autonome

The technical reality of autonomous cars is coming sooner than you think, but societal acceptance of autonomous cars may be some way off. Technologies such as adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist make the tip of this iceberg among production cars, while Google has already done extensive testing of an autonomous car system. Automakers are beginning their own self-driving car programs, and the Department of Transportation is running tests of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, an important safety technology that will also play a key role for autonomous cars.

But not everyone likes the idea of self-driving cars. CNET editors Wayne … Read more

STANFORD, Calif. -- Self-driving cars are expected to save lives: a vehicle driven by a human will experience, on average, a crash every 160,000 miles or so. It's only a matter of time, advocates say, before robots become better drivers than us.

That is, if the lawyers let them. Industry insiders are already fretting about a host of legal problems that could bedevil robot car makers once a sufficient number of their creations take to the roads. Product liability, tort law, negligence, foreseeable harm, patent encumbrance, and design defects are only some of the concerns.

"The longer … Read more

In the future, the U.S. Army could rely on low-cost ambidextrous autonomous robots, instead of bomb disposal technicians or remote control robots, to defuse improvised explosive devices. Better yet, activating and operating the smart robots may only require a nearby solider to say, "Go find and defuse the bomb."

As a precursor to that end goal, DARPA's Autonomous Robotic Manipulation program released a video that shows a robot changing a tire by itself. The robot, complete with a camera and an array of sensors, successfully uses two hands (one equipped with a drill) to remove a tire and put a new one in its place. A small screen shows the robot's virtual view of the tire, which reveals how software algorithms detect each the scene and its minute details in real time.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--As hints leaked that both Lexus and Audi would be showing autonomous cars at CES 2013, no less a publication than the Wall Street Journal hyped the story. However, those expecting to see cars driving themselves around the Las Vegas Convention Center were disappointed. This trend had no gas.

Lexus burst the bubble with a surprisingly short press conference. The company brought two of its LS sedans on stage, one of them fitted with sensors and processors to research advanced safety features. Lexus vice president Mark Templin described the company's research as focused on safety, which could be … Read more

LAS VEGAS--At its press conference at CES 2013, Audi didn't just vaguely announce that it was working on developing self-driving cars. Rather, the automaker boasted that is about to begin autonomous car testing on public roads in Nevada.

Ricky Hudi, head of electronics development for Audi, told us that the automaker is the first automaker to attain a license for testing self-driving cars in the state of Nevada and that it has begun testing automated driving and parking. Audi may be the first automaker granted this license, but it's still second behind Google -- the recipient of the … Read more

Get ready to see more cars on the road without a driver behind the wheel.

Toyota and Audi will demonstrate autonomous-driving features next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Japanese automaker posted a five-second preview video that shows one of its luxury brand Lexus vehicles loaded with various sensors and carrying the caption, "Lexus advanced active safety research vehicle is leading the industry into a new automated era."

An Audi representative also told the Journal that it would be demonstrating similar capabilities at CES 2013, including the ability … Read more

Self-driving cars have long been the dream of futurists, but they came one huge step closer to reality this year, as California became the third state to legalize autonomous vehicles, and Nevada issued the first license for testing on public streets and highways. Google released a demo video of one of its autonomous vehicles carting a blind man around town in May.

How realistic is it that you'll soon spot a driverless car in the next lane over? Probably not very. But testing will certainly continue in 2013, and Google's Sergey Brin is optimistic, predicting that consumers will … Read more

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has your driving future in hand. He expects average citizens to be using self-driving cars within the next few years. Chances are, you are either delighted or terrified by the thought of our highways filling up with robot cars.

On one hand, all the people who are eating breakfast sandwiches and applying makeup behind the wheel during rush hour won't have to try to keep a token eye on the road.

On the other hand, there are plenty of questions about just how well computers and sensors can react to real-world situations like black ice or a porta-potty in the middle of the 405 (yes, I saw this happen). … Read more

If you're excited about the day when your car drives itself, you may not have too wait long.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin said Google will have autonomous cars available for the general public within five years.

"You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this," he said at the signing of SB 1298, which establishes safety and performance standards for cars operated by computers on California roads and highways.

The new law, which puts California in line with Nevada and Florida -- two states that have had … Read more