Google’s self-driving car is a way off, so imagine we start simpler.
You’re stuck in traffic on the way to work, as you are every morning. Glance around and even those responsible rides with multiple passengers have one frustrated driver just like you – tapping the gas, hitting the brake, tapping the gas, hitting the brake. It’s an utter waste of high productivity morning time for every single one of those drivers. A machine should be able to just keep up with the car in front of you, following its speed and turns. In the meantime, you could join your passengers in reading, handling email and non-distracted phone calls.
That’s what a group from Sweden has in mind. From New Scientist:
An automatic driving system that has just been road-tested for the first time in Sweden would link cars together into road trains or “platoons” to form semi-autonomous convoys under the control of a professional lead driver. The hope is that average road speeds can be reduced, improving fuel consumption and cutting congestion.
Here’s how it works:
