Technology in autonomous vehicles

Dash cameras
 https://www.lifewire.com/how-does-dashboard-camera-work-534886

A dash camera consists of the following components: a video camera, hard-wired power inputs, and built-in or removable solid state storage media. A dashboard camera is typically wired into a circuit that is only hot when the ignition key is in the start or run position, and most dash cameras will automatically start when your car starts and record video onto removable storage. Dash cameras are used in automated cars to record the image while the vehicle is traveling.

Lidar
https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/how-self-driving-cars-can-see-where-they-re-going
http://www.azosensors.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=688

Standing for “Light Detection and Ranging”, Lidar is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating that target with a pulsed laser light, and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor. Differences in laser return times and wavelengths can then be used to make digital 3D-representations of the target. Lidar helps to build a digital image that allows the car to ‘see’ what’s around it to make vehicles autonomous, but this technology is expensive to use.

GPS
https://www.novatel.com/industries/autonomous-vehicles/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/automobiles/wheels/self-driving-cars-gps-maps.html?_r=0
The Global Positioning System (GPS), is a global navigation satellite system that provides geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The system does not require the user to transmit any data, and it operates independently of any telephonic or internet reception. GPS creates maps for autonomous cars so that they can know where to go.

Infrared radiation
http://www.azosensors.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=639

Infrared radiation is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with longer wavelengths than those of visible light, and it is invisible. Infrared radiation is emitted or absorbed by molecules when they change their rotational-vibrational movements. It excites vibrational modes in a molecule through a change in the dipole moment. It is used to determine the surroundings of the vehicle, and it is widely at night when there is insufficient visible light to see.

Ultrasonic
http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/self-driving/teslas-model-s-will-offer-360degree-sonar

The term "ultrasonic" applied to sound refers to anything above the frequencies of audible sound, and nominally includes anything over 20,000 Hz. Ultrasound can be useful for detecting things close-in to a car where the LIDAR doesn’t see, and it is good enough to do simple parking operations. It can also be applied for range finding. However, ultrasonic is not a good technology compared to Lidar, as Lidar sees about 100m and return a million or more pixels per second.
I would like to take a close look at the Lidar technology. Lidar is applied to lots of autonomous models, such as Tesla S and Waymo. As Lidar sits between cameras and radar and can detect both distance and objects, it can make out the shape of those objects. It is also highly effective at creating a three dimensional map of an environment. However, the drawback of Lidar is that it can’t see behind solid objects. For example, if the car has a single Lidar unit and a cyclist pulls alongside the car, a comparatively large area is hidden from view. Also, the cost of the Lidar system is too high. Lidar has the potential for transport planning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/alex-lawrenceberkeley1/what-is-lidar-and-why-is-_b_15510494.html

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/06/lidar-self-driving-technology-tesla-crash-elon-musk


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction- the world of autonomous vehicles

An autonomous car is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. It uses a variety of techniques to detect their surroundings, such as radar and GPS. SAE International has a formal classification system for autonomous vehicles, which is based on the amount of driver intervention and attentiveness required. The levels are ranging from level 0 to level 5. For level 0-2, the vehicle still needs driver’s attention to operate. Level 0 means that the vehicle is not automated, and level 1 means that the driver and automated system shares control over the vehicle. For level 2, the automated system takes full control of the vehicle, but the driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to take actions once the system fails. For level 3-5, the vehicle can operate by itself. For level 3, the driver can safely turn their attention away from the driving tasks, and the vehicle will handle emergency situations. Level 4 requires no driver’s...
Read more

Social

number of people driving vehicles number of people not driving vehicles number of people interested of having autonomous vehicles number of people interested of not having autonomous vehicles 10 5 13 2 To have a better understanding of public’s views according to autonomous vehicles, I interviewed 15 people to understand their view on autonomous vehicles. Half of people I interviewed drive a vehicle, mostly because their houses were far and it made it convenient to drive a vehicle. Another half of people did not drive, not because they did not want to, but the reasons were “lack of money to own a car”, or “do not have a valid driving licence yet”. Only two people out of 15 was not interested for owning an autonomous vehicle, one thought that the technology was not mature enough and it would not be safe, and another person thought driving by himself was more enjoyable. Most of the people would like to have an autonomous vehicle, becaus...
Read more

Ethical

Alice buys an autonomous vehicle from Bob, who sells them. The autonomous vehicle has different settings, some more aggressive (where the autonomous vehicle drives faster and brakes harder), and some less. Alice sets the autonomous vehicle to its most aggressive setting. One night on a dark and wet road, Alice hits a pedestrian, Carlos, who was jaywalking. Carlos is badly hurt. Bob: the person that sales the car Alice: car owner, set the car to its most aggressive setting Carlos: jaywalked on the road, badly hurt by Alice’s car When an autonomous vehicle crashes or has an accident of some sort – who is responsible, and to what degree? Because the legal framework for autonomous vehicles does not yet exist, designers can only write programs to ensure the ethical conduct of autonomous vehicles. However, all the ethical issues could not be prevented by writing the code, as programs are simply instructions, and vehicles cannot think as humans do. Based on the...
Read more