Preparing for the DARPA Autonomous Vehicle Challenge

Little Hamster writes "Post-gazette.com has an interesting article on the DARPA funded 200-mile autonomous vehicle race across the California-Nevada desert. They interviewed teams from two of the early favourites, Carnegie Mellon University and the California Institute of Technology. The teams talked about challenges on driving at high speed over a combination of roads, rough terrain and brush-covered desert, where the robot would need to consider how fast it can make a turn, the possibility of spinning tires and the potential to become airborne when hitting bumps."

Comments

Re:Further applications

[Osty]

This is really cool.. technology like this could be used in consumer cars to reduce rollover/tire spin/etc. Maybe even 'smart' cars that drive themselves, leaving the human passengers free to sleep or get work done.

We already have all of that technology available already.

• Preventing roll-overs: Buy a car that's not top-heavy. If you have a real need for an SUV that is top-heavy, don't try to drive it like a car, because it's not. It's a truck, and you should be aware of that (ie, avoid turning sharply, braking suddenly, etc). The newer cross-over and car-based SUVs (Chrysler Pacifica, Porsche Cayenne/VW Touareg, Infiniti FX models, etc) are much better in this respect. I'm referring mostly to the body-on-frame truck-based SUVs. I don't drive my huge F250 like I do my Boxster, simply because the F250 doesn't handle like the Boxster does.
• Wheel spin: Traction control/stability management systems are quite intelligent these days, using modulated application of braking at the different wheels depending on what's need. Otherwise, keep your tires in good condition (check your remaining tread depth, air pressure, etc) and use the proper type of tire (summer ultra-performance tires are dangerous on snow or ice, of course) and you'll be much safer. It's scary the number of cars I see on the road with bald tires or low pressure.
• Cars that drive themselves: Busses, trains, etc. Of course, this assumes you're in an area with a good mass transit system, which many of us are not. On the whole, though, I'd rather entrust myself to a human bus driver than an autonomous car, at least for the forseeable future. (That said, I never use mass transit, because it's simply not useful where I live, and I love driving :)

Okay, so those may not be as glamorous as a fully-robotic car, but the technology is already there. And as far as future autonomous cars go, so long as I can still buy a car that lets me manage throttle, brakes, shifting on my own for fun, I'll be happy.