The Race for Self-Driving Cars

Autonomous cars have arrived. Major automakers have been investing billions in development, while tech players like Uber and Google’s parent company have been
testing their versions in American cities.

How a Car Drives Itself

LIDAR UNIT

CAMERAS

Constantly spinning, it uses laser beams to generate a 360-degree image of the car’s surroundings.

Uses parallax from multiple 

images to find the distance to 

various objects. Cameras also 

detect traffic lights and signs, 

and help recognize moving

objects like pedestrians and 

bicyclists.

RADAR SENSORS

Measure the distance from the car to obstacles.

MAIN COMPUTER

(LOCATED IN TRUNK)

ADDITIONAL

LIDAR UNITS

Analyzes data from the sensors, and compares its stored maps to assess current conditions.

By Guilbert Gates |Source: Google | Note: Car is a Lexus model modified by Google.

What the Car Sees

The car’s sensors gather data on nearby objects, like their size and rate of speed. It categorizes the objects — as cyclists, pedestrians or other cars and objects — based on how they are likely to behave.

red boxes: cyclists

yellow boxes: pedestrians

pink boxes:

vehicles

green “fences”:

locations where

the car may need

to slow down

red “fences”:

locations where the car

will need to stop

Self-Driving Features You
May Have Already Used

Collision avoidance

Radar-, laser-, or camera-based systems warn of an impending collision, and can automatically apply the brakes in some cases.

Drifting warning

If a car begins to deviate from its lane, some systems alert the driver and apply a small counter-steering force.

Blind-spot detectors

Cameras or radar can detect vehicles in the driver’s blind spot and then alert the driver with sounds or warning lights.

Enhanced cruise control

A predefined distance can be maintained to the vehicle ahead. If it slows, your car also slows.

Self parking

The car maneuvers itself into a parking spot using cameras or sonar. But the driver usually has to brake and follow commands.

Illustrations by Guilbert Gates/The New York Times

source: https://www.nytimes.com