Imagine a world where you hop in your car, type your destination into a computer, then sit back and relax as your car travels along a complex computer highway system to your desired destination. There’s no hassle, no fuss, no having to deal with the stress of having to sit in traffic or worry about getting into an accident because of other reckless drivers.
This might sound like a scenario right out of a sci-fi book or movie but it is what is in store for you in the future. Scientists, engineers and computer programmers are working hand-in-hand to develop an intricate computer controlled highway system that takes the driving out of the drivers’ hands and places it in the hands of a computer system.
A highway system like this is still in its developing stages. Details and technology for a system like this has yet to be ironed out. However, as a society we are moving in the right direction to see this dream become a reality.
Prepare yourself to see what the future of computer-controlled highways look like by exploring the present technological systems that are currently in use by countries all across the globe and what is in store for us in the future.
Look Ma No Hands – Parallel Parking Hands-Free
To some people parallel parking comes naturally. For these people they can pick any spot between two cars and just slide right in with no problem. However, for most people parallel parking doesn’t come that easily and it takes multiple tries just to get the car aligned correctly and not hit the surrounding cars. For those people hands-free parallel parking is a dream come true.
Cars with hands-free parallel parking have sensors and electronic powered steering to get the car into those tight spaces. No participation is required from the driver at all. Right now electronic powered steering is only used to park but in a few years it could go beyond that and be used for lane changes, turning corners and other elements of driving.
Drive Safely in Rain, Snow or Ice – Auto-controlled Car Dampers
Unless you can afford to purchase multiple cars for every weather condition, you are stuck driving the same car regardless of the weather. The problem is your car drives differently on dry, wet and icy roads. Each driving condition can vary differently and requires a vast amount of steering stability and changes. If you are unaccustomed to driving in these types of conditions or run into a random patch of ice steering can get tricky.
With an auto-controlled car damper a computer and sensor reads the road conditions and adjusts the steering accordingly. You’ll no longer have to make last minute decisions when driving in harsh conditions with the auto-controlled car dampers.
Drive Safer With Sensor Based Accident Prevention Programs
After you’re in an accident, you always think there was something you could have done differently to prevent the accident from happening in the first place. Many cars come equipped with an accident prevention program that uses sensors to sense when cars are too close to you or traveling in your blind spot.
When a car is spotted, a noise very similar to an annoying beep, alerts the drivers that there is a car nearby. This reduces your chance of being in an accident.
Hop On the Car Train – Mass Hands Free Driving of the Future
The car train is the wave of the future and the next step to a completely hands free driving experience. A car train is a line of cars that are programmed by a computer to follow a “lead” car. There is no driving required by the cars that follow the lead and any car can leave the train when they get to their desired exit. A car train is believed to lessen road congestion, increase speeds on highways and prevent accidents.
If you’re geared up to jump on the car train, you’ll have to wait another 10-15 years as they aren’t expected to début until sometime in 2020.
The highways of today contain sensors that can track traffic flow and determine if cars need to go faster or slower. Technology of this type can be used to develop complex computer controlled highway systems where vehicles just hop onto the highway and flow to their destination. Cars could completely be controlled by the highway system — lane changes and speed reduction and acceleration. This would decrease the amount of accidents on the road because everything would be controlled by a master computer system. It’d be a situation right out of a science fiction novel.
Conclusion: For the past 40 years, car experts have been predicting that driverless cars were a thing of the future. While it hasn’t happened yet, recent technology and advances in car equipment has made the possibility of a highway system controlled by a master computer a soon-to-be reality for drivers all over the world. Strap on your seatbelt and prepare to let computers handle the driving for you.
