The autonomous vehicle navigation technology may make life more convenient if it allows people to enjoy a good book or movie while their cars guide themselves through rush-hour traffic.Wende Zhang of General Motors designed the vehicle that drives itself, which has an average speed of approximately 13 miles per hour.
The GM team drew upon existing technology already offered in some of their vehicles that can assist in parking or detect lane markers and trigger alarms if the drivers are coming too close to the shoulder of the road.
They developed a more sophisticated package of sensors that included GPS coupled with a camera and a laser-ranging LIDAR system to guide and correct the vehicle’s route through the city.
In Baltimore, Zhang will present GM’s patented new methods for detecting lanes and correcting a vehicle’s route.
The technology must prove reliable in many different road, weather and lighting conditions. Zhang says a commercially-viable autonomous driving product may be available in the next decade.