Professor: Dr. Hubert Bray
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- What are Autonomous Cars
- Autonomous Cars: An idea from the Past
- The Functionality of Autonomous Cars
- How do Autonomous Cars work
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Driving into the Future of Autonomous Cars Abdulla Shahid Math 89S: Mathematics of the Universe Professor: Dr. Hubert Bray November 1st, 2016 Introduction: Every year, 1.3 million people die in car crashes around the world and 37,000 of those deaths occur in the United States (3rd most after India and China). In the United States 8,000 of the deaths that occur involve drivers between the ages of 16 and 20. Furthermore, in the United States, 2.35 million people are injured or disabled per year by car crashes. There have been multiple attempts to decrease the number of accidents that happen on the road. These solutions range from apps that prevent drivers from using their phone to companies creating cars with “automatic breaking”1. These solutions, however, have failed to significantly decrease the number of car crashes that occur as they do not address the main problem in all car crashes, the driver. Ninety percent of all motorized vehicle accidents are caused by human errors which is why many experts believe that the most effective approach to decreasing the number of accidents that occur on the road would be to create autonomous cars. In this paper, I will outline a timeline of autonomous cars, describe their functionality, discuss their economic feasibility, and evaluate the benefits and disadvantages to using autonomous cars in the future. 2 What are Autonomous Cars? One of the key concepts to understand when dealing with autonomous cars is what it means to be “truly autonomous”. A truly autonomous vehicle is a car that is capable of operating without a human. Currently, we have vehicles that are close to being truly autonomous (Tesla Motors is currently the frontrunner), however, we are still years away from creating cars that are able to drive on their own. Autonomous Cars: An idea from the Past? Before understanding how current day autonomous vehicles work, we need to understand how they have been developed up to this point in time. One common misconception that people have about autonomous cars is about when they first came to exist. Many people believe that autonomous cars have only been relevant for the past decade however, car manufacturers have been developing autonomous cars since the 1920s. Below is a brief outline that examines the history of autonomous cars through the past century: 1920: In the 1920s, a 1926 Chandler was equipped with an antenna to create the Linrrican Wonder. The technology behind the Chandler was quite simple, a second car would follow the Chandler and send radio impulses through antennas to the Chandler’s circuit-breakers. These circuit-breakers were linked to small electronic motors that would ultimately direct the movement of the Chandler(Mario). 1950: In the 1950s, RCA Labs was able to create a miniature car that was controlled by wires that were laid on the floor of a laboratory. This ultimately evolved into a full-size system in Nebraska. Inside the pavement, detector circuits had been buried inside that ultimately send impulses to navigate the car and determined the speed of other vehicles on the road(Vanderbilt). 1980-90: It was in the 1980s when we first began to see glimpses of autonomous cars that were able to function without helper devices3. In the start of the decade, we saw the emergence of the vision-guided Mercedes Benz which was able to achieve a speed of 39 miles per hour on an empty road. A few years later, the ALV project (Autonomous Land Vehicle) used LIDAR and computer vision to control a vehicle at speeds of 19 miles per hour(Vanderbilt). By the end of the decade, Carnegie Mellon University was able to use neural networks4 to steer and control autonomous cars and is now the foundation of contemporary control strategies(Mario). 2000-Present: In the start of the 21st century, we begin to see the formation of government-funded programs geared towards creating autonomous vehicles. It is not until 2010 that we begin to see major automotive and tech companies venturing into the field of autonomous cars. In 2010, VisLab (Italian based) was able to test run an autonomous car (9,900 mile run) which marked the first intercontinental land journey by an autonomous vehicle (Gerla). Furthermore, in 2010, the Institute of Control Engineering of Technishe Universitat Braunchweig developed the first autonomous car that was able to drive on the streets of Germany (with traffic). After 2010, multiple companies such as Google, VisLab, and Nissan were able to create cars that were able to drive autonomously but were still not ready to be driven on the road as they lacked the ability to follow signs and other road/driving protocols(Vanderbilt). Finally, in 2015-16, Tesla Motors released autopilot technology that ultimately allowed their cars to drive autonomously. Throughout the past year, Tesla released multiple software patches that increased the autonomous abilities of their cars (ex: allowed Tesla vehicles to self-park). This month, October 2016, all of Tesla vehicles are now at an SAE level of 55. Tesla still, however, has not yet been able to release full self-driving vehicles as they need to continue testing their cars. Tesla recently stated that they plan to reach full self-driving by the end of 2017 to the start of 2018. The Functionality of Autonomous Cars: Before delving into how autonomous cars function, it is important that one understands how autonomous cars are classified. The SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers) developed a classification system that is based on the “amount of driver intervention and attentiveness needed rather than capabilities of the vehicle/autonomous system” (Stephen). Below is a table published by the SAE that describes the different levels: 
This table may be difficult to understand, especially for those with no driving experience, so I have created a table on the next page that summarizes the different levels without the mechanical jargon:
How do Autonomous Cars work? Now that we have a general idea of how autonomous cars are developed, we should now be able to better understand how autonomous cars work. For this paper, the main vehicles that we will be looking at will be cars from Google and Tesla as these companies have been the most successful in the autonomous driving industry. Below is a detailed description of how Google and Tesla autonomous driving systems work: Google: Computer Vision6: One of the main differences between Google and Tesla’s automotive systems is Google’s usage of Light Detection and Ranging technology (LIDAR). Lidar is a surveying method that measures the distance to a target by illuminating that target with a laser light(Nicholls). In Google’s car, the LIDAR technology consists of 64 lasers that spin at 9000 rpm, ultimately producing a 360-degree view. The survey of the environment created by the LIDAR is then converted to create a 3D graphical representation of the surrounding environment so that obstacles in the environment can be viewed in real time. Once the 3D representation is created, the car uses its attached sensors to determine the position of the different obstacles and objects present in the environment so that the car can move accordingly. The car also has a video camera (attached to the console) that enables the car to see pedestrians and stoplights that are difficult to catch with the LIDAR. One of the advantages of the Google Car is its ability to sync Google Maps, one of the premier mapping services available today. Google uses Google Maps to help determine the path that the car will follow and also the cars current position(Times). Since correct positioning is crucial for an autonomous car, there is also a position estimator on the left wheel of the car that detects the speed of the car which ultimately results in the system having a more accurate position of the car. The graphic below illustrates the process described above in a more detailed manner: 
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