Future Rides
There is no doubt that driverless cars have arrived. We are laser sensors which rely on a series of points to identify
seeing huge technological advancements each day that are hazards, bionic vision offers richer information and a deeper
bringing autonomous vehicles into the mainstream. Whilst understanding of road scenes through 3D image analysis.
we are getting excited about the thought of cruising around This new technology will allow autonomous vehicles to
town while reading a book or drinking a coffee, there’s still a rapidly detect and avoid hazards, understand and obey road
lot of technology that needs to be tested and refined before rules and to determine their exact location in relation to other
we jump into our autonomous cars. moving vehicles and landmarks in a given environment. It
would allow driverless cars to react quickly to any hazards at
One of the big technical challenges is the fact that
a distance of 10 metres or further to avoid collisions.
autonomous cars cannot 'see' like humans. Sight is a vital
part of detecting and understanding everything from road Not only are current laser sensors less effective at avoiding
signs and traffic conditions to avoiding pedestrians and hazards, they are also extremely expensive. The proposed
vehicle collisions. bionic vision algorithms CSIRO is developing with ZongMu
cost one-tenth the amount and will allow autonomous
Autonomous vehicles currently use laser sensors to detect
vehicles to reach the road in a much shorter time frame.
the environment around them but this has some obvious
limitations. While lasers are good for detecting objects and These advancements are not only limited to driverless cars,
their distance from the vehicle, they cannot read and follow there are a variety of areas that could potentially benefit
street signs or differentiate between a footpath and the from this type of technology. Research is building on
driveable road. previous work by CSIRO in developing a bionic eye, using
bionic vision that has given sight to the visually impaired.
The CSIRO's Data61 division is looking at changing this with Using electrodes in a bionic eye, patients are able to get a
the help of Australian bionic eye technology. CSIRO has sense of distance, with the electrical signals intensifying as
partnered with Chinese self-driving technology company, the individual gets closer to an obstacle.
ZongMu Technology. Together they are aiming to equip
autonomous vehicles with bionic vision, an intuitive way to ZongMu self-driving technology is already being used by
allow a machine to see and understand the environment the China’s leading car makers for enhanced driver and road
way humans do and react to hazards. safety. Together with CSIRO's expertise in bionic vision, it is
hoped the partnership will help bring autonomous vehicles
The idea is to develop bionic vision using algorithms to with the highest safety standards to the consumer market in
estimate the space between objects according to motion the not to distant future.
and predict the potential hazards of moving objects. Unlike
CAPRICORN IGNITION MARCH 2018 25