AUTONOMOUS CARS

Abstract:
This paper presents a detailed chronology of the field of autonomous automation and is of interest to researchers, and
much has been accomplished in this area. This paper can help one to understand the trends in autonomous vehicle
technology[1] for the past, present, and future. We see a drastic change in autonomous vehicle technology since 1920s,
when the first radio controlled vehicles were designed. In the subsequent decades, we see fairly autonomous electric
cars powered by embedded circuits in the roads. By 1960s, autonomous cars having similar electronic guide systems
came into picture. 1980s saw vision guided autonomous vehicles, which was a major milestone in technology and till
date we use similar or modified forms of vision and radio guided technologies. Various semi-autonomous features
introduced in modern cars such as lane keeping, automatic braking and adaptive cruise control are based on such
systems. Extensive network guided systems in conjunction with vision guided features is the future of autonomous
vehicles. It is predicted that most companies will launch fully autonomous vehicles by the advent of next decade. The
future of autonomous vehicles is an ambitious era of safe and comfortable transportation.

Keywords:
Autonomous Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, Cars, Intelligent Transportation Technologies and Systems, Automation.
1. INTRODUCTION
An autonomous car (sometimes called self driving
car or driverless car) is a vehicle that uses a
combination of sensors, cameras, radar and artificial
intelligence (AI) to travel between destinations
without a human operator. It is vehicle that is
capable of sensing its environment and moving with
little or no human input. Autonomous cars aim to
bring fully self driving technology to the world that
can improve mobility by giving people the freedom
to get around and save thousands of lives now lost
to traffic crashes.Consumers all around the whole
world are enthusiastic about the advent of
autonomous cars for public. An autonomous car can
operate without human control and does not require
any human intervention.Transportation accidents is
one of the major causes of death in the world. By
2020, this world could prevent 5 million human
Fatalities and 50 million serious injuries by
introduction of newer andinnovative methodologies
and investments in road safety, from regional to
international levels. The Commission for Global
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Road Safety believes that itis very crucial to stop
this avoidable and horrendousrise in road injuries,
and initiate year on yearreductions.Though a truly
driverless car is most likely still years away from
being available to consumers, they are closer than
many people think. Current estimates predict that by
2025 the world will see over 600,000 self-driving
cars on the road, and by 2035 that number will jump
to almost 21 million. Trials of self-driving
carservices have actually begun in some cities in the
United States. And even though fully self-driving
cars are not on the market yet, current technology
allows vehicles to be more autonomous than ever
before.Autonomous cars combine a variety of
sensors to perceive their surroundings, such
as radar, computervision,Lidar, sonar, GPS,
odometryand inertial measurement units.
Advanced control systems interpret sensory
information to identify appropriate navigation paths,
as well as obstacles and relevant signage.
Potential benefits include reduced costs, increased
safety, increased mobility, increased customer
satisfaction and reduced crime. Safety benefits
include a reduction in traffic collisions, resulting
injuries and related costs, including for insurance.
Automated cars are predicted to increase traffic
flow; provide enhanced mobility for children,
the elderly, disabled, and the poor; relieve travelers
from driving and navigation chores; increase fuel
efficiency of vehicle; significantly reduce needs
for parking space; reduce crime; and facilitate
business models for transportation as a service,
especially via the sharing economy.Problems
include safety, technology, liability, legal
framework and government regulations; risk of loss
of privacy and security concerns, such as hackers or
terrorism; concern about the resulting loss of
driving-related jobs in the road transport industry;
and risk of increased suburbanization as travel
becomes more convenient.
2. HISTORY
Experiments have been conducted on automated
driving systems (ADS) since at least the 1920s,
trials began in the 1950s. The first truly automated
car was developed in 1977, by Japan's Tsukuba
Mechanical Engineering Laboratory. The vehicle
tracked white street markers, which were
interpreted by two cameras on the vehicle, using an
analog computer for signal processing. The vehicle
reached speeds up to 30 kilometres per hour
(19 mph), with the support of an elevated rail.
Autonomous prototype cars appeared in the 1980s,
with Carnegie Mellon University's Navlab and
ALV projects funded by DARPA starting in 1984
and Mercedes-Benz and Bundeswehr University
Munich's EUREKA Prometheus Project in 1987. By
1985, the ALV had demonstrated self-driving
speeds on two-lane roads of 31 kilometres per hour
(19 mph) with obstacle avoidance added in 1986and
off-road driving in day and nighttime conditions by
1987.
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Figure.1- General Motors' Firebird II of the 1950s
From the 1960s through the second DARPA Grand
Challenge in 2005, automated vehicle research in
the U.S. was primarily funded by DARPA, the US
Army, and the U.S. Navy, yielding incremental
advances in speeds, driving competence in more
complex conditions, controls, and sensor
systems. Companies and research organizations
have developed prototypes.
The U.S. allocated $650 million in 1991 for
research on the National Automated Highway
System, which demonstrated automated driving
through a combination of automation, embedded in
the highway with automated technology in vehicles
and cooperative networking between the vehicles
and with the highway infrastructure. The program
concluded with a successful demonstration in 1997
but without clear direction or funding to implement
the system on a larger scale. Partly funded by the
National Automated Highway System and DARPA,
the Carnegie Mellon University Navlab drove 4,584
kilometres (2,848 mi) across America in 1995,
4,501 kilometres (2,797 mi) or 98% of it
autonomously. Navlab's record achievement stood
unmatched for two decades until 2015 when Delphi
improved it by piloting an Audi, augmented with
Delphi technology, over 5,472 kilometres
(3,400 mi) through 15 states while remaining in
self-driving mode 99% of the time.In 2015, the US
states of Nevada, Florida, California, Virginia,
and Michigan, together with Washington, D.C.,
allowed the testing of automated cars on public
roads.
In 2017, Audi stated that its latest A8 would be
automated at speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour
(37 mph) using its "Audi AI." The driver would not
have to do safety checks such as frequently gripping
the steering wheel. The Audi A8 was claimed to be
the first production car to reach level 3 automated
driving, and Audi would be the first manufacturer to
use laser scanners in addition to cameras and
ultrasonic sensors for their system.
In November 2017, Waymo announced that it had
begun testing driverless cars without a safety driver
in the driver position; however, there was still an
employee in the car.In October 2018, Waymo
announced that its test vehicles had traveled in
automated mode for over 10,000,000 miles
(16,000,000 km), increasing by about 1,000,000
miles (1,600,000 kilometres) per month. In
December 2018, Waymo was the first to
commercialize a fully autonomous taxi service in
the U.S.
3. LEVELS OF SELF DRIVING CARS[2]
In SAE's automation level definitions, "driving
mode" means "a type of driving scenario with
characteristic dynamic driving task requirements
(e.g., expressway merging, high speed cruising, low
speed traffic jam, closed-campus operations, etc.).
3.1 Level 0
Automated system issues warnings and may
momentarily intervene but has no sustained vehicle
control by the human driver does all the driving.
3.2 Level 1
The driver and the automated system share control
of the vehicle. Examples are Adaptive Cruise
Control (ACC), where the driver controls steering
and the automated system controls speed;
and Parking Assistance, where steering is
automated while speed is under manual control. The
driver must be ready to retake full control at any
time. Lane Keeping Assistance (LKA) Type II is a
further example of level 1 self-driving.
3.3 Level 2
The automated system takes full control of the
vehicle (accelerating, braking, and steering). The
driver must monitor the driving and be prepared to
intervene immediately at any time if the automated
system fails to respond properly. The shorthand
"hands off" is not meant to be taken literally. In
fact, contact between hand and wheel is often
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mandatory during SAE 2 driving, to confirm that
the driver is ready to intervene.
3.4 Level 3
The driver can safely turn their attention away from
the driving tasks, e.g. the driver can text or watch a
movie. The vehicle will handle situations that call
for an immediate response, like emergency braking.
The driver must still be prepared to intervene within
some limited time, specified by the manufacturer,
when called upon by the vehicle to do so. As an
example, the 2018 Audi A8 Luxury Sedan was the
first commercial car to claim to be capable of level
3 self-driving. This particular car has a so-called
Traffic Jam Pilot. When activated by the human
driver, the car takes full control of all aspects of
driving in slow-moving traffic at up to 60
kilometres per hour (37 mph). The function works
only on highways with a physical barrier separating
one stream of traffic from oncoming traffic.
3.5 Level 4
As level 3, but no driver attention is ever required
for safety, e.g. the driver may safely go to sleep or
leave the driver's seat. Self-driving is supported
only in limited spatial areas (geofenced) or under
special circumstances, like traffic jams. Outside of
these areas or circumstances, the vehicle must be
able to safely abort the trip, e.g. park the car, if the
driver does not retake control.
3.6 Level 5
No human intervention is required at all. An
example would be a robotic taxi.
4. TECHNOLOGIES THAT POWER
AUTOMATED CARS [3]
4.1 Laser Range Finder
The heart of Google’s self driving car is the rotating
roof top camera, Lidar, which is a laser range
finder. With its array of 64 laser beams, this camera
creates 3D images of objects helping the car see
hazards along the way. This device calculates how
far an object is from the moving vehicle based on
the time it takes for the laser beams to hit the object
and come back. These high intensity lasers can
calculate distance and create images for objects in
an impressive 200m range.
Figure.3- Laser Range Finder
4.2 Front Camera For Near Vision
A camera mounted on the windshield takes care of
helping the car ‘see’ objects right in front of it.
These include the usual suspects- pedestrians, and
other motorists. This camera also detects and
records information about road signs and traffic
lights, which is intelligently interpreted by the car’s
in built software.
Figure.4- Front Camera For Near Vision
4.3 Bumper Mounted Radar
4 radars mounted on the car’s front and rear
bumpers enable the car to be aware of vehicles in
front of it and behind it. Most of us are familiar with
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this technology as it is the same as the adaptive
cruise control systems our cars are based. The radar
sensor on the car’s bumpers keeps a ‘digital eye’ on
the car ahead. The software is programmed to (at all
times) maintain a distance of 2-4 seconds (it could
even be higher) vis-a-vis the car ahead of it. So with
this technology the car will automatically speed up
or slow down depending on the behaviour of the
car/driver ahead. Google’s self-driving cars use this
technology to keep passengers and other motorists
safe by avoiding bumps and crashes.
Figure.5- Bumper Mounted Radar
4.4 Aerial that Reads Precise GeoLocation
An aerial on the rear of the car receives information
about the precise location of the car, thanks to GPS
satellites. The car’s GPS inertial navigation unit
works with the sensors to help the car localise itself.
But GPS estimates may be off by several metres
due to signal disturbances and other interferences
from the atmosphere. To minimise the degree of
uncertainty, the GPS data is compared with sensor
map data previously collected from the same
location. As the vehicle moves, the vehicle’s
internal map is updated with new positional
information displayed by the sensors.
 Figure.6-Aerial that Reads GeoLocation
4.5 Ultrasonic Sensors on Rear Wheels
An ultrasonic sensor on one of the rear wheels helps
keep track of the movements of the car and will
alert the car about the obstacles in the rear. These
ultrasonic sensors are already in action in some of
the technologically advanced cars of today. Cars
that offer automatic ‘Reverse Park Assist’
technology utilise such sensors to help navigate the
car into tight reverse parking spots. Typically, these
sensors get activated when the car is engaged in the
reverse gear.
Figure.7-Ultrasonic Sensors on Rear Wheels
4.6 Devices Within the Car
Inside the car are altimeters, gyroscopes, and
tachymeters that determine the very precise position
of the car thanks to the various parameters they
measure. This offers highly accurate data for the car
to operate safely.
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Figure.8-Devices Within the Car
4.7 Synergistic Combining of Sensor
All the data gathered by these sensors is collated
and interpreted together by the car’s CPU or in built
software system to create a safe driving experience.
Figure.9- Synergistic Combining of Sensors
4.8 Program to Interpret Common Road Sign
The software has been programmed to rightly
interpret common road behaviour and motorist
signs. For example, if a cyclist gestures that he
intends to make a manoeuvre, the driverless car
interprets it correctly and slows down to allow the
motorist to turn. Predetermined shape and motion
descriptors are programmed into the system to help
the car make intelligent decisions. For instance, if
the car detects a 2 wheel object and determines the
speed of the object as 10mph rather than 50 mph,
the car instantly interprets that this vehicle is a
bicycle and not a motorbike and behaves
accordingly. Several such programs fed into the
car’s central processing unit will work
simultaneously, helping the car make safe and
intelligent decisions on busy roads.

Figure.11-Mapping In Advance
4.10 Programming Real Life Road Behaviour
Engineers have programmed some real life
behaviour in these cars. While the vehicle does slow
Figure.10-Sensor to Interpret Common Road Sign down to allow other motorists to go ahead,
especially in 4 way intersections, the car has also
been programmed to advance ahead if it detects that
the other vehicle is not moving.Though self-driving
4.9 Mapping in Advance car is not here yet, all this technology sure does
make it exciting. And perhaps we are closer to
At the moment, before a self-driven car is tested, a
driving one that we let ourselves believe.
regular car is driven along the route and maps out
the route and it’s road conditions including poles,
road markers, road signs and more. This map is fed
into the car’s software helping the car identify what
is a regular part of the road. As the car moves, its
Velodyne laser range finder kicks in (see point 1)
and generates a detailed 3D map of the environment
at that moment. The car compares this map with the
pre-existing map to figure out the non-standard
aspects in the road, rightly identifying them as
pedestrians and/or other motorists, thus avoiding
them. Figure.12-Real Life Road Behaviour

5. APPLICATIONS [4]
5.1 Automated Trucks

Lockheed Martin with funding from the U.S. Army

developed an automated truck convoying system
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that uses a lead truck operated by a human driver
with a number of trucks following autonomously.
Developed as part of the Army's Autonomous
Mobility Applique System (AMAS), the system
consists of an automated driving package that has
been installed on more than nine types of vehicles
and has completed more than 55,000 hours of
driving at speeds up to 64 kilometres per hour (40
mph) as of 2014. As of 2017 the Army was
planning to field 100–200 trucks as part of a rapid-
fielding program
Starsky Robotics, the San Francisco-based
automated truck company, completed a 7-mile (11
km) fully driverless trip in Florida without a single
human in the truck. Starsky Robotics became the
first player in the self-driving truck game to drive in
fully automated mode on a public road without a
person in the cab.
5.2 Transport System
necessarily translate to net reduction in energy
consumption and positive environmental outcomes.
It is expected that convenience of the automated
vehicles encourages the consumers to travel more,
and this induced demand may partially or fully
offset the fuel efficiency improvement brought by
automation. Overall, the consequences of vehicle
automation on global energy demand and emissions
are highly uncertain, and heavily depends on the
combined effect of changes in consumer behavior,
policy intervention, technological progress and
vehicle technology.
7.6 Parking Space
Manually driven vehicles are reported to be used
only 4–5% of the time, and being parked and
unused for the remaining 95–96% of the time.
Autonomous vehicles could, on the other hand, be
used continuously after it has reached its
destination. This could dramatically reduce the need
for parking space. For example, in Los Angeles,
14% of the land is used for parking
alone, equivalent to some 17,020,594 square
meters. This combined with the potential reduced
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need for road space due to improved traffic flow,
could free up tremendous amounts of land in urban
areas, which could then be used for parks,
recreational areas, buildings, among other uses;
making cities more livable.
8. POTENTIAL DISADVANTAGES
A direct impact of widespread adoption of
automated vehicles is the loss of driving-related
jobs in the road transport industry. There could be
resistance from professional drivers and unions who
are threatened by job losses. In addition, there could
be job losses in public transit services and crash
repair shops. The automobile insurance industry
might suffer as the technology makes certain
aspects of these occupations obsolete. A frequently
cited paper by Michael Osborne and Carl Benedikt
Frey found that automated cars would make many
jobs redundant.
Privacy could be an issue when having the vehicle's
location and position integrated into an interface in
which other people have access to. In addition, there
is the risk of automotive hacking through the
sharing of information through V2V (Vehicle to
Vehicle) and V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure)
protocols.There is also the risk of terrorist attacks.
Self-driving cars could potentially be loaded with
explosives and used as bombs.
The lack of stressful driving, more productive time
during the trip, and the potential savings in travel
time and cost could become an incentive to live far
away from cities, where land is cheaper, and work
in the city's core, thus increasing travel distances
and inducing more urban sprawl, more fuel
consumption and an increase in the carbon footprint
of urban travel. There is also the risk that traffic
congestion might increase, rather than decrease.
Appropriate public policies and regulations, such as
zoning, pricing, and urban design are required to
avoid the negative impacts of increased
suburbanization and longer distance travel.
Some believe that once automation in vehicles
reaches higher levels and becomes reliable, drivers
will pay less attention to the road.Research shows
that drivers in automated cars react later when they
have to intervene in a critical situation, compared to
if they were driving manually. Depending on the
capabilities of automated vehicles and the frequency
with which human intervention is needed, this may
counteract any increase in safety, as compared to
all-human driving, that may be delivered by other
factors.

9. CONCLUSION
This paper discusses basic chronology leading to
the development of autonomous cars. Autonomous
vehicles developed from the basic robotic cars to
much efficient and practical vision guided vehicles.
The development of Mercedes- Benz vision guided
autonomous van by Ernst Dickmanns and his team
gave a paradigm shift to the approach followed in
autonomous cars. Also, contemporary developments
in autonomous cars reflect the vivid future
autonomous cars behold. Official future predictions
about autonomous cars point out that most
automobile companies will launch cars with semi
and fully autonomous features by 2020. Most cars
are expected to be fully autonomous by 2035,
according to official predictions as cited earlier.
This paper reviewed the historical antecedents,
contemporary advancements and developments, and
predictable future of semi and fully autonomous
cars for public