Topic: Auto Pilot for Cars

[Age]

 This an Auto Pilot for Cars from BMW and it is getting close to The Knight Rider Kitt Car with GPS think of what you can do.

http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-1966.htm

 A user over at STG posted this.

[Commander Maxillius]

very cool indeed!


Imagine upgrading the software to deal with 55 mph speeds and accident avoidance...

that other thread in H&S wouldn't happen again!

[Nemesis]

This type of thing always reminds me of the well to do German driver with a GPS and digital map.  One foggy night he was driving by watching the map rather than the road.  The map was not quite up to date as due to road construction the bridge had been removed. . .

[Just plain old Punisher]

My company played with this idea, and they actually installed small magnetic sensors in the road on a 10 mile stretch of freeway 15. The car uses these sensors to know where it's at in the lane, and uses a combination of forward looking radar to determine the distance to the car ahead.

The technology works, but the problem is the high cost associated with putting little magnetic sensors every foot or two on the nations roads.

[Javora]

My company played with this idea, and they actually installed small magnetic sensors in the road on a 10 mile stretch of freeway 15. The car uses these sensors to know where it's at in the lane, and uses a combination of forward looking radar to determine the distance to the car ahead.

The technology works, but the problem is the high cost associated with putting little magnetic sensors every foot or two on the nations roads.

I wonder there some type of compound that could be mixed with the road paint that the sensors would pick up?

It would be the only way to solve that problem.

[Nemesis]

My company played with this idea, and they actually installed small magnetic sensors in the road on a 10 mile stretch of freeway 15. The car uses these sensors to know where it's at in the lane, and uses a combination of forward looking radar to determine the distance to the car ahead.

The technology works, but the problem is the high cost associated with putting little magnetic sensors every foot or two on the nations roads.

I wonder there some type of compound that could be mixed with the road paint that the sensors would pick up?

It would be the only way to solve that problem.

How cheap can RFID tags be produced?

[Just plain old Punisher]

My company played with this idea, and they actually installed small magnetic sensors in the road on a 10 mile stretch of freeway 15. The car uses these sensors to know where it's at in the lane, and uses a combination of forward looking radar to determine the distance to the car ahead.

The technology works, but the problem is the high cost associated with putting little magnetic sensors every foot or two on the nations roads.

I wonder there some type of compound that could be mixed with the road paint that the sensors would pick up?

It would be the only way to solve that problem.

The problem is that road paint gets scrapped off with all those snow plows running out there.

[Javora]

How cheap can RFID tags be produced?

That's not the problem, the problem is the 2000+ pound cars and trucks running over and crushing them.

[Javora]

The problem is that road paint gets scrapped off with all those snow plows running out there.

Yeah that's true, Michigan has to paint all summer to keep the roads marked.  The only thing that I could think of to solve that is if some type of metal was mixed into the paint that won't rust like Nickel.  Then you could use the same technology that is in metal detectors to keep the car between the lines.  The question though is if the metal detector could be that accurate and the cost of the paint.

[Commander Maxillius]

Lasers and an onboard processor than can tell the difference between dirt, grass, and pavement.  That way the car can have one emitter to either side to tell the car if it's on the road or off, forward lasers to detect changes in the road path, and rear lasers that activate in reverse.  I think it's possible for a laser system like that to work quite well, especially in conjunction to a GPS system.  For an added trick, make cars wireless so they can communicate hazards to each other.

Much much cheaper than embedding more crap in the roadways.

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

As far as i know those AP systems will be nearly completly base on Optical analysis of the road, i saw a developement system that got prity far,.. its able to already make drives on standard Autobahns and there were already live tests in Germany.
If you see the  Ap in action  its like watching a camera view of the driver with various Head up disp
play like symbols which keep all the signifacant parts marked  ,Cars ,middle lines, forward obstakles on your side of the road and the others,..those markers jump arround as situation changes. there are alot of sensors additional to  the optical analysis.
lgiht amplification for night drives for example .
And the steering was already running through the standard servo steering.
The monitor  engineer just had a laptop on its knees showing the aformentioned picture with a gui showing other data in other windows.. steering wheel moving completly by itself , weired sight.
That test drive,i saw was several 100 kilometrs long.
Its weired seeing somone in mid high traffic sitting besides a empty driver seat at more then 140 Km/h.
I am not sure if i really would want one, on the other hand,.. if you get a stroke and you manage to get to your car you can throw yourself on the back seat and tell the comp go drive me to the hospital.
I wouldnt expect the full blown sytem before 2010 though.

[Nemesis]

How cheap can RFID tags be produced?

That's not the problem, the problem is the 2000+ pound cars and trucks running over and crushing them.

As I understand it they can be made very tiny and extremely durable (grain of rice sized).  It might even be possible to shoot them into the asphalt of exisitiing roads.

[Dracho]

My company played with this idea, and they actually installed small magnetic sensors in the road on a 10 mile stretch of freeway 15. The car uses these sensors to know where it's at in the lane, and uses a combination of forward looking radar to determine the distance to the car ahead.

The technology works, but the problem is the high cost associated with putting little magnetic sensors every foot or two on the nations roads.

Need to look at a metallic based paint instead.  Then it could read the stripes.

[FCM_SFHQ_XC]

Well if you put something in the reflectors on the roadwaysd, that would shield the system from damage, but I still think it will only be able to work on interstates at which you are going STRAIGHT . I'd severly doubte a auto pilot could be able to handel a major interchange or any crowded secondary roads. Nevertheless an auto-pilot would be nice for traveling across several states or something.

[FRA.E.Kehakoul_XC]

HEllloo GUys, did you read what i wrote?.. i am dead serious.!!
That system is already used  on open roads and doesnt need any markers besides what is already there!