After Google and Audi, Oxford University has revealed an autonomous car technology that takes control from the driver after it feels confident after using the 3D laser scanners and cameras mounted on the front of the vehicle. This new vehicle is called RobotCar UK and the autonomous car technology incorporated in it is different and cheaper than the self driving cars from Google. The search engine giant’s vehicles do not offer the same options the British designed system has introduced. The Oxford University autonomous car notifies the driver when it is ready to take over through a software running over an iPad mounted on the dashboard. Once the driver gives his or her permission the system takes the wheel only then.
While talking to the Guardian, Professor Paul Newman said that, “its not total autonomy for the car. It knows when things are good, and when the risks are reasonable, and then it will offer to take over.” RobotCar UK does not use Global Positioning System like Google’s self-driving cars because it is limited to the environments, this vehicle already knows. In spite of this, it could work well for travellers, who drives on the same route each day; “Our cities don’t change very much,” says Newman, “so robotic vehicles will see familiar structures and say ‘I know this route – want me to drive?’”
At this point in time, Oxford University has installed this system in a modified Nissan Leaf and they have tested it up to a speed of 40 miles per hour (mph). And currently the cost of the technology is around £5,000 that makes about $7,760 in US dollar. The team working on the project is confident they can bring the cost down to just £100 or $155 in the near future. On top of this, the new RobotCar UK is technically less complicated therefore it is quite possible that it would face fewer hurdles on its way to regularity approval.
Newman says, “There’s no obvious legal barrier to using it on roads now. It’s essentially an advanced driver assistance system.”
Nevertheless, at this point in time RobotCar UK is still in the testing phase so it remains to be seen how long it will take this technology to reach the end users, who are looking to have a vehicle that can drive itself. More importantly this technology is cheaper than the other self-driving vehicles other car manufacturers are developing.
Source: TheVerge
Photo: TheVerge
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