Artificial Intelligence: Two versions of autonomous cars.
The autonomous car market has two of the companies that bet most on this sector in Google and Tesla. Nevertheless,
Both companies have taken different strategies, both in the development and start-up of these vehicles.
Tesla uses a system of radars, cameras and sensors in its S model which, as seen in a fatal accident with
This system can fail and pose a serious risk. Google, on the other hand, goes with lead feet and uses a capable laser system
of creating a 3D map with a radius of 60 meters in different directions.
The most divergent paths could be those that Tesla is taking, which is already selling cars with some basic autonomy functions, and Google, which is still in experimental mode.
Google continues trying to reach the same goal that Tesla says it is achieving with the Autopilot function it has promoted with its Model S, which has a hands-free technology that has been criticized after a fatal accident this month on a road from Florida.
Model S, the car with autonomous mode of Tesla
Tesla has officially started selling its Model S car in October 2015. It was its first vehicle advertised as a freelance, although this is not exactly the case. It is, in fact, a car with automatic mode, which allows hands-free driving moments, but not completely autonomous driving, as indicated by the United States NHTSA.
Elon Musk’s company, however, advertised the car as a 100% autonomous model capable of parking and leaving the garage alone, or changing lanes only with a driver’s order. But the car requires the driver to have their hands on the steering wheel to avoid possible safety failures as has happened in the fatal accident.
Musk clarifies that “when the assistance mode is activated and the system does not detect activity on the steering wheel for a short time, it will warn you to put your hands on the steering wheel. The system will also be able to identify a slight grip on it as hands-free driving. ”
Richard Wallace, director of the transport systems analysis group at the UK Automobile Research Center, has pointed out to ‘The Guardian’, that Google’s Lidar system is “the best of both systems. You can detect objects at a distance and recognize their shapes. ” Musk has claimed that his safety will be hardened.
Google’s autonomous car
Google has conducted the first tests with an autonomous car in 2013, placing employees behind the wheel to study their viability, according to ‘The New Times’. The chosen ones made their journey from home to work in autonomous cars with a camera placed inside. The engineers found that most of them were distracted and even fell asleep at the wheel. They panicked.
This was one of the reasons that caused a change in the Google roadmap. The Mountain View company has developed a vehicle without the figure of the driver, without brake pedals, or accelerator, or steering wheel and with a maximum speed of 40 km / h. This vehicle only has a power button and a screen with the route to follow. According to Google, it can circulate for 160 kilometers completely autonomously. Google engineers added a thick layer of foam on the front of these cars, as well as a plastic windshield.
Sebastian Thrun, the head of the car’s AI, said that “we wanted it to be significantly safer, even
such a point that there were never accidents. ” What is clear is that these car models have not been designed to drive on highways, they could be useful as robotic taxis in slow-moving sections.
Google plans to put them into operation in 2019. Without a doubt, it is another car model that is more autonomous and different from the Tesla model. But do you think we are really prepared for self-driving? The DGT prohibits driving autonomous cars in Spain. The arrival of Tesla Model S will have to wait.
Source(The NYT, MEDIATRENDS )
