Sensors have been around for a long time. As David Morrison pointed out, thermostats are a primitive relative of modern-day sensors. So how have sensors evolved up until the present day? Well it basically boils down to two attributes. First off our sensors, in a lack of works, have become more sensitive. The precision and accuracy have become more acute in pin-pointing the true values of data, thus giving us better feedback. Secondly, as sensor technology progressed, our sensors have now been able to perform actions. It is expected in the future that sensors can perform daily activities for humans without any assistance or user feedback.
An example would be the self-driving car. It is expected that by 2040 that self-driving cars will make-up 75% of the world-wide vehicle fleet. Major manufactures of cars, such as Toyota and Cadillac, have claimed to have developed a car that can safely maneuver through traffic.
Dr. Azim Eskandarian director for the Center of Intelligent Systems at George Washington University explains that the technology we have today is sufficient enough to introduce self-driving cars into real world traffic. The sensor capabilities have been tested to be more reactive to changes in traffic flow than their human counterparts. Dr. Eskandarian then continues to explain that the obstacles are not the efficiency and precision of the sensor technology that holds back production, but rather the cost. He hints that “reliability and robustness” are what is holding us back. So in other words when the cost of sensors start to decrease an increase in integration of self-driving cars will be evident.
So what’s the future? It is estimated that sensor on cars will improve highway efficiency by a factor of three. This will reduce infrastructure costs because the renovation and widening of highways will not be needed. Cars will be able to travel closer together and essentially double highway capacities because of sensors and computer precision.
Examples of sensors used in self-driving cars are radar and ultrasonic-sensor technology. Typically present-day prototypes are equipped with ultrasonic-sensor technology. However the future hints that self-driving cars will primarily rely on radar.
To sum it up, it is believed that present-day technology is sufficient for self-driving automobiles but the cost is just not there yet. As Elda Cifligu opined in her blog, the bulk of future research in sensor technology with be how we can make then cheaper. Only when the price is right for self-driving cars we will see them in everyday traffic.
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