Autonomous vehicle By Ben Severin from Reunion Island
An autonomous vehicle is a motor vehicle capable of driving on an open road without the intervention of a driver . The concept aims to develop and produce a vehicle that can really run on public roads in traffic without human intervention in all situations , eventually . It is a typical application of the field of mobile robotics in which many actors are engaged . Nevertheless , many technical , legal , psychological and legal issues remain unresolved .
The concept of autonomous car can cover both a fully autonomous vehicle or a " semiautonomous " vehicle with various automated driving assistance systems , for example in town or highway , or automated parking system .
Principles
An autonomous vehicle which can be a standard equipped vehicle is equipped with digital sensors ( cameras , radars , sonars , etc .) whose data are processed by processors and specific software :
_ with the fusion of these data , these software reconstruct the 3D road situation by pattern recognition ( pavement , lane , vehicle , obstacle , panel boundaries ) and use artificial intelligence algorithms to decide the action . to be carried out on the controls of the vehicle ;
_ the actions decided by software are carried out by servo controls on the steering wheel , the accelerator , the brake and various interfaces allowing the engagement and disengagement of the automatic driving mode .
Expected effects of autonomous vehicle development
Some analysts believe that the development of this type of vehicle could upset the global automotive industry , through a radical change in consumption patterns . While today many individuals buy vehicles for their personal use , the development of transport services ( taxi ) based on a fleet of autonomous vehicles could lead to a substantial reduction in this type of purchase3 . The automotive industry would then gradually move from a goods-to-service industry , with the vehicles remaining the property of the transport company .
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