Uber Self-Driving Cars Hit The Streets Of Pittsburgh

Assignment 2.4 - Research Blog 1: Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Don Moore

UNSY 501 Applications of Unmanned Systems

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University 

Unmanned ground vehicle innovators and transportation companies are taking huge steps to show how safe driverless cars can be. On Wednesday, September 14, 2016; Uber was named the first company in the United States to make self-driving cars available to the general public.  The vehicles were launched in Pittsburgh PA is a test program for selected group the customers to take a ride in the autonomous Ford fusion.  Some may ask how does this particular city allow driverless cars to roam about the city streets. The answer is; all driverless vehicles are under the supervision of an Uber monitor/driver in the driver seat who only takes over in unsafe situations.

How the Uber driverless car works

Sensors on the top of the vehicle records over 1 million distance points per second, the technology within the car then produces a visual map of the changing surroundings. Additional sensors which surround the car calculate and maintain the vehicle within reasonable distances from curbs and other cars accounting for 360° coverage around the car. The vehicle also uses radar, GPS receivers, and traffic light detecting cameras which assists the car while in self driving mode.

What are the current limitations of driverless cars?

The driverless car struggles to position themselves on bridges according to Raffi Krikorian; Uber’s engineering director (Muoio, 2016).   Krikorian stated that Uber has meticulously mapped roads so that the driverless car can compare what it’s seeing with what is supposed to be there (Muoio, 2016).  Environmental cues are extremely important to the driverless cars because bridges don’t have many environmental cues it’s hard for the car to figure out where it is (Muoio, 2016). 

Driverless cars cannot operate at a high level of safety in all weather conditions.  During certain types of weather for example rain or snow the vehicles LIDAR sensors which uses lasers to match the car surroundings does not operate properly.  During inclement weather the car can’t recognize lane markers, which could allow the car to travel outside of its lane or not stop at the proper time (Muoio, 2016).

Driverless cars have a harder time driving in cities versus driving on highways.   While the driverless vehicle is operating in a city it has to Account for an enormous amount of information.  Cities tend to have people walking throughout the streets, traffic signals, traffic signs, potholes, traffic cones, and road construction as well as many more obstacles.  One of the most significant problems with driving within the city limits are tall buildings which could cause dropouts of GPS signals (Muoio, 2016).

Driverless cars would eliminate many jobs in the transportation sector.  The result of the elimination of transportation jobs such as bus operators and cab drivers could have a negative impact on the economy; if people can’t work they can’t spend money.

As with all technology; driverless cars would be of very high interest to hackers, which brings the safety factor into the picture.  Hackers could easily gain access to the controls of the vehicles, which puts public safety at risk. 

Thoughts

Although driverless cars currently have many limitations; the future seems promising. Once this technology is finalized I believe that would increase safety due to the fact that the technology must follow rules. While some may feel that driverless cars may cause those who drive vehicles for a living to lose their jobs; I believe that the technology itself would create more jobs.  As with any technology, which operates freely around humans, animals, and property; safety is paramount.  What this means is that although the idea of driverless cars could make life easier it is our responsibility to ensure safety.

References:

Muoio, D. (2016, August 25). 6 scenarios self-driving cars still can't handle. 
                 Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/autonomous-car-
                 limitations-2016-8/#1-driverless-cars-struggle-going-over-bridges-1

Sheehan, A. (2016, September 14). Uber Self-Driving Cars Hit The Streets of 
                 Pittsburgh.             
                 Retrieved from http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016/09/14/uber-
                 driverless-cars- hit-the-streets-of-pittsburgh/