Autonomous Vehicles...

Leaonardo Da Vinci's self propelled cart design is the first robot which drives on its own with a predetermined steer. Today this futuristic dream which seemed impossible is very close to reality. Companies like Ford, Tesla, Toyota, Google  and university researcher's are accelerating towards making this dream a reality soon, while they all are investing a large capital into the research and implementation of autonomous vehicles. This technology is all about making our roads safer, and as the cars learn and drive in this would significantly change the way we see mobility or transportation.

Safety of the customers have led to innovations in passive safety world like designing air bags, better braking systems etc. With the increase in electronics and use of software in the cars more active safety technologies have been invented and implemented E.g. collision warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot warning etc. The major enablers for all these technologies are sensors like radars, cameras, ultrasonic sensors etc.. Sensors have become cheap and easy to implement and work with, in the automotive world. With this rapid developments in the drive safety and driver assist world industry is marching fast towards implementing a fully autonomous car on the road.
Artificial intelligence, robotics and computer vision are some of the streams in the engineering world which are shaping these changes. Advanced algorithms, software and powerful electronics, sensors all together are making this a reality as most manufacturers are promising to have driverless cars on roads by 2021. There are many ethical decisions to be made by the companies and lawmakers around this technology to make it a success while ensuring customers safety.