1. Autonomous vehicle navigation – current status, issues, and prospects
Scope of autonomous vehicle navigation
There are three ways a car may be navigated: totally in autonomous mode – without any
driver intervention, semi-autonomously with some driver intervention, and completely driver
controlled. A vehicle may be guided autonomously by the Global Positioning System (GPS),
cameras, laser detectors, radar, wires in or lines on the road, or by transponders strategically
located along a route. While road sensors or wires provide a more accurate navigation there
are practical limits to installing them, given the number of roads involved. Navigational
software includes pre-programmed routes, driving rules (such as stopping for red lights and
lane changes), and user interfaces. Mechanical control is done by servo motors, relays,
sensors, automated steering and braking, throttle management, and so forth.
With the improvement of automotive systems aided by computers and artificial intelligence, it
should not be surprising to see the emergence of vehicles that drive themselves. Various
names have been given to autonomously driven vehicles: uninhabited autonomous vehicle
(UAV), autopilot vehicle, driverless car, auto-drive car, or automated/autonomously guided
vehicle (AGV). An autonomously-driven vehicle is a true automobile, i.e., mobile on its own –
self-propelled and navigated. A semi-autonomous vehicle can use any navigational method,
but the driver intervenes to determine the routing and otherwise control the car. A person in
a completely driver-controlled vehicle most often uses a map interfacing with GPS or a hand
held device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) that displays locations via GPS. Routes
ultimately are determined by the driver and may be charted by means such as on-board
maps, web interface, or PDAs. Assisted navigation already is a reality. Smart cars have the
capability of detecting empty parking spaces, thus obviating having to drive a long time
searching. Already, in many cities there are timed traffic lights, where by maintaining an
optimal speed, a driver can “make” every light without stopping. With forward-looking traffic
control (automatic positioning), a driver is warned via a human-machine interface (HMI) of
accidents, congestion, and construction, and is given the choice of different routes. A final
step is intelligent and automated street or highway systems, where cars are integrated into
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2. an overall system and coordinated to result in a smooth and optimal traffic flow. High
Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are precursors to this.
Feasibility of autonomously-driven vehicles
Pilotless vehicles are not new. Hydrogen balloons were guided by spark transmitters towards
the end of the 19th century, and the British flew a monoplane called the Larynx [1] in the
1920s. During World War Two, radio controlled
planes came more into vogue. Today we see
remotely operated tractors tilling and seeding
fields using the GPS, or even a cell phone.
We have remotely monitored and controlled
systems such as OnStar for Chevrolet cars and
Qualcomm for semi-trucks. Mostly everyone
has heard of the Predator drones used by the
Tractor driven by student in India using a cell phone [2]
U.S. military as “state-of-the-art”, although
there are numerous problems of errors in
targeting [3]. Especially since 1977, when Tsukuba Mechanical engineering lab built the first
self-driving vehicle, development and sophistication has continued for autonomous ground
vehicles. Another example of autonomous vehicle development was Carsense a project
sponsored from 2000-20002 by the European Commission consisting of twelve European car
manufacturing companies to illustrate the efficacy of autonomous vehicles. Long and short
radar, cameras, and various sensors were used to pilot the vehicle.
The Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense
(DoD), sponsored three DARPA challenges to build autonomously driven vehicles in March
2004, October 2005, and November 2007. The 2004 and 2005 ones involved vehicles
running overland in off-road desert environments up to 240 km and up to 80 km per hour. In
the first, only five vehicles traveled more than a couple of kilometers. Three vehicles
completed more than 212 km in the second. The third challenge was in an urban
environment and six vehicles traveled 60 miles.
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3. From 26 July to 28 October 2010 four vehicles drove themselves 15,000 km from Parma Italy
to Shanghai, China [4]. In the same year Google had seven driven for a total of 140,000
miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco with humans intervening only occasionally [5].
Routes were reprogrammed, along with essential data like speed limits. Google has gone so
far as to ask Nevada to allow autonomous vehicles and texting in them [6]. As late as the
middle of June 2011 Nevada approved the use of autonomous vehicles on its roads [7].
Volkswagen is testing vehicles in Europe, as the following video displays so graphically:
http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/google-approval-self-driving-cars-nevada.html. Stanford
University, one of the winners of the U.S.
Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
urban challenge in 2007, is carrying forth
research on LIght Detection And Ranging, or
Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging
(LIDER) to create maps of a car's
environment and use that to navigate. Maps
with locations of people and objects are
Stanford Autonomous Vehicle Project [8]
continuously generated from this with
centimeter accuracy and the data are used to determine an actual path.
Sequence of events in a typical UAV trip
A typical trip in an autonomous vehicle would be similar to the following. A driver has
selected a destination, turns the ignition key to start the motor, and inputs the location into a
computer in the car. If the car is connected to a network in a highly congested area, route
selection might be determined by that network, the driver, at this point being a mere
passenger. Otherwise the driver will have more independence in overriding the vehicle's
computer system. A power on self test (POST) is done by the computer, with sensors,
instruments, and circuitry being tested for integrity. At such point, the computer activates
the controllers of the power train, steering, and braking. Physical turning is done by servo
motors which receive signals from the computer, which, in turn has received signals from the
sensors. The vehicle backs or pulls out of its parking spot and the trip begins. Sensors in
conjunction with navigation by GPS and maps generated by satellite in real time enable the
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4. car to maintain a correct trajectory. Over the years, computer assisted braking, steering,
engine control, and navigation have been evolved to a point where all of these are being
integrated into the autonomous vehicle. These systems now work in conjunction with each
other – at least in theory - to provide a safe and economical trip.
Assessing the desirability of autonomously-driven vehicles
It is said trivially that “necessity is the mother of invention”, so it is not out of place to ask the
question whether there should be autonomously-driven vehicles. Some major reasons in favor
of such technology are:
Coordinated vehicle control may be used to manage traffic congestion. It is worthy to
note that Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company speech at Technology,
Entertainment, Design (TED) conference in March 2011 stated we need “smart' cars,
“smart” roads, public transport, and other measures that will address the overcrowding
of cars on the highways in order to have the freedom of mobility. He cited a 100 mile
traffic jam in China during the summer of 2010 that took 11 days to clear. With most
people living in cities world wide in the near future, people will not have the freedom to
drive just anywhere they want at any time. High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes are a
partial response to this, but certainly not sufficient. It will be problematical at best
whether drivers will have as much control as they do now about routing, and driving
very well may be determined by traffic flow. [9]
A carefully controlled vehicle is safer, as it navigates more precisely and is not fraught
with the human errors that are sources of transit problems, such as accidents, poor
route selection, and inefficient driving practices. A major cause of accidents is
tailgating and failing to keep distance, but cars that are autonomously driven are more
accurate as they have not only precise navigation and monitoring equipment but
devices exist to physically slow down or stop the car before it crashes [10].
Autonomous vehicles are more fuel efficient, as fuel use and route selection result from
careful computations, rather than from the rough estimates by a driver [11]. In
addition, we may not have much choice about fuel use, given the mounting problem of
Peak Oil [12]. Peak Oil will not only force the deployment of transportation using non-
petroleum -based fuel, but there will have to be a more efficient flow and regulation of
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5. traffic to maximize fuel efficiency, and that can come about by the precision of
autonomous vehicles.
Autonomous navigation is more convenient in eliminating the “work aspect” of driving.
A would be driver can become a passenger freed of the worry of the consequences of
inefficient or generally poor driving.
Very aged citizens, highly medicated, intoxicated, and blind people may be able to
drive.
There are disadvantages to autonomous vehicles, some being:
There is less choice of routing and general control over the vehicle.
Even if the option exists of switching from autonomous driving to driving by a person,
the problem arises of integrating the switchover from a planned route to one that is
determined by the driver and may not be compatible.
There is the failure of systems and the consequences. One small disruption in a very
large and integrated system may have disastrous effects.
There is a continued dependence upon individual vehicles in face of looming constraints
of diminishing fuel supplies and congestion. A false security arises in thinking that the
increased efficiency and safety of autonomous systems is sufficient in overcoming these
problems.
The issue of hacking the software running autopilot looms. No further comment should
be necessary here.
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References (Subject is indicated by URL – accessed 31 July 2011)
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-controlled_aircraft#History
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6. [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAFw0L-E4hc&NR=1
[3] http://thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/07/18/washingtons-untrue-claims-no-civilian-
deaths-in-pakistan-drone-strikes/
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisLab_Intercontinental_Autonomous_Challenge
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/science/11drive.html
[7] http://techie-buzz.com/tech-news/google-approval-self-driving-cars-nevada.html
[8] http://people.csail.mit.edu/kolter/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=pubs:levinson-iv2011.pdf
[9] http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/robin_chase_on_zipcar_and_her_next_big_idea.html
[10] https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-
project-043007-205701/unrestricted/IQPOVP06B1.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true
[11] https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-
project-043007-205701/unrestricted/IQPOVP06B1.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true
[12] http://www.theoildrum.com/
Resources (Subject is indicated by URL – accessed 31 July 2011)
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.spacetech.tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/LR/O
pleidingen/SpaceTech/Central_Case_Project/doc/ST3_Worldwide_Inter-
Modal_Navigation_System.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true
http://e2af.com/trend/080212.shtml
http://wn.com/automobile_navigation_system - compares different types
Autonomous Cars and Society -
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-
043007-205701/unrestricted/IQPOVP06B1.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true
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7. http://www.intempora.com/en/projects/automotive/adas/carsense
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controller_area_network
http://www.transport-
research.info/web/projects/project_details.cfm?id=15260&page=outline
Stanford robot car "Junior" in action, DARPA Urban Challenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSS0MZvoltw
http://www2.ece.ohio-state.edu/citr/Demo97/osu-av.html
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://husky.if.uidaho.edu/pubs/2011/IJCNN11_RavMan
_HWNeuralAutonVehPathTracking.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true
Transponder use - http://www.mikechiafulio.com/RIDE/system.html
Path selection method -
http://ftp.utcluj.ro/pub/docs/imaging/Autonomous_driving/Articole%20sortate/TUBraunschwe
ig/iv980304.pdf
http://www.intempora.com/en/projects/automotive/adas/carsense
Excellent history summary of UAVs - http://faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans/bishopahs.htm
http://www.ivsource.net/archivep/2000/jul/a000731_carsense.html
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