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| =Driverless Vehicles= | | =Driverless Vehicles= |
| With driver assist technologies being integrated into vehicles today, the promise of a fully autonomous individual vehicle on all or designated roadways is possible. The research for autonomous vehicles began in 1977 by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab in Japan. The Bundeswehr Universität München in Europe experimented with video-driven cars in the 1980s, and the U.S. experimented with an automated highway system in the 1990s. Today, however, the most promise is in individually autonomous vehicles made possible by advances in computer technology. | | With driver assist technologies being integrated into vehicles today, the promise of a fully autonomous individual vehicle on all or designated roadways is possible. The main problem is responsibility for liability. |
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| [[Image:Stanley_Image.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Stanley: Drivers not required]] | | [[Image:Stanley_Image.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Stanley: Drivers not required]] |
| | | *The research for autonomous vehicles began in 1977 by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab in Japan. |
| ===DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency)===
| | *The Bundeswehr Universität München in Europe experimented with video-driven cars in the 1980s, and |
| On Sunday October 8, 2005 a modified Volkswagen Touareg named Stanley beat 23 other robotic cars and 150 miles of Nevada Desert to claim a $2 Million prize and the rights to be called the first autonomouns off-road vehicle. Stanley is guided by video, laser, radar and GPS signals, is run by seven on-board Intel Pentiums, and is able to tell the difference between a tumbleweed and a rock. Stanley was invented by a team at Stanford University. Visit the [http://www.grandchallenge.org GrandChallenge] website for more details.
| | *The U.S. experimented with an automated highway system in the 1990s. |
| | | *The Parkshuttle Phileas is a bus operated by the Dutch Transit Authority. It is driverless, and operates on its own roadway. It does occasionally need to be manually overridden by a driver. |
| On Saturday November 3, 2007, the Tartan Racing Team (Carnegie Melon) bested Stanley Jr. and Virginia Tech in a 60 mile mock urban course. Not only did these vehicles have to complete the course, they also had to navigate traffic (each other and stunt drivers) and obey all of California's traffic laws. DARPA handed out prizes totaling $3,500,000.[http://news.google.ca/news?hl=en&q=urban%20challenge&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn] [http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/]
| | *DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) handed a $2M prize in 2005 to a group from Stanford University that created a modified Volkswagen Touareg named Stanley that drove 150 miles of Nevada Desert autonomously. |
| | | *The Tartan Racing Team (Carnegie Melon) won DARPA's 2007 challenge to navigate a driverless vehicle through a 60 mile mock urban course. |
| The U.S. military has a mandate from Congress to have 30% of all military vehicles unmanned by 2015. The DARPA Grand Challenge and Urban Challenge are part of the U.S. military strategy to achieve this goal.
| | *As of 2011, Nevada will issue licenses to operate autonomous cars within the state. The first license was issued to Google, which gives it the ability to test its driveless technology. |
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| [[Image:Phileas.jpg|thumb|right|120px|Phileas Bus]]
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| ==Parkshuttle==
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| Developed by [http://www.frog.nl Frog Navigation] [http://www.2getthere.nl/ (2getthere)] and built by Connexion (the Dutch Transit Authority), this bus runs driverless through onboard computers and sensors, together with guiding magnets embedded in the designated roadway. However, Phileas does occasionally need to be manually overridden by a driver. Phileas is already in operation in the Netherlands between the airport and an industrial park.
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| =Egg Shaped Cars= | | =Egg Shaped Cars= |