Driverless Cars

The Possibilities

Each year more than 40,000 people are killed on U.S. roads, and most of those fatalities are due to driver error.  One powerful solution that is quickly becoming reality is the driverless car.

Four things are required to create driverless cars:

• An excellent navigation system

• A system that recognizes dynamic road conditions including real-time traffic information

• A system that turns the navigation system and dynamic road conditions into precise coordinated actions

• The highest degree of reliability and anti-tampering controls

Building on Advanced Driver Assistance

Much of technology to create driverless cars already exists in the form of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS): radar-based cruise control, motion sensors, lane-change warning devices, electronic stability control, satellite-based digital mapping and GPS.

ADAS uses an array of technology such as radar and cameras to detect ever-changing road variables. Cameras let the car’s computers see what is around it. Radar allows the vehicle to see up to 100 meters away in the dark, rain, snow or other vision-impairing circumstances. Lasers provide the vehicle with a continuous, three-dimensional omni-directional view of its surroundings.

Very sophisticated algorithms then process this information and turn it into actions like steering or braking – actions that are being made more efficient every day by the current overhaul of vehicle internal networks as well as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication systems.

Finding Fail-Safe Solutions

The critical aspect of driverless cars is that they need to be failsafe in order to gain acceptance in society.

This means software that does not freeze or crash; awareness of real-time conditions; faster and more sensitive sensors; improved communications systems; and reliable anti-hacking measures. Spectracom is working with innovators, particularly in the simulation and testing areas, to make driverless cars a reality within this decade.

Necessary Simulation and Testing Expertise

The future of transportation is an area that brings out the ingenuity in our engineering team. 

They are passionate about bringing our simulation and testing expertise to help bring driverless cars into the marketplace.  Our product designs and the myriad of technologies inside them provide the building blocks to meet finding fail-safe solutions.

Examples:

GPS/GNSS Simulators: Our GPS/GNSS simulators are easy to use, scenario-based instruments that combine a powerful, feature-rich platform with industry-leading value and affordability for any requirement for GPS testing.

Geo-iNAV GPS + INS Inertial Navigation System: Geo-iNAV™ is offered in several configurations designed to meet a wide range of inertial navigation application requirements. Configurations are available for both commercial and military applications.

Source: TMC