In the very near future, Toyota hopes to sell more types of its
vehicles that gives drivers less of a role behind the wheel, especially
during dangerous situations.
At a press conference during the Consumer Electronics Show (Las
Vegas, United States) held in January, the world’s biggest car maker
presented a sensor-laden Lexus LS sedan, that will serve as a test bed
for reducing global traffic fatalities and injuries.
Toyota explained that the company’s aim is not to create a car
that drives itself but one that enhances the skills of the driver,
eliminate crashes and be more safe around people.
The tweaked Lexus LS scans movement of objects around it,
identify a green light from a red light and measures the trajectory of
the vehicle on the road.
It is equipped with GPS antennas on the roof to estimate angle
and orientation even before the vehicle is in motion; a 360-degree Light
Detection and Ranging device on the roof that detects objects around
the car up to about 70 meters; three high definition color cameras that
see other vehicles on the road and even read traffic lights ahead;
radars on the front and sides that measure the location and speed of
objects to create a comprehensive field of vision at intersections; an
indicator at the rear wheel that measures travel distance and speed of
the vehicle; an inertial measurements unit on the roof that read
acceleration and angle changes.
In short, the modified Lexus LS is smart enough to essentially
drive by itself—from starting up the engine from park, driving off,
stopping to avoid collisions and safeguarding the occupants should crash
occur.
Already, automakers have invested millions into systems that hand
more control of a vehicle to a complex network of sensors and
computers. These days, a number of vehicles feature collision avoidance
systems that trigger the brakes or an alert if a potential collision is
detected or if the vehicles wander into adjacent lanes.
Such systems could reduce accidents due to distracted or impaired drivers.
The Global status report on road safety 2013 indicates that
worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths remains unacceptably
high at 1.24 million per year—that’s 3,400 people die on the road every
day.
Interestingly, according to the report furnished by the United
Nations Road Safety Collaboration, only 28 countries, covering 7 percent
of the world’s population, have comprehensive road safety laws on five
key risk factors namely: drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to
use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints.
Another company working on self-driving vehicles (and made headlines last year) is tech giant Google.
The Google team has about a dozen
self-driving Prii in operation—although these units have humans
behind the wheel ready to take over at any time—and have driven a
combined 500,000 kilometers in varied traffic conditions without any
accidents while under computer control (a single accident occurred but
was caused by human error).
Google said autonomous cars could be functional and safe for operation on public streets within a few years.
Courtesy of Inquirer.Net
Easter Sunday is coming up, and in the spirit of the holiday we present
you with a trivia question. In the mid-20th century, it used to take as
much as 27 hours to make a marshmallow peep. Today, the time has been
reduced to how many minutes? Give us your best guess!
