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AN ADVANCEMENT IN AUTOMATION
In this century, automation is beginning to play a key role in the daily lives of those all over the world. From grocery store checkout counters to Keurig coffee makers, people encounter forms of automation every single day. Isn’t it about time for an automated car? The automated or self-driving car is such a fascinating idea because it would reduce the stress of traffic by making accidents less prevalent, if implemented adequately. I have decided to take this time to discuss the topic of automated cars because driverless cars are forcing they’re way into the mainstream market. Just about every major car manufacturer has become involved in this new technology. Who could have guessed that a technology lacking one of its most important pieces, a driver, would open possibilities unforeseen until now? While the tech world is ecstatic about the future of this advancement, others have become hesitant. After multiple crashes involving driverless cars, trusting one’s life with this evolving technology becomes less appealing. While I accept that some safety risks will always be unavoidable, especially in a car, I am also hesitant to put myself in driverless car in its current stages. Even with reputable companies, such as Uber, putting forth their greatest effort toward the implementation of driverless cars, I would rather not weigh the value of my life for a twenty-minute trip until the technology of driverless cars has proved its safety.
IF IT’S BROKE, FIX IT
The implementation of fully evolved driverless cars--however risky they seem to be at first-- will increase the safety of those inside and outside of the vehicle, along our nation’s highways. Today, road accidents are a great cause of preventable deaths today taking the lives of near 33,000 in 2014 [1]. This is a serious problem threatening our society because any number of preventable deaths, no matter the cause, are worth the investment to avoid. Anything that can be done to reduce the number of preventable deaths throughout the world is the necessary action to be taken. It is essential for engineers to recognize this as an issue because the solution to mitigate the number of car-related deaths is through driverless cars. This would require an engineer’s expertise. Currently driverless cars “incorporate several kinds of sensors ([ranging from] Cameras, RADAR, and LIDAR) which provide a steady stream of real-time data” [1]. The technology on a driverless car is not only advanced, but also requires the expertise of an engineer. Some of these would include Computer Science as well as Electrical Engineering. A background in Computer Science would be necessary to craft the “machine learning” algorithms that have become a central part of driverless cars [1]. Electrical Engineers would be an integral part of the driverless car process because the number of advanced electrical systems and components, as identified previously, is outstanding.

Driverless cars must have eyes on the road and all surrounding areas, to prevent even the slightest hazard. Thomas Frey, an author from the Journal of Environmental Health, makes a clever observation stating that it would be “foolish for highway engineers to ignore the opportunity to build roads as intelligent as the vehicles that could drive them” [2]. Frey points out that while many are solely focused on the improvement of the driverless cars themselves, the roads for which the cars drive on are just as important in maintaining the safety of passengers and those nearby. In the case of improving the status of today’s roads to fit with that of driverless cars, it would require the knowledge of yet another engineer, a Civil Engineer. As we can already see almost every aspect of the driverless car phenomenon heavily integrates the expertise of engineers. If society would like to continue with its ambitious and frankly fascinating feat, engineers should not ignore this opportunity to make the impossible possible and safe for all to take part in once again.

DRIVERLESS CAMERAS
The end goal-- to reduce the number of preventable car-related deaths—is worth the means; however, the current state of these cars makes me wary. Before I delve into further detail about the safety of driverless cars, it is important to understand how exactly these cars are able to drive autonomously. First of all, driverless cars implement a collection of “cameras, RADAR, and LIDAR“ sensors placed all around the car, in every direction [1]. The placement of these sensors removes all blind spots from the car at all times. With the implementation of these sensors, a car is able to detect whether or not other vehicles are approaching. By themselves, the sensors would be effectively useless without a central code or algorithm. This algorithm is called “machine learning” which analyzes a constant stream of data coming from the sensors and cameras surrounding the car [1]. The data being received by the sensors and cameras then produces a course of action depending on the outside circumstances. Whether that be to adjust lane spacing in the event of drifting too far over to one side or breaking in the event vehicles slow down in front of the car. Unfortunately, the full idea of what a driverless car should be has not been fully developed. The driverless cars of today, while incorporating highly advanced technology, have not perfected the applications of its technologies. Keith Kirkpatrick, a writer for the Communication of the ACM, states that “today’s vision systems [used in driverless cars] are only able to make basic distinctions” [3]. The ability to make only very basic distinctions, such as if plastic bag flies across the road, hinders a cars ability to function without fault on major highways and creates a greater risk for accidents. Without the ability of a driverless car to make clearer distinctions between harmless objects and more dangerous ones, the safety of the passengers inside the vehicle could potentially be compromised. In addition, a few researchers at the University of Virginia were able to hack into the computer of a driverless car, “easily attacking the breaking and acceleration and other automated systems” within the vehicle [4]. By hacking into a driverless car, designed to carry passengers from point A to point B, the University of Virginia identified a possible violation of safety as well as privacy that must be fixed before the driverless car becomes fully integrated into the world. Understanding these various factors, I believe that while the driverless car would greatly slash the number of car accidents and deaths when fully perfected, the current state of this technology does not justify widespread integration just yet.
UBER OR AUTO?
While this technology is in its early stages of development, there is a proper way to test the effectiveness and success of this technology. One company that has found the key to this technology is Uber. Uber has teamed up with the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Lab and incorporated the expertise Carnegie Mellon has in 3D digital mapping [5]. By teaming up with Carnegie Mellon, which has had experience in the field of autonomous robots, Uber has been able to make Pittsburgh the center to test driverless cars. In order to ensure safety while testing its driverless cars, Uber has required that two of its employees ride in the front two seats in the case of emergency and record data on the car’s maneuvers. The fact that Uber has been able to commercialize this technology already in current stages, while ensuring the safety of its passengers is incredible. The company is able to conduct testing of this technology without hindering their business model. While Uber has yet to have an accident with their cars, one will inevitably come because “there’s no software designer in the world that’s ever going to be smart enough to anticipate all the potential circumstances this software is going to encounter” [6]. Accounting for this fact, when Uber does encounter a situation where one of their driverless cars is involved in an accident, they will follow the standard operating procedure for normal car accidents and log what went wrong [5]. While this technology is still evolving toward its full potential, it is nice to see that a company is successfully making this technology accessible to the public in a safe manner. With my safety as a main concern, I feel that the way Uber carries out its driverless car program is adequate to put my tension at ease.

DRIVERLESS CARS ARE THE WAY OF THE FUTURE
In the long-run, the driverless car will provide a safer and better alternative on the road. As of now, the severity of automobile accidents accounts for tens of thousands, much higher than should be acceptable. The introduction of the driverless car has found its way to become the solution to the drastic number of car accidents on the road. Although this technology is still in its beginning stages, it will provide a safer alternative because it transfers the job of a human driver to a computer. This computer allows the car to constantly monitor the road for all potential hazards and avoid them before an accident happens. Without this technology, the problem of road deaths due to human error will continue to haunt our nation’s roads, on which millions of people travel every single day. If the option to slash a great number of preventable deaths exists, then it is the course of action that must be taken. Hopefully, one day, driverless cars will become as ubiquitous as human driven cars are today.
CITING AND SOURCES
[1] E. Dashevsky. “Driverless Cars.” PC Magazine 2016. Accessed 10.29.2016.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=7a16ce5e-1ad7-4d10-978e-25c3cfe043c0%40sessionmgr1&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHVpZCZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=117743802&db=aph

[2] T. Frey. “Driverless Highways: Creating Cars That Talk to the Roads.” Journal of Environmental Health. 2012. Accessed 10.29.2016.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=73&sid=d7cb6198-e4f9-47b0-9c6d-78c8c63c80f1%40sessionmgr2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=83590586&db=aph

[3] K. Kirkpatrick. “The Moral Challenges of Driverless Cars.” Communications of the ACM. 2015. Accessed 10.29.2016.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=5e2ff323-d707-4e5d-a2ed-efd01ad6015a%40sessionmgr4007&hid=4002&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=108508409

[4] A. Versprille. “Researchers Hack Into Driverless Car System, Take Control of Vehicle.” National Defense. 2015. Accessed 10.29.2016.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=50&sid=d7cb6198-e4f9-47b0-9c6d-78c8c63c80f1%40sessionmgr2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=102355565&db=aph

[5] X. Harding. “The Professional Passenger.” Popular Science. 2016. Accessed 10.29.2016.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=65&sid=d7cb6198-e4f9-47b0-9c6d-78c8c63c80f1%40sessionmgr2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=118700665&db=aph

[6] A. Rosenblum. “Policing Driverless Cars.” MIT Technology Review. 2016. Accessed 10.29.2016. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=67&sid=d7cb6198-e4f9-47b0-9c6d-78c8c63c80f1%40sessionmgr2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=118880397&db=aph


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Tyler Weinstein for helping me with last minute-formatting errors and preventing me from procrastinating too much over Halloween break.

University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering

11.01.2016