth, even in cloudy weather, with the use of a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver is a navigational device that uses these satellites as reference points to calculate your position on the ground. It does this by triangulating your position between at least 3 satellites. The GPS receiver uses the time it takes the coded radio signal to get from the satellite to the receiver to calculate the distance it is from that satellite. So, by accurately measuring the distance from the ground to these satellites, it can triangulate your position.
To begin, the basic concept of the Global Positioning system consists of having a minimum of 24 operational satellites in orbit at an altitude of about 24,000 km above the Earth and traveling at an orbital speed of around 14,000 km/hour. At any point in time, there are always at least 4 satellites that are “visible” to your receiver (ex. iPhone). The receiver then gets information from at least 3 of these 4 satellites and uses what is called Trilateration to determine your exact position on the surface of the Earth. Trilateration, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, is a “method of surveying in which the lengths of the sides of a triangle are measured and from this information angles are computed. By constructing a series of triangles adjacent to one another, a surveyor can obtain other distances and angles that would not otherwise be measurable.” To simplify things, trilateration is the method by which 3 satellites send a signal to a receiver which then calculates the distances to each one, and the time at which the signal was sent. The time portion of this process is essential and will be explained later on. The receiver then compares these 3 or even 4 signals and finds the common intersection between them, essentially determining where the GPS user is.
Drunk driving, sleeping at the wheel, and loss of control of a vehicle could be a thing of the past when it comes to new innovations being made towards self-driving cars. When one thinks of a “self-driving” car, it means not having to pay attention to the actual driving and going about putting make-up on or playing on your phone while the car takes you where you want to go, sounds completely sci-fi, but it is likely to happen in the near future. With advances in technology, the car is able to use satellites, cameras, and sensors to take the driver where he or she needs to go. Many companies are researching, manufacturing, and testing different
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.
The following flowchart shows the data relation and algotithm for estimate the position of user. The first step for GPS positioning is using the position of satellite and pseudorange from GPS receiver data to estimate the position of user. The simulation results for GPS satellite position are shown in T...
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 GPS is sensing knowledge to help with navigation with the car and destinations. Autonomous cars are not yet available on a large scale of the world such as out of the United States of America, but have been programmed and developed to travel along the roads of America. Most autonomous cars are programmed only for American roads, we have made a big step towards the future with autonomous cars, with them being only available mainly in America, they are a luxury. They are making their way to larger scale autopilot features, and will eventually be available on a larger scale.(Ali
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.
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
Introduction The GPS (Global Positioning System) is a navigation system that comprises 24 satellites orbiting at an altitude
The Global Positioning System, more commonly called the GPS is a satellite based system that provides navigation for almost everything from cell phones to automobiles. This wonderful technology is very vital in today’s economy because of its prominence in banking, financial markets, power grids, farming, construction and so much more. It also protects human life by preventing accidents, helping in search and rescue missions and is critical to nearly every facet of military operations. There are three segments that make up the global positioning system: the space segment, the control segment and the user segment. The segment we are familiar with is the user segment. The user segment is what receives GPS signals, determines the distance between a satellite and a receiver and solves the navigation equations, all in order to obtain the coordinates of a specific place. The space segment consists of 31 satellites but there is an availability of at least 24 satellites that are approximately 6 000-12 000 miles above the earth.