DailyPost 334
SELF DRIVEN CARS – What & When?
The self driven cars have caught public imagination like no other thing. It’s a technological marvel which all of us waiting for. From Tesla to Google to Apple all of them are in fray to garner a share of the market which could possibly wipe out present cars completely. It would bring down accidents to near zero, gone would be the the days of drivers fatigue, much less of wear & tear and on and on are the benefits. The million dollar question is when will it happen?
What is an autonomous vehicle is still an issue of debate. According to Business Insider, “A Tesla will drive in fully autonomous mode from LA to New York City.” Toyota means, “vehicles to get on and off the highway and change lanes without driver input.” For BMW, “drive on… highways and in urban environments.” Ford’s definition is, “high-volume, fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicle in commercial operation.” Not that the understanding of an autonomous vehicles is at so much of variance, the timelines can also send you in a tizzy.
10 million self driven cars would hit the roads by 2020 as the industry declares, has built up the euphoria, the path does not seem to be easy. The recent spat between Elon Musk and technical team of autonomous vehicles have divergent views on the capability of such vehicles. As per the present understanding of the development of technology it can take anywhere between 3 to 30 years. It’s still baby steps so to say. Google & Apple seem to be less interested in the automobile as such and want to concentrate on the software / algorithm, which would be the main driver.
Innovation of this nature has a long gestation period. We are moving in the right direction. It has to be an iterative evolutionary process till we reach the final goal. The arduous journey is through machine learning & artificial intelligence & continuous testing.
Autonomous vehicles can revolutionise traffic & traffic safety across the globe.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WOULD BE BIGGEST THING TO HAPPEN AFTER AUTOMOBILES.
Sanjay Sahay