- A new autopilot system for cars has been
developed which guides a car through town traffic - the "driver"
just sits back and watches. The technology takes over steering, lane-changing
and indicating, as well as controlling speed. Previous systems could only
keep a car a certain distance from the one in front.
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- One quirk of the system is that it does
not automatically keep to speed limits, because it sets it speed by matching
that of other cars. This tactic avoids the need to recognise individual
lanes which is difficult on busy town streets.
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- Professor Frank Heimes, of the Fraunhofer
Institute for Information and Data Processing, Germany, says the aim is
to make driving easier in the high-stress, complex situation of inner-city
driving, particularly for people with disabilities.
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- He says that accidents are usually caused
by slight errors of human judgement. Although a machine will never be perfect,
it might do better than a human in some circumstances.
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- Driving by video
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- The system relies on two video cameras
on the front of the car. This visual information is fed into two computer
chips. These work out where the car is on the road and where any other
cars are.
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- The chips recognise cars, pedestrians
and road junctions by comparing what the cameras see with stored three-dimensional
models.
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- If action is necessary, then the steering,
for example, is automatically adjusted. The driver could take over at any
moment by grabbing the wheel or stepping on a pedal.
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- The prototype system is not foolproof.
The database only contains roads of fixed widths.
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- It is also too large to fit into most
cars and so it is unlikely that it will be used in the near future. There
would also need to be legal changes.
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- In the UK, for example, automatic control
of steering and brakes is illegal.
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- The work is reported in New Scientist.
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