Driver less cars

An autonomous car, also known as a driverless car, self-driving car or robot car, is an autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the human transportation capabilities of a traditional car. As an autonomous vehicle, it is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. Robotic cars exist mainly as prototypes and demonstration systems. Currently, the only self-driving vehicles that are commercially available are open-air shuttles for pedestrian zones that operate at 12.5 miles per hour (20.1 km/h).

Autonomous vehicles sense their surroundings with such techniques as radar, lidar, GPS, and computer vision. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage. Some autonomous vehicles update their maps based on sensory input, allowing the vehicles to keep track of their position even when conditions change or when they enter uncharted environments.

Some quasi-autonomous demonstration systems date back to the 1920s and the 1930s. Since the 1980s, when Mercedes-Benz andBundeswehr University Munich built a driverless car through the EUREKA Prometheus Project, significant advances have been made in both technology and legislation relevant to autonomous cars. Numerous major companies and research organizations have developed working prototype autonomous vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Continental Automotive Systems, Autoliv Inc., Bosch, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Vislab from University of Parma, Oxford University and Google. In 2010, four electric autonomous vans successfully drove 8000 miles from Italy to China. The vehicles were developed in a research project backed by European Union funding, by Vislab of the University of Parma, Italy. In July 2013 Vislab worldpremiered BRAiVE, a vehicle that moved autonomously on a mixed traffic route open to public traffic. As of 2013, four U.S. states have passed laws permitting autonomous cars: Nevada, Florida, California, and Michigan. In Europe, cities in Belgium, France and Italy are planning to operate transport systems for driverless cars.

Cape Town - Imagine sitting in your car and reading news or watching a movie on your tablet - all while you drive to work.

That future may not be as far away as you might think because clean self-driving cars may be a reality in less than five years.

"For a wholly autonomous car, we have to wait maybe five years," Andre Sharpe, Global Product and Business Development director at Regus told News24.

Regus has partnered with Rinspeed to develop a concept autonomous car, the XchangE, which will be shown to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

The car boosts four seats and the two front ones are able to swivel to face the back to allow the occupants to face each other during transit.

Liability

"Autonomous cars no longer require drivers to watch the road, so there's an opportunity to make more meaningful use of their time," said Frank M Rinderknecht, CEO of Rinspeed.

While the concept could revolutionise private travel, there are multiple infrastructure and legal hurdles that autonomous will have to face before you go cruising.

One challenge is who should be liable should the technology malfunction in transit.

"This will be an interesting issue between the manufacturer, the insurance company and respective legislation of the country in which the accident occurs. As the car is still a concept, we are unable to provide specific details at this stage," said Sharpe.

Actually building a concept is also a long journey from a mass production vehicle.

In South Africa, there were high hopes for the Joule electric vehicle, produced by Optimal Energy.

Though the company received investment from the Industrial Development Corporation as well as the department of science and technology, the vehicle never made it to the production stage, despite several promises.

Viable technology

The concept of self-driving cars has shown to be viable.

Internet giant Google debuted a self driving car and the company recently launched the Open Automotive Alliance which seeks to promote the framework for driverless cars.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Audi demonstrated a circuit board capable of piloting a car. The company though, would not say when the technology would become commercially available.

BMW demonstrated a parking technology that would allow vehicles to be driven by humans, but would park themselves autonomously.

The scope of the XchangE project is large in that it will no doubt employ a number of technologies to allow the vehicle to navigate and to ensure that charging is simple and efficient.

A self-driving car could also be a boon to visually disabled people or those who consume alcohol.