Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 21, 1995 TAG: 9506210095
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH LENGTH: Medium
The Pontiac minivan moves along the winding road, hugging the curves and climbing easily up the hills. It seems like an ordinary ride - but nearly the whole time, driver Dean Pomerleau's hands are off the wheel.
In what could be the future of motoring, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute are developing systems that will enable cars to ``drive themselves'' with software, computers, video cameras and other equipment.
The aim is to make driving safer, easier and faster.
In fact, those who are working on the Navigation Laboratory project - called Navlab - envision a day when people will be able to steer their cars onto a special lane, push a button and sit back for the rest of the ride - reading, doing a crossword puzzle or catching up on sleep.
``It's hands-off, feet-off, brains-off driving,'' project director Pomerleau said.
Last month, researchers took the minivan for a test drive from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. Pomerleau let the system steer the van nearly the whole time from his home in Wexford, a Pittsburgh suburb, until the Washington Monument was in sight.
The vehicle averaged 57 mph over the approximately 250-mile ride. Because Pomerleau was always in control, he felt no need to notify police about his experiment.
Here's how the van works: a video camera mounted just below the rearview mirror ``reads'' the roadway, taking in information as varied as oil spots, lane markings and curbs to determine where it is.
It sends the information to a laptop computer sitting on a wooden box between the two front seats. The computer processes the data and instructs an electric motor to move the steering wheel left or right.
The system, powered by the van's cigarette lighter, can rapidly adapt to conditions. For example, it can quickly learn to ``read'' ruts in the snow left by other vehicles instead of lane markers.
To retake control of the van, the driver has only to grab the steering wheel.
There still are glitches.
As Pomerleau was demonstrating the Pontiac Trans Sport SE equipped with the system one evening, it became ``blinded'' by the setting sun in a park and started to veer across the yellow lines into the path of an oncoming car. Pomerleau then grabbed the steering wheel.
Moreover, the van still doesn't know how to stop for red lights, can't brake on its own and sometimes still mistakenly heads off exit ramps if a road looks inviting. It also isn't always able to change lanes by itself, although researchers are working on that.
People won't be able to buy cars that can drive themselves for at least another decade or so, and researchers worry that legal issues may prevent widespread use.
But some technology that's been developed for the van, including an alarm system to warn drivers if they're veering off the road, may become available sooner, Pomerleau said.
When the system senses that an accident is imminent, a loud beep sounds and the steering wheel begins to shake - prompting the driver to grab it.
With about one-third of all highway fatalities occurring because a sleepy, drunk or otherwise inattentive driver drifts off the road, the potential use for such technology is clear, according to Pomerleau.
Scientists also predict that partially automated cars could move twice the amount of traffic on a highway - and do so much more safely.
A consortium headed by General Motors Corp. and including Virginia Tech's Center for Transportation Research, the California Department of Transportation and Martin Marietta Corp. plans to create a prototype automatic highway by 1997.
by CNB