future of cars

DARPA is the wacky research arm of the US Military. Only about 1 out of every 10 projects they get involved with goes anywhere. They built the DARPA-Net which became ARPA-Net which became the internet.

A few years ago DARPA sponsored the DARPA Grand Challenge. The challenge was to design self guiding vehicles. They had to navigate a long winding track in the desert that they were unfamiliar with 24 hours before the beginning of the race. Of the top three winners two used GPS while one relied on it's own sensors.

This November DARPA will be sponsoring the DARPA Urban Challenge. This time they'll be navigating a city. They'll face traffic, on and off ramps, highways, and city streets.

The point is to be able to convert most military vehicles in the field to automated vehicles. After all, a robot can't refuse to drive a tanker full of tainted fuel through insurgent territory.

It won't be long before this technology is made available for our vehicles. Probably with a combination of GPS, cameras, and laser scanning. GPS for planning routes and being able to predict what's coming. Lasers to determine the shapes and proximity of things around you. Cameras to determine what those things are.

You should be able to get in your car, tell it where to take you and it'll drive you there. So I was thinking about problem conditions and safety issues. My GPS gizmo works pretty well, but maps change and construction fouls things. The car's built in GPS system would need to have the maps in updatable flash memory. It would need to receive updates about construction so it wouldn't try to exit on a closed off ramp.
If the car wasn't able to receive updates for an extended time or if the flash drive failed the car would have to refuse to start. Or, in the early days, refused to automate.

Of greater concern is the fact that your vehicle would be completely trackable. Universal LowJack would be great. It would eliminate car theft except for the most tech savvy thief. On the other hand you'll have to worry that the feds can find your car anywhere and anytime. When you get stuck in the snow they'll be able to find you. If you're having an affair they'll be able to prove your car was at so-and-such home or hotel at a certain time in the divorce proceedings. When George Orwell Bush III takes office he'll be able to follow you anywhere.

So, would you take a fully automated car if you knew you could never go off the grid?