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"It's a kind of magic," crooned the late Freddie Mercury. Driving with the windows or roof down on a moonlit night is a magical feeling indeed.
A late night drive always soothes this savage beast, but it's daunting to know that advances in automotive technology could put a stop to these late night solo drives.
Earlier this month, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, a research agency under the United States Department of Defence, held the Urban Challenge in California. The competition saw 35 teams run their driverless vehicles through a 96-km urban course in a desolate military installation. The vehicles had to negotiate a real world setting, obey traffic rules and avoid other vehicles on the course.
Tartan Racing, a joint effort by General Motors Corporation and Carnegie Mellon University, took top honours. Their entry, a Chevy Tahoe named "Boss", drove away with the US$2-million (S$2.9-million) first prize after clocking the best time without any major traffic violations.
This will kick-start the private sector into developing this field of robotics, especially as the US Congress is calling for at least a third of its armed forces' vehicles to be driverless by 2015 to minimise casualties.
The cars used sensors that gathered data to form a 3D model of their surroundings. On-board computers then decided when to brake, accelerate and turn. This technology may be meant for combat, but it could be a lifesaver on roads.
Forty-six per cent of the fatal accidents here were attributed to drivers or riders who failed to "keep a proper lookout" or "keep proper control of their vehicles" - human error.
Would the technology used in the Urban Challenge vehicles have made a difference?
Already, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning systems are in use. Some Audi and BMW models have cameras that detect lane markers. If a driver veers towards these lines without switching on his indicators, the steering wheel vibrates.
Mercedes Benz's Distronic Plus uses a small radar in the front grille to constantly measure its distance from the vehicle in front. The system keeps the car at a safe distance from the one ahead, coming to a standstill and accelerating when necessary.
Volvo is working on a car-to-car communication system that would enable them to travel in convoys of up to 15 cars. The cars track one another, constantly adjusting their speed to match the lead car. Volvo reckons this increases safety, eases congestion and carbon monoxide emissions.
"Assistance systems serve to enhance comfort and combat driver fatigue on long journeys, making an important contribution to safety," said Mr Reinhold Carl, managing director of Audi Singapore.
If we use pop culture as a guide, chances are the automobiles of tomorrow will have the "self-drive" features seen in Demolition Man or Minority Report. Passengers would just need to get in and call out their destination, and the car takes care of the rest.
We may already be seeing the first models of tomorrow's self-driving cars today. Lexus has introduced a car that parks itself, although this model is not available here.
"In the future, cars may park and drive themselves, I see this as a natural and positive evolution in car technology, taking transportation to a new level," Mr Glenn Tan, Motor Image's chief executive officer said.
For car enthusiasts, "Evolution" is a hallowed word, being the name of Mitsubishi's rally-spec model of the Lancer. And the day these cars drive themselves would be a day of mourning for the motoring world.
But petrolheads need not fret; this would not signal the end of driving, as we know it. After all, as Mr Tan pointed out, the arrival of the automatic transmission did not bring about the end of the stick-shift. - TODAY/ym
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