14 DAY TRIAL // During the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, General Motors has demonstrated the Chevrolet Tahoe car, the same that used electronics to successfully "drive" itself through a 60-mile urban course, in November 2007.
Its electronic revolutionary technology is so promising that it could lead to mass production vehicles that eliminate the most common cause of crashes, the driver error. The robo-car, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, General Motors and other partner companies, uses a combination of LIDAR, radar, vision and mapping / GPS systems to see the world around it. Moreover, Tahoe was equipped with a road geometry recognition system and perceives other traffic and obstacles on the road.
Using intelligent algorithms and computer software, the bot vehicle can figure out on its own where it's safe to drive in order to avoid obstacles while completing the driving mission. The "Boss", as GM likes to call it, has recently navigated 60 miles of urban traffic, busy intersections and stop signs in less than six hours to win the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 2007 Urban Challenge competition.
"Not only can we use electricity in place of gasoline to propel the next generation of vehicles, the electronic technology in vehicles such as Boss can provide society with a world in which there are no car crashes, more productive commutes and very little traffic congestion. This competition significantly advanced our understanding of what is needed to make driver less vehicles a reality as we continue to reinvent the automobile ", Larry Burns, GM vice president of R&D and strategic planning, added.
According to GM, the technologies included on today's vehicles feature adaptive cruise control, stability control systems such as GM's StabiliTtrak, GM's GPS-enabled OnStar safety and security system, pre-crash sensors, side blind zone assist and lane departure warning systems. However, GM realized all these technologies are not a substitute for driver responsibility or attention, although they can help reduce human errors that lead to most of the crashes.
I guess robot driven cars are officially a reality, now! Oh, and yeah, you should also check out Cadillac's luxurious hydrogen-powered Provoq car concept. A real eco road monster!
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