Self-driving vehicles are the future and Ontario is already testing them out. The province is reserving $80-million over five years to establish the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network project to support industry-led research and development, including a demonstration zone in Stratford.
John Mackton, a Fanshawe Automotive Technician student explains how autonomous cars use many techniques to detect their environment. “They use things like radars, laser light, GPS iodometry and computer vision. Self-driving cars must have control systems that are capable of analyzing sensory data to distinguish between different cars on the road,” explains Mackton.
Vanessa Carr is an uber driver in London for two years, her father is also a truck driver. He travels out of the country to Calgary, Caliornia, Arizona to deliver freights. Carr explains her concerns about self driving vehicles. “I’m worried that people’s awareness may decrease. People will start sleeping, playing video games, or even drinking until they reach their destination. What will happen to truck drivers when we have self driving trucks? That’s my dad’s income…Although I’m sure it will take a long time to perfect a product like this.”
Below shows a video of the fatal crash that happened with an autonomous Uber vehicle in Arizona. The crash was the combination of a series of tragic and small problems. Results from the investigation says, if the car had been going slightly more slowly, if either its human or computer driver had spotted the woman slightly earlier, or if the road was slightly differently designed, then it’s possible no accident would have happened.
Things are moving quickly, and according to experts who study the potential fallout of driverless trucking on the economy, the arrival of autonomous commercial vehicles on Canadian roads will decline the impact of electric-powered trucks.
Look both ways before crossing, you may just see a vehicle without a human inside.
