Samojeżdżące samochody

Bimi

Jak działa słynny samo-jeżdżący samochód Google? Już wiadomo

To jeden z tych tajemniczych projektów, który rozpala wyobraźnię ludzi na całym świecie. Dla jednych wydaje się czymś kompletnie bezsensownym, dla drugich szansą na wielki przełom cywilizacyjno-technologiczny. Samo-jeżdżący samochód Google’a od miesięcy przemierza ulice San Francisco budząc zarówno entuzjazm i zgrozę przechodniów, ale dotychczas jego twórcy trzymali w tajemnicy technologię, która go wprawiała w ruch. W końcu postanowili podzielić się światem informacjami co sprawia, że słynna Toyota Prius porusza się bez kierowcy.

dalej: http://www.spidersweb.pl/2011/10/jak-dzi.....adomo.html

Nevada jako pierwsza dopuszcza do ruchu samochody bez kierowcy

Nevada została pierwszym stanem w USA i prawdopodobnie pierwszym miejscem na świecie, w którym do ruchu dopuszczono samochody jeżdżące bez kierowcy za kółkiem.

Póki co, takie maszyny będą jeździły z czerwonymi tablicami rejestracyjnymi. Jeśli zostaną dopuszczone do użytku publicznego (producenci spełnią normy stanowe) , to kolor czerwony zostanie zastąpiony zielonym. Będą więc wyróżniały się na tle innych aut z tego stanu, które mają niebieskawe tablice rejestracyjne.

http://technologie.gazeta.pl/internet/1,.....chody.html

Bimi

Google's self-driving car takes blind man on errands

A self-driving car being developed by Google Inc. took a blind man for a ride this week, driving him to a Taco Bell and then to a dry cleaner in San Jose, Calif.

On Thursday, Google posted a video of a modified Toyota Prius driving Steve Mahan, who is legally blind, saying it shows one of the possibilities and benefits that could come from the technology.

zobacz video i czytaj dalej: http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-04-google-self-driving-car-errands.html

Bimi

Futuristic cars are coming faster than you think
April 13, 2012 By Alisa Priddle

Cars that drive themselves are not just the stuff of sci-fi movies. The technology is real, the cars can now drive legally and the debate is starting on whether society is better off when software is behind the wheel.

Automotive supplier Continental is testing a self-driving car that, by month's end, could be among the first licensed for use on public roads in Nevada, the first state to pass laws governing driverless vehicles.

Continental, which has its U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., removed brake and steering controls in a Volkswagen Passat and replaced them with sensors and advanced technology to read the surroundings and drive accordingly.

To qualify for Nevada's special license, Continental engineers have racked up and documented almost 10,000 miles of autonomous driving. That included a recent trip from Las Vegas to Brimley, Mich., where Continental has a development and testing center. More than 90 percent of the journey was without a hand on the wheel or a foot on a pedal, said Ibro Muharemovic, lead engineer of Continental's Advanced Engineering unit and one of three engineers riding shotgun.

A final trip is being planned to hit the 10,000 mark in the next few weeks.

Most of the technology is already on the market as safety features to avoid accidents, or at least mitigate their severity.

dalej: http://phys.org/news/2012-04-futuristic-cars-faster.html

Bimi

Self-driving Volvos cover 200km of busy Spanish motorway

Three cars have successfully driven themselves by automatically following a lorry for 125 miles on a public motorway in the presence of other, normal road users.

The real-world trial, conducted in Spain by Volvo and car automation specialist Ricardo, put technology created for Project Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) to the test to determine if it can indeed allow the cars to be guided safely by a lead vehicle while their drivers get on with something else.

The Sartre tech is designed to allow cars to slot in behind another vehicle which then effectively takes control of the entire train. It's a technique called "vehicle platooning".

On-board cameras, radar and laser tracking allow each vehicle to monitor the one in front. Wirelessly streamed data from the lead vehicle tells each car when to accelerate, break and turn, all in real-world traffic conditions.

czytaj dalej: http://www.reghardware.com/2012/05/28/vo.....lic_roads/

Bimi

Ford predicts self-driving, traffic-reducing cars by 2017

“Never gonna happen” just got a lot closer. According to Ford the self-driving car will be here within five years, using technologies available today. The smart car will take over your morning commute on clogged freeways, improving your speed and reducing fuel consumption. The technology concept, known as Traffic Jam Assist, uses adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and the sensors from its active park assist.

While driver safety is the primary benefit, the environment wins as well. Ford makes this projection, based on simulator studies: If one in four cars has Traffic Jam Assist or similar self-driving technologies, travel times are reduced by 37.5% and delays are reduced by 20%. In other words, if the freeway part of your rush hour commute takes 60 minutes, it it will drop to 38. That’s because adaptive cruise control (ACC) is better at pacing the car ahead without continual brake, speed-up, brake cycles.

Here´s how it works: Stop-and-go ACC keeps pace with the car ahead, using a look-ahead radar and mirror-mounted camera. Lane keep assist keeps the car centered, also taking advantage of the camera in the mirror. Electric power steering is better for remote control than mechanical power steering; it can be guided by the Traffic Jam Assist black box. Sonar units - for blind spot detection and cross traffic alerts (cars crossing behind when backing) - monitor traffic to the side. Combine all those and you have a car that´s smart enough to guide itself during predictable, low-speed conditions.

dalej: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/132147-ford-self-driving-cars-2017

Bimi

Google's Self-Driving Cars: 300,000 Miles Logged, Not a Single Accident Under Computer Control

Ever since Google began designing its self-driving cars, they've wanted to build cars that go beyond the capabilities of human-piloted vehicles, cars that are much, much safer. When Sebastian Thrun announced the project in 2010, he wrote, "According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million lives are lost every year in road traffic accidents. We believe our technology has the potential to cut that number, perhaps by as much as half."

New data indicate that Google's on the right path. Earlier this week the company announced that the self-driving cars have now logged some 300,000 miles and "there hasn't been a single accident under computer control." (The New York Times did note in a 2010 article that a self-driving car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light, so Google must not be counting the incidents that were the fault of flawed humans.)

For comparison, in the United States in 2009 there were 10.8 million traffic collisions, according to the Census Bureau. That same year, American cars logged some 2.954 trillion miles, for a collision rate of about .365 per 100,000 vehicle miles traveled. Now, you can't directly compare the two figures. Google's cars have been tested in pretty hospitable conditions, not facing, for example, the rigors of a New England winter. And, as Google engineer Chris Urmson, writes, they still "need to master snow-covered roadways, interpret temporary construction signals and handle other tricky situations that many drivers encounter." Additionally, the cars are still driving with "occasional" human control. But at the very least, the Google cars are slowly building a pretty good-looking driving record.

reszta: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ar.....ol/260926/

Bimi

Kalifornia chce dopuścić na drogi autonomiczne samochody

Stan Kalifornia może stać się drugim, po Nevadzie, miejscem na świecie, w którym na drogi wyjadą komercyjne autonomiczne samochody. Przed dwoma dniami izba niższa, a wczoraj izba wyższa stanowego parlamentu przyjęły ustawę, która nakłada na kalifornijski Departament Pojazdów Mechanicznych (DMV) obowiązek określenia do stycznia 2015 roku warunków technicznych, jakie powinny spełniać samochody bez kierowców. Teraz ustawa oczekuje na podpisanie przez gubernatora Browna.

http://kopalniawiedzy.pl/Kalifornia-autonomiczny-samochod,16516

Bimi

Toyota, Audi driverless demos will pull up to CES

(Phys.org)—While the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas starting January 8 will be full of mobile-computing gadgetry next week, autonomous driving demonstrations will also capture visitors' attention, and will raise awareness that autonomous driving technologies are to shape the future of road transport, sooner than later. Toyota has delivered a video clip that shows a self-drive prototype with gear on its grille and on its roof, ahead of CES.

The car is a 2013 Lexus LS carrying equipment that includes on-board radar and video cameras to monitor the road and the driver. Toyota's driverless features involve car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure technologies.

The cameras and radar equipment can detect traffic signals, lane lines and other vehicles. The technology aims to prevent crashes—a Toyota spokesman said zero collisions are the goal. The car can be driver-assisted or completely self-driving. When a driver is at the wheel, Toyota's technology could boost safety by detecting obstacles or alerting the driver if the driver is falling asleep.

dalej: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-toyota-audi-driverless-demos-ces.html

Bimi

Oxford University tests out their new self-driving car system

A team of scientists at Oxford University, led by Professor Paul Newman, has developed a new self-driving car system that that is supposedly much more advanced than the one being developed by Google. The self-driving car system will be able to be implemented into existing cars. The car that the team test drove was a Nissan Leaf electric car, and it was tested on the private roads of Oxford University.

The driverless car was able to navigate through difficult weather conditions, like snow and rain. It yielded for pedestrians, and navigated efficiently through traffic jams. The car was able to reach speeds of up to 40 MPH. The system uses 3D laser scanning linked with a computer storage that creates maps of its surroundings and saves them. The new system is accurate to a few centimeters, whereas GPS navigation systems are only accurate to a few meters. The car is then able to recognize where it is with a laser scanner on the front of the car combined with the data saved in its storage system. The Oxford team plans on working on an updating feature that allows these self-driving cars to be able to download information when they pass one another on the road. They also plan on implementing a feature that allows these cars to download data directly from the internet through a 3G or 4G data connection.

http://www.slashgear.com/oxford-universi.....-17269657/

Bimi

Japan group tests fuel-saving driverless trucks

(Phys.org) —Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has tested a caravan of self driving trucks. They put four trucks on the road, with the first truck driven by a human, followed by three autonomous trucks. The caravan successfully used technologies for steering, for maintaining speed, and for staying in formation, at a speed of 80km/h with a four-meter distance between each truck.

The February 2013 test run is part of a project that was started in 2008 by NEDO. The key goal of NEDO's truck exercise has been to see what can be accomplished in fuel efficiency. They reported that drag decreased by keeping the trucks in a straight line and four meters apart. They said that running convoys of trucks in this manner could contribute to lower air resistance, helping to reduce fuel consumption by 15 percent or more.

dalej: http://phys.org/news/2013-03-japan-group-fuel-saving-driverless-trucks.html

Bimi

Brytyjczycy przetestują autonomiczny samochód

Brytyjski Departament Transportu poinformował, że jeszcze w bieżącym roku na terenie Zjednoczonego Królestwa odbędą się testy autonomicznego samochodu. Nad pojazdem takim pracują University of Oxford i Nissan. Opisują go jako pojazd półautonomiczny, gdyż będzie się w nim znajdował kierowca, ale zapewniają, że samochód jest w stanie przemieszczać się w pełni niezależnie, korzystając z wiedzy o środowisku, w którym się porusza.

czytaj: http://kopalniawiedzy.pl/autonomiczny-sa.....ford,18459

Bimi

Dutch test self-driving cars, predict they'll be on sale by 2020

Amsterdam’s A10 ring road on Tuesday was the setting for a test of self-driving cars, developed by the TNO research institute and scientists from Delft University.

The aim of the Dutch Automated Vehicle Initiative (DAVI), which also involves the transport ministry, is to develop a user-friendly system which can be built into new and existing cars.

Transport minister Melanie Schultz, who was a passenger in one of the cars on Tuesday, said the system would be a boon for traffic management.

‘If cars can communicate with each other and accelerate or brake at the same time, you can eliminate sudden slow-downs and streamline traffic flows,’ the minister said.

Driverless cars would also make better use of the space on Dutch roads, the minister said.

dalej: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/11/self-driving_cars_will_be_with.php

Bimi

Przetestowali autonomicznego Leafa

Przed dwoma dniami Nissan przeprowadził pierwszy test autonomicznego pojazdu Nissan Leaf na drodze publicznej. To krok milowy dla firmy, która chce do 2020 roku rozpocząć sprzedaż autonomicznych samochodów.

dalej: http://kopalniawiedzy.pl/Nissan-Leaf-samochod-autonomiczny,19255

Bimi

Dutch to experiment with self-driving cars that cooperate with each other

Ministers have approved the large-scale testing of self-driving cars and trucks on public roads in the Netherlands arguing the technology could cut jams, improve road safety and reduce pollution.

The cabinet wants the Netherlands to take a ‘leading role’ in the development of self-driving cars and systems to allow vehicles to communicate with each other, the infrastructure ministry said in a statement.

Large scale testing is planned to start in the summer, if parliament approves changes to current legislation, a ministry spokeswoman told news agency AFP.

Last November, infrastructure minister Melanie Schultz kicked off the first Dutch test on a public road. Testing is currently largely confined to private roads because of legal restrictions.

The Dutch system does not involve doing away with drivers altogether, but with getting cars to work together instead.

‘Vehicles which communicate with each other and accelerate or break in unison will contribute to smoother traffic flow,’ the ministry statement said. ‘The vehicles can travel more closely together and use the available road space more efficiently.’

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/20.....other.php/

Bimi

Zaczyna się z tego powoli robić mały wyścig zbrojeń... Smile

Germany to test self-driving cars on digitized autobahn, ‘won’t rely on Google’

The German government wants to convert part of the A9 Autobahn in Bavaria into a test-field for advanced car technology. The project is key to ensuring the country’s ‘digital sovereignty,’ according to its transport minister.

The track, part of the “Digitales Testfeld Autobahn” project, would be launched this year, Alexander Dobrindt said on Monday in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. The plan involves equipping the road with infrastructure to allow cars to communicate with each other and the road’s own sensors to provide necessary data on traffic.

"Cars with assisted driving and later fully-automated cars will be able to drive there," Dobrindt said.

Germany, a major European car producer, wants to have robotic car technology that’s not dependent on foreign companies, the minister said. Domestic producers “won't rely on Google” he stressed.

dalej: http://rt.com/news/226279-robotic-car-autobahn-germany/

Bimi

Self-driving trucks tested on Dutch highway

Swedish heavy truck manufacturer Scania held the first partially autonomous self-driving truck tests on Dutch public roads Monday. During the test, Scania trucks drove themselves in a convoy.

The trucks departed from Scania factories and carried the test out on A28 motorway in a partnership with Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN). The test demonstrated linked driving, in which the lorries are within a fixed distance from each other and linked to other lorries in a way that when the first truck brakes, the others brake simultaneously.

In a real world application of the technology, a truck driver would make the decision to join such a convoy on the road, and then let the truck take over.

Since January it has been possible to more easily obtain permission to conduct linked driving tests with autonomous cars on public roads, and the Dutch Vehicle Authority (RDW) gave Scania and TLN the permission to test the trucks on a public motorway.

RDW has other autonomous driving test applicants. The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Dutch truck manufacturer DAF, the Port of Rotterdam, the Province of Gelderland and the University of Wageningen all partnered together and tested self-propelled vehicles in the vicinity of Wageningen early this year, a Twente University release states.

University of Technology Delft (TU Delft) deployed self-driving cars as well, to examine a bicycle path as a transport opportunity for rail passengers.

Infrastructure Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen has made repeated calls for international regulations to adapt to testing of autonomous vehicles.

“I mean especially the Vienna Agreement that has existed since 1968 to facilitate international traffic. There are agreements on minimum requirements for vehicles, drivers and traffic,” she said during the Scania test.

http://www.nltimes.nl/2015/02/10/self-driving-trucks-tested-dutch-highway/

Bimi

Ford zapowiada w pełni autonomiczne samochody

Ford Motor Co. zapowiada, że w ciągu najbliższych pięciu lat będzie miał w ofercie w pełni autonomiczny samochód. W pojeździe nie znajdziemy ani kierownicy ani pedałów. Początkowo taki samochód będzie wykorzystywany do komercyjnego przewozu osób. Sprzedaż osobom indywidualnym rozpocznie się w późniejszym terminie. Żyjemy w czasach wielkiej zmiany przemysłu samochodowego i naszej firmy - mówi dyrektor Forda Mark Fierds.

http://kopalniawiedzy.pl/Ford-autonomiczny-samochod,25084

Bimi

Apple confirms it is working on self-driving cars

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2.....iving-cars