Look Ma, no driver!

Zatni Arbi ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 09/14/2009 5:49 PM  |  Sci-Tech

I first learned to drive a car when I was around 13 years old. Nobody taught me how, because nobody actually wanted to let me drive a car.

The reason was clear: I have very limited vision. I would be a dangerous threat on the road. I would create a serious risk both for other road users and for myself.

But how are you going to make a curious and naughty 13-year-old boy accept that he should not even think about driving a car for his entire life?

I learned how to drive by watching my Dad and my older brothers. Then, one morning, while my Dad was still in the bathroom, I had my first driving experience. I started the engine, put the gear into reverse and backed the car out of the garage.

Luckily, we lived just outside the small town of Payakumbuh in West Sumatra. There was not much traffic in front of our house, except for horse-drawn carts and people pedaling along on their bicycles.

I used to steal the family car and go out for a short drive when my parents were taking a nap. Thank God I never had any accident, although my escapades did leave a few dents in the car.

When I read about an experiment in the US back in the early 1990s, where a sedan traveled along a specially prepared highway with the driver sitting back reading a magazine, I thought “Wow! Maybe finally I can drive a car safely on the road.”

But, then, where would be the excitement in driving an autonomous car? What would be the difference between driving a car and riding on a train on specially built infrastructure?

Many of us enjoy driving because we are in control of the car. Car enthusiasts definitely prefer manual transmission, because it lets them rev the engine and change gears at their will. They stay away from the autopilot button.

They hate cars with a lot of sensors that automatically apply the brakes each time they get too close to the vehicle ahead.

Driverless cars are important, of course, and R&D in unmanned cars will continue. In battles, robot
cars will help penetration behind enemy lines without risking the life of servicemen or women. In addition, cars that can park themselves in tight spots will be very handy for novice drivers.

Big names in the automotive industry, such as Daimler Benz, GM and Honda are working hard in adding new technologies into their vehicles. In some ways, it is no big deal, as cars today are already controlled by computers.

The computer checks the performance of the engine, including the amount of harmful emissions that it produces and makes adjustments to ensure the engine runs efficiently. Sensors are cheap and interactive GPS and wireless connectivity are everywhere. Some models are already running on batteries. All the automakers have to do is integrate all these components.

Major efforts are also being funded by the European Union. The CyberCars project (www-c.inria.fr/cybercars2) for example, lets the cars talk to one another and coordinate their maneuvers to avoid crashes. Cooperation among the cars is critical. CyberCars2 uses data mining to determine the right response to a situation that a car encounters. For instance, what it should do when arriving at a junction exactly at the same time as another car? Who should yield?

Some of the earliest driverless cars will be operating in the new Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow airport and in Abu Dhabi. In Heathrow, they will be called ULTRa (Urban Light Transit) system (www.ultraprt.com) and in Abu Dhabi Cybercab; (see www.sciencedaily.com from Aug. 27 for more).

Some interesting terms have emerged now. Platooning, for example, refers to a group of driverless cars — called cybercars — traveling very close to each other. Now, what would happen if there were a communication breakdown between the cars? We can switch back to manual driving. On many such “dual-mode” cars, the driverless capability will only be active when we use the Advance Driver Assistance System (ADAS). Some high-end cars already have ADAS built into their systems.

One of the benefits of driverless cars is that we can pack more cars in the same space on the road by reducing the distance between each car and the one ahead. If the car in front has to stop for an emergency, there will be just enough time for the car behind it to stop.

Here is a challenge that still bothers me: Do all the cars have well-maintained, effective brakes? In the bigger picture, can driverless cars share the same road as the ones that we drive today?

Senior citizens who have lost their ability to drive can regain their mobility with driverless cars. Even drunks can drive on the highway without getting arrested — not that I endorse excessive drinking and certainly not drinking and driving.

However, whatever comes out of the R&D labs, if my eyes could see clearly enough to drive a car, I would still prefer to drive one of the older cars from Jay Leno’s collection. I would be the king, not the computer onboard the car.

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