The rise of Knight Rider

Self-driving cars use a range of technologies to travel through streets without a driver. It represents the future and is big business in major developed countries. 

Firstly, these cars use GPS, a navigation system, video, radar and laser rangefinders to map the environment. Once they collect these inputs, the processing happens and the car determines the best route or action to take. Next, actuators are engaged to perform the tasks, such as, adjusting the throttle, braking and steering. Finally, all this happens constantly till the car has reached its destination.

The technology though it passed experimental trials without issue, it still has not fully matured for real-world usage. Hence companies add the non-obvious disclaimer along the lines of the “human” driver needs to intervene in case of an emergency. A good question is what point is that? What point does the “human” driver know when to step in?

This is just one question that automakers, tech companies and legislators need to answer. In North America legislators are doing just that. Further, there was increased research into how driver used these autonomous and semi-autonomous systems. It was observed that some drivers keep their hands over the wheel while others didn’t.

That being said, despite the notions of self-driving cars being safer and better than human drivers, it’s still just an ideal that’s being worked on. The key point would be being worked on. Maybe it’s too early to run public real-world tests. 

Scenic drive to the beach

Also, it doesn’t consider the pleasure and excitement people derive from driving their own car. Some people love to hit the open road and just drive to wherever the wind blows. 

This probably exposes Silicon Valley’s haste culture where things need to happen fast, the result being that unrefined solutions are delivered. Unfortunately, these incidents cannot be patched away by sending an update after something broke. Whatever, your preference though, if you want a self-driving car, you’ll need to go North America.

Of course being in the Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago, the cost of this technology and the infrastructure required to make these futuristic ideas reality appear much further off than mainstream media leads us to believe. 


Will you buy a self-driving car?