Robotics Opening - The Robotic Car

Robotics Opening the Door to Unlimited Possibilities: The Robotic Car

  • On : January 23, 2018

 

In our contemporary world, advanced technology and robotics are omnipresent. With the help of automation, artificial intelligence and data scrapping, businesses are faced with endless opportunities to reinvent what the future looks like.

Earlier in the week we were discussing the various robotics across the industries and stopped to think about how cool a robotic car would be. Do you remember back in the day when you had to physically roll your window down? Well, thanks to technology our cars are now equipped with Wi-Fi, voice control systems, fatigue detectors, reverse radars, GPS’, etc.

 

For all of these technological advances we can thank the research and development departments. However, it makes us question what will be the limit of these innovations?

Did you know, that the robotic car already exists? Google is experimenting with robotics and the Lexus in Silicon Valley (United States). It is a self-driving car that moves alone, even stopping to let pedestrians pass by and signaling its way around. Computer software installed on board is used to adjust the movements of the vehicle, with a camera installed at the front making it possible to visualise obstacles. These Google cars are running on the basis of detailed digital street maps that the Internet giant has installed in their system so they can anticipate everything, however for now they cannot run anywhere other than on these digitised axes.

These cars today are only prototypes. If the car manufacturing industry is going to move towards more robotic cars these are the five stages of driving and automation levels that have been recognised:

 

  1. The most common form of driving. Hands on the wheel and eyes on the road all the time – everything rests on the driver.
  2. Many new vehicles sold in 2017 are equipped with new advanced technology such as added blind spot detectors and frontal collision warning systems. The driver in this case still must pay their full attention but has peace of mind knowing they have back up detectors.
  3. The vehicle is partially automated and the driver can temporarily release the steering wheel and look away from the road. The semi-autonomous car can thus stay on course and adjust its speed by itself, however, the driver remains essential, especially in the situation of urban driving. Car models such as the Tesla Model S or the Mercedes-Benz E-Class are currently at this level.
  4. The vehicle becomes automated and can theoretically move without human intervention. However, the “driver” must remain behind the wheel and be ready to intervene if the vehicle requires assistance.
  5. The car becomes fully autonomous with all people on board as passengers.

 

And there you have a prediction about what the future of the car industry will look like. It’s not quite there yet but with the rapid advancement of technology and robotics we don’t think it will be long.

 

It’s these types of innovations that will open a huge field of possibilities not only for individuals but also businesses across multiple industries. I think there are a few things we need to think about though, will these advances change the vision of the technology we have today? What will future technologies be capable of and how companies will be able to revolutionise the way they do business?