Van Buren

Everyone loves going to amusement parks for a day filled with roller coasters, food, and family. Imagine waiting in a long line to get on the bumper cars. You finally make it into a bumper car and head for your brother or sister. Right as you're about to hit their bumper car, your car skids to a stop. What fun is that? This is how new car technology works. It won't be used in bumper cars because that would ruin the fun, but many cars on the road are beginning to be able to stop themselves without the driver hitting the brakes.

Cars that can brake by themselves are the first step toward cars that can drive themselves without a person doing anything. Cars that can drive themselves are called self-driving cars. These cars aren't being sold yet, but in 2020 people can start buying them (1). That's four years away! Can you see yourself cruising to school in a cool car that can drive itself on the highway? Four years may seem far away for you, but the idea of a car being able to drive itself was thought of way back in 1935 (3)! That's before your grandparents were even born! The first try to make a self-driving car was to dig trenches in the ground, like a corn rows but much bigger, and let the trenches guide the cars without the driver steering (3). The ideas for self-driving cars have come a long way.


Self-driving cars being tested today use sensors in the front and a camera in the windshield (2). These sensors are how the cars see where they are on the road. The sensors are like the cars' eyes. Another part on the car is called LIDAR (3). This part lets the car see itself on a map just like a videogame! The car sees itself on the map the same way you would when playing your favorite racing game.

Do you think you will buy a car that drives itself when you grow up? They're not that far away in the future, and seem like they're going to be the next cool thing to have!

References

(1)Greimel, H., & Nelson, G. (2015, November 02). Japan Inc.'s 2020 vision: Self-driving cars on the road. Automotive News, 89, 1.

(2)Knight, W. (2013, October 22). Driverless Cars Are Further Away Than You Think. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/520431/driverless-cars-are-further-away-than-you-think/

(3)Weber, M. (2014). Where to? A History of Autonomous Vehicles. Retrieved April 17, 2016, from http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/where-to-a-history-of-autonomous-vehicles/