Nov 21, 2013 ... Driverless cars. Credit: Hans Stakelbeek. At first glance, the cars look like they
are performing an everyday manoeuvre. It is 12 November,.
Driverless cars 21 November 2013 year it will be revealed that the future is no longer science fiction. Right at this moment, all over the world, important tests and developments are taking place that will bring the semi-self-driving car another step closer. One of these is TU Delft's experiment. At the same time in Japan, Mazda is testing how different types of cars and trams can communicate with each other.
Credit: Hans Stakelbeek
At first glance, the cars look like they are performing an everyday manoeuvre. It is 12 November, and three cars are driving in a convoy on the motorway. The rear vehicle passes the middle vehicle and returns to the right lane. However, there is nothing normal about this manoeuvre on the A10 motorway. These are semiself-driving cars, and TU Delft helped develop them.
Car manufacturers are building more intelligent vehicles too. Take BMW. This autumn, the German car maker will be presenting the Traffic Jam Assistant. This technology ensures that a vehicle keeps a certain distance from the car in front of it. It will work at speeds of up to forty kilometres per hour. This will be particularly useful in traffic jams: the vehicle will increase speed and brake itself when it is needed. The American car manufacturer Ford recently presented a system that uses three radars, ultrasonic sensors and a camera that monitors a 200 metre strip of road. The driver is given a warning if they are in danger of driving into anything, and if they fail to respond then the car will avoid the obstacle itself by braking or steering. Wi-Fi network
The three cars (Toyota Priuses) are crammed full of technological gadgets. "They communicate with each other. The Prius doing the passing asks the other two vehicles to make room for it. A real driver carries out the actual manoeuvre, but this is still an important first step towards a self-driving car. We conducted this test in a real-life traffic situation rather than on a test track. This is new in itself, and as such we have provided a demonstration of the current capabilities of these systems," explains prof. Bart van Arem, director of the Transport Institute. TU Delft will buy two Toyota Priuses this autumn which will be fitted with the new technology.
Such systems are currently being applied and tested all over the globe by car manufacturers and universities. The cars are packed full of technology. "Take the radar, hidden behind the grill: the narrow beam can project more than 100 metres and detect the cars in front," explains Van Arem. In addition, the cars can communicate via a dedicated automotive Wi-Fi network. And there are cameras that monitor the road as well. "Among other things they can detect manoeuvres made by other cars. We use as many cameras as possible because they are much cheaper than a radar. Laser scanners are even better, but these too are very expensive."
There is nothing new about the idea of self-driving cars, thanks, among others, to Google's driverless car project and science fiction films. However, this One technology that is very important in the
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development of intelligent cars is geographical positioning. It can be used to warn the driver it they are in the wrong lane, for example. This will require a kind of 'super GPS', because the current navigation systems do not have this degree of accuracy (the current margin of error is around 20 metres).
based on simulations! We have no idea whether this would also prove to be the case in practice. How will other drivers respond if they see a convoy of self-driving vehicles driving close behind each other? It could cause a distraction, in much the same way that traffic jams have a knock-on effect on traffic coming the other way due to curious onlookers slowing down. We simply do not know. I TU Delft is collaborating with Technolution, NXP believe we need to carry out more tests in driving and TomTom to build a new system. "We are using simulators or on the road, so that we can find out predictions of atmospheric conditions and satellite how people actually behave when confronted with orbits to make corrections to the GPS signal and this new technology." have achieved an accuracy of 50 centimetres. Next year we will be testing the new system on the A67 It is also questionable whether people will be motorway, nearby the cities of Eindhoven and prepared to give up control in the first place. Will Venlo." they accept their car being in command? "I think the success hinges on the user-friendliness of the Another critical factor is driver alertness. At first system. And there has to be a clear advantage, sight, you would think that the driver should be able such as less road accident victims, less fuel to relax completely if their car does everything for consumption and less traffic jams. And there will them. However, they cannot sit back and read the always be petrol heads who will not give up the newspaper or even fall asleep. Because what if an wheel." accident threatens and the system is defect, or there is a speck of dirt on the lens, or traffic is Van Arem agrees. "But there is so much interest in abnormally heavy? The driver may well then be self-driving cars that I doubt that many people will required to intervene. reject the concept. These days, journalists do not ask me if we need self-driving cars, but when they For this reason, the cameras in a self-driving car do will be introduced." not only monitor the road, but the driver too. "Using an infrared camera with eye tracking, we can The professor of Transport and Planning sees a monitor the driver's alertness," explains traffic shift in thinking. "A few years ago, my colleagues psychologist Dr Raymond Hoogendoorn of TU said that lane keeping and adaptive cruise control Delft. "The role of the driver is changing. Instead of could not be combined. They said it would be too the controller of the vehicle they will become a kind dangerous because drivers would hardly have to be of supervisor, comparable to an aircraft pilot." alert, because their cars would automatically use the right lane, and brake when needed. But this combination now exists, supplemented with a Psychology system that monitors the driver's alertness." At the global level, hundreds of millions are being spent on this technology, but of course the selfReliability will also play an important role in the driving car is about more than just money and acceptance process, says Hoogendoorn. "If there efficiency. The psychology is important too. "How are a couple of major incidents with self-driving will other road users respond to self-driving cars? cars and a car causes an accident or ends up in a We have come up with wonderful technologies, but field, then this will have a major impact on we still know nothing about the psychology of the acceptance. This is why it is extremely important concept," says Hammond. that we know precisely where a car is and where other road users are. This is particularly complex Some studies suggest that if 10 percent of the cars where it concerns pedestrians and cyclists. Cars were self-driving then there would be a 30 percent are easy to detect with sensors, but pedestrians time saving in traffic jams. "But such studies are and cyclists are more difficult, among others
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because of their unpredictable behaviour. This is Japan why I anticipate that the first systems will be mainly used only on motorways." A motorist crosses in front of a tram without paying attention, but is not hit because the tram stops automatically. This scenario is reality in the Traffic jam assistant Japanese city of Hiroshima. Since October, cars In Japan they are currently studying how intelligent and trams there are able to communicate with each systems can save lives and prevent bumper-toother across 700 MHz radio waves. They inform bumper accidents. Van Arem: "They are testing each other of their direction of travel but also whether they can control the speed of acceleration exchange information on the type of vehicle and its externally. Traffic jams are particularly dangerous position. Trams can now detect a car making a turn when the terrain is sloped. Traffic jams and bumper- or stalling in front of them. The tests are being to-bumper accidents could be prevented by performed by the car manufacturer Mazda, in controlling the speed of the cars. We are collaboration with, among others, the University of developing the rules for such a system." Tokyo. The Mazda 6 being used in the experiment is also fitted with a warning system that detects Alongside the psychology, another important pedestrians and road markings via sensors and aspect of such intelligent systems is the legislation. cameras. TU Delft is cooperating closely with RDW, the body responsible for registering motor vehicles and TU Delft and the self-driving car granting permits for imported vehicles. RDW was closely involved in the trial on the A10 motorway. About six years ago, the 3 universities of Van Arem: "RDW will have to determine under technology (3TU) agreed that Eindhoven University which conditions self-driving cars will be permitted, of Technology (TU/e) would focus on automotive which requirements they will need to meet and how while TU Delft would keep a low profile in this to determine whether they comply." sector. And yet, TU Delft has now presented a semiself-driving car. While at TU/e they are working on Van Arem and Hoogendoorn anticipate that one as well. Is this a problem? "Not at all! In fact changes will be introduced gradually over the the technical universities actually cooperate on this coming years. "The first new introduction will be the technology. At TU/e they are focussing on the traffic jam assistant. This system will take over the technology that goes into such cars, while we control of vehicles in traffic jams to ensure that approach the subject as an issue of transport. For traffic continues to flow. This will mean that traffic example, we are studying geographical positioning jams will be cleared sooner because there will be and the behaviour of traffic flows. We are also smaller gaps between vehicles," explains Van collaborating in the field of robotics. Of course there Arem. is some overlap between TU Delft and TU/e, but we are each approaching the intelligent car based on Parallel parking will also become an automated our own specialisations." manoeuvre. "Parallel parking is difficult for humans, but simple for automated systems. The self-driving Van Arem thinks it logical that both TU/e and TU system will gradually assume more and more tasks, Delft are involved in automotive. "High-tech cars such as maximum acceleration, automatic braking combine so many disciplines, such as mechanical and lane keeping." engineering, traffic engineering, robotics, ICT and electrical engineering. Almost all technical Van Arem emphasises that the transition will be universities are involved in some way. Moreover, gradual. "Car manufacturers claim that they will be TU Delft has gained much recognition in this area producing the first self-driving cars in 2020. But thanks to the Nuna and Formula Zero. So it is not they have not said how independent these cars will all strange that we are working on this concept." actually be."
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Provided by Delft University of Technology APA citation: Driverless cars (2013, November 21) retrieved 23 November 2017 from https://phys.org/news/2013-11-driverless-cars.html
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