Even with all this talk about autonomous cars and Google cars, there is that one question… When? When will we be able to purchase one?
With all these technologies advancing and crazy ideas popping out of scientists’ minds, we have invented a myriad of gadgets and tools to surprise the citizens. However, redesigning the invention for a whole mass of people may take just as long as to create the first product, if not longer. Conferences have been held over the topic of the release of autonomous vehicles in the past several years ever since Google has made its debut with its autonomous cars.
As expected, many scientists at the earlier conferences doubted the success of autonomous cars in the years to come. If not, they expected many years until completion. Why you ask? The science behind artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI, and data needed to function these systems would take a whole lot of time. These are just few of the many problems that scientists needed to face back then and now. On top of that, there are governmental issues and laws that would allow such machines to roam about the place. The idea was bright but the future seemed dim considering all the problems they had to face.
Just last year, Nissan got the population stirred with its announcement of autonomous cars into the streets as early as 2020. But in early July, the company held a conference discussing the progress of their project. They announced that they haven’t made much progress and won’t be for a while with the new problems they’re facing. By 2020, they ensured that their cars will be sold with the option of driverless parking and freeway driving without the aid of the driver. This specifically excludes urban and city driving where they won’t be able to collect too much data unless these cars “explore” cities and such.
In one of the more recent conferences held in United States, about 500 scientists, who are, of course, experts in autonomous vehicles, came together to discuss the direction and the progress they have made. It was very clear that the availability of autonomous cars in the market would be quite far off from today. As mentioned before, the science behind this technology would require much more time, and some of the more optimistic scientists expected (which is around 50% of the scientists) these vehicles to hit the market in the 2030’s at the very earliest. About a quarter to a fifth of the scientists predicted 2040, and almost a tenth predicted not in their lifetime. Whatever the case is, we can be assured that we won’t see these amazing robotic cars until a decade from today…
Before this topic ends, I feel the need to shift your attention to something else by asking this question, “Will the middle and lower class even be able to afford it?”
Photo Credits to Jaap Meijers from flickr.com (Creative Commons)
Autonomous Vehicles Today 