By Ryan Ellis
Its kind of scary to think that driverless cars, an idea that showed up in the works of sci-fi movies made decades ago is now a reality. Many companies have experimented in the realm of autonomous vehichles, even companies that don't necessarily make automobiles. Driverless cars have a lot of potential to make the next step forward in the future of safe transportation.
Autonomous cars have connections close to Michigan, in fact a ten-million dollar testing facility was recently opened Ann Arbor( unfortunately it was built on the campus of the University of Michigan - GO GREEN) Anyways, more than twelve companies such as Google, Toyota, and GM all began testing at the new facility in July of 2015. This new proving ground, named Mcity, houses many different terrain and real world scenarios where self driving cars are put to the test. Effectively Mcity, as the name somewhat implies, is a miniature city! Complete with traffic signs, construction cones, and even pot-holes ( Burden, Para. 2)
The ultimate goal of implementing automated cars on the real roads is simple: increase driver safety and decrease the number of casualties due to accidents. I think the automotive industry is well on their way to achieving these goals within the next decade. Understandably, it will take some time for the public to see the benefits that autonomous cars have offer. But hopefully in the end people will come to see that driverless cars can offer great advantages if given the chance to prove themselves.
Source:
Burden, Melissa. "Driverless Car Testing Site Mcity Opens in Ann Arbor." Detroit News. Detroit News, 21 July 2015. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.
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ReplyDeleteI am really impressed by the revolution of transportation described in your post and really looking forward to the day when autonomous cars come out into the market. The proving ground called Mcity is really cool to me and I want to know more about how does it work and how did engineers build it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge innovated step to have autonomous cars on the road. When thinking about driverless cars cruising the streets it kind of frightens me. Although this is an amazing new invention, I feel like it takes the fun out of driving experience, for the driver that is; I'm sure the passengers couldn't care less. I mean, personally, I enjoy driving; I just feel free at ease, but I'm sure that there are many advantages to having these kinds of cars.
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