Autoblog

NHTSA launching autonomous car study, guidelines

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 30 May 2013 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Technology

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided it's time to step back into the regulatory driver's seat, this time to outline the way forward for autonomous vehicles. Cars with partial self-driving capability are expected to arrive by 2020, and it's said that vehicles that can shuttle you around with any driver inputs should be here by 2025. In the interest of keeping everyone safe and ushering in a coherent state-by-state framework, NHTSA is planning a four-year initial research program that look at all the ways in which autonomous and partially autonomous technologies can have an impact on safety. According to USA Today, NHTSA is recommending that states authorize "operation of self-driving vehicles, for test purposes," something that isn't even a given across all 50 states yet.

In addition, NHTSA is interested in peripheral active safety features, including safety monitors that help cars stay in their lanes or brake assist systems that slow cars automatically in the case of an imminent collision, and it will be looking at whether these kinds of driving aids should be mandatory.

NHTSA launching autonomous car study, guidelines originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google sees self-driving cars in 3-5 years; Washington, insurers not so sure

Seyth Miersma — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:29:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Technology

In just a handful of years, autonomous car technology has taken amazing strides forward. In particular, the highly visible Google self-driving car effort has garnered loads of media attention for its impressive and fast-evolving technology. In fact, Google is reasonably confident that its autonomous technology can be brought to the marketplace in the next three to five years.

Whether or not the marketplace is in any shape to accept a self-driving car in that timespan is a much trickier question.

A new report by Bloomberg examines the relationship between autonomous tech and the regulations that must certainly come along with it before these kinds of auto-piloted cars show up in a dealership near you. Google maintains that self-driving cars can be made to "drive safer than people do," saving lives in the process. Meanwhile, regulating bodies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have to figure out how the cars will be road-tested for safety and where new standards will be set. How a vehicle's software is able to react to fluid and random driving scenarios, for example, will need to be somehow be tested to meet a high standard of performance.

Reaction from the insurance industry is likely to slow down the arrival of autonomous cars, as well, says Bloomberg. While, as a whole, the insurance companies have claimed to be in favor of self-driving's accident-prevention possibilities, the reality of liability claims muddy the waters. Some insurance experts predict that these issues could cause it to be as long as 15 or 20 years before the way is clear for self-driving cars in the US - decades, in other words, behind the pace of the technology itself.

Check out the full Bloomberg story, with a lot more detail around this complex issue, here.

Google sees self-driving cars in 3-5 years; Washington, insurers not so sure originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota and Lexus show off advanced safety research vehicle [w/video]

Jonathon Ramsey — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, CES, Japan, Safety, Technology, Videos, Lexus, Toyota, Luxury

While Google and Audi explore the possibilities of autonomous vehicles, Toyota and its Lexus division are studying the intermediate step of vehicles equipped with a deep suite of technology that help drivers make the best decisions. Introduced at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Lexus advanced safety research vehicle is an LS sedan fitted with three high-def color cameras to detect objects up to almost 500 feet away, 360-degree Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) lasers that can detect objects up to 220 feet away, three radar units to keep track of other vehicles at intersections, a precision odometer on the rear wheel, GPS that estimates orientation and an accelerometer.

Currently testing at a purpose-built 8.6 acre urban testing ground at the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Susono, Japan the Toyota research vehicle is being used to study how to make better drivers, as well as figuring out how to reduce crashes as the industry's journey through passive and active safety systems progresses. In the event of a crash, new rescue systems are also being tested.

Further investment is being put into the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that would use shortwave signals to harness information from the car and from other vehicles on the road, as well as roadside infrastructure and even pedestrians. Toyota reasons it could then build a picture of interactions and, for instance, alert the driver to a potential collision at a blind intersection.

Toyota's says its research "could lead to a fully autonomous car in the future," but for now, the point is that "a driverless car is just a part of the story. Our vision is a car equipped with an intelligent, always-attentive co-pilot whose skills contribute to safer driving." Improving driver education in this country would probably be a lot cheaper, but hey, we're for anything that helps make the roads safer places to be. There's plenty more tech-speak in the video and press release below.

Continue reading Toyota and Lexus show off advanced safety research vehicle [w/video]

Toyota and Lexus show off advanced safety research vehicle [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM study watches drivers of autonomous vehicles [w/video]

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:59:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Technology, Videos, Cadillac, GM

Like it or not, autonomous vehicles are on the way, and much is being done to study their integration into the world's transportation networks. As part of its own development of driver assistance systems, General Motors has begun to look driver behavior behind the wheels of self-driving vehicles; innovations like Cadillac semi-autonomous Super Cruise are designed to "ease the driver's workload" on the highway, but it will be good to know what drivers plan on doing to occupy their time.

The main finding so far is that "Staying aware [is] considered key to autonomous vehicle operation," which would seem to make the most basic kind of sense, but the additional assessment is that "driver attentiveness can be improved through advanced driver assistance and safety features." Basically, the more your car does for you, the more it will need to be able to do in order to ensure everyone's safety.

The driver aids that will be available on the 2013 Cadillac ATS this year and the 2014 XTS next year continue the march toward self-driving cars, which some predict might come as soon as this decade. Scroll down to watch a video and see a press release on GM's studies on human behavior behind those I, Robot wheels.

Continue reading GM study watches drivers of autonomous vehicles [w/video]

GM study watches drivers of autonomous vehicles [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch Cadillac's new semi-autonomous Super Cruise in action

Jeff Sabatini — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:01:00 EST

Filed under: Technology, Cadillac, GM

Cadillac is trying to make a name for itself on the safety and technology front, recently introducing its new Safety Alert Seat and outfitting new models with a suite of safety equipment that arguably puts it among the leaders in the industry. We got a chance to sample some of this last month, but we were also allowed to "drive" a semi-autonomous SRX test mule equipped with what Cadillac is calling "Super Cruise."

Nominally an improvement on adaptive cruise control, Super Cruise is actually a more sophisticated system that uses a camera communicating with the car's GPS to "see" the road ahead. It goes one step further than currently available systems, however, automatically centering the vehicle in the lane using its electric power steering system. Unlike other active lane-departure systems that use a car's brakes to help prevent it from veering off the road, the system General Motors is developing allows for precisely setting the vehicle's position within the lane. The test mule we sampled had steering-wheel-mounted buttons that would allow you to "nudge" the car from side to side by a foot at a time without upsetting its course. Super Cruise also communicates with the vehicle's other active safety systems to help prevent and mitigate crashes.

Super Cruise is designed only for use on the highway, to "ease the driver's workload."

Super Cruise is designed only for use on the highway, to "ease the driver's workload," with drivers still required to steer in city traffic and for more complicated maneuvers like passing. GM officials acknowledged the difficulty in deploying a system like this, a technology that if used improperly may encourage inattentive driving. Supposedly the system will only be functional under the specific circumstances for which it is designed, much like today's in-car entertainment systems will not play video on the front screen unless a vehicle is in Park. Currently the system is somewhat limited by external factors, like weather and the need for distinct lane markings. If visibility is low or the road doesn't have at least one clear lane demarcation, Super Cruise won't function. However, GM says it will improve the vision abilities of the system as it readies the technology for the marketplace.

GM says that Super Cruise could be introduced into production vehicles in just a few years, "by mid-decade." While on the one hand, its ability to help improve the safety of our roads is laudable, we can't help but express our frustration at the march of technology headed inevitably towards removing the physical act of driving from the motoring equation.

Scroll down to watch some video of us aboard the Super Cruise-equipped test mule and read the full press release.

Continue reading Watch Cadillac's new semi-autonomous Super Cruise in action

Watch Cadillac's new semi-autonomous Super Cruise in action originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We lap Laguna Seca in BMW's autonomous Track Trainer

Damon Lavrinc — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Safety, Technology, Videos, BMW

BMW 330i Track Trainer at Laguna Seca - Click above for high-res image gallery

You know what's scary? Autonomous cars. What's scarier? An autonomous car that can lap Laguna Seca at eight-tenths and post sub-two minute lap times all day long. BMW's 330i Track Trainer can do just that. And we have the video to prove it.

Continue reading We lap Laguna Seca in BMW's autonomous Track Trainer

We lap Laguna Seca in BMW's autonomous Track Trainer originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 May 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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