A self driving car, Everyone wants that, right ? A car that can drive automatically in which we don’t need any driver, sounds cool ? In this article, I will walk you through the introduction of self driving cars and the role of IoT in it.

A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous vehicle (AV), is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and moving safely with little or no human input. Self-driving cars combine a variety of sensors to perceive their surroundings information. Various sensors play crucial role in the self driving car.

Sensing technology used in self driving cars

various sensors are used in the self driving cars to get the information about the surrounding environment. Here are some important sensors used in self driving cars:

1. Acoustic Sensors

Acoustic sensors are used to collect sound, pressure and vibration data. We can call it the ears of cars. Virtually all acoustic wave devices and sensors use a piezoelectric material to generate the acoustic wave.

2. Ultra Sonic Sensor

The Ultra Sonic sensors are most suitable for shorter range. For E.g. for features like auto parking. Ultra Sonic sensors uses sound waves to precisely detect objects. The sensor head emits an ultrasonic wave and receives the wave reflected back from the target. It basically detects the distance using ultrasonic waves.

3. RADAR Sensor

Radar technology uses electromagnetic waves in the radio spectrum frequency. It uses transmitter and receiver to transmit and receive the frequency signal. Basically it is use to measure the distance of objects over wide distances. Radar depending upon their range are classified into SRR, MRR, and LRR.

4. LiDAR

LiDAR stands for Light detection and ranging. It is a method for measuring distances (ranging) by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor. LiDAR uses lasers to create a 3D high-resolution models of the objects. Basically it uses the previous data to predict the 3-D models of the surroundings. It gives 360 degree view.

5. CAMERA

Camera can detect traffic signs, Traffic lights, pedestrian movement, lane markers, and temperature in case of thermal camera’s. LiDAR uses laser light to detect objects but in bad weather conditions such as fog light will not be a good solution. Camera provide a high resolution real images of pedestrians and other object which a classifier can mark as objects. These cameras are located in the side mirrors, front bumper, and below the nameplates of both sides.

Disadvantage with cameras are the light condition. In low light condition the camera doesn’t perform well.

6. GPS

GPS sensors are receivers with antennas that use a satellite-based navigation system with a network of 24 satellites in orbit around the earth to provide position, velocity, and timing information. Generally, GPS are useful in location tracking.

Role of IoT in self driving cars

IoT plays very vital role in the functioning of self driving cars. IoT can connect all types of device to the Internet to share information and use added-value. Autonomous vehicles are thus connected to share information from the on-board sensors, as well as from smart phones of pedestrians and cyclists, traffic sensors, parking detectors, etc. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the connectivity of multiple devices through the Internet.

Driverless cars utilize this connectivity when updating their algorithms based on user data. These autonomous vehicles require an enormous quantity of data collecting and processing. In this case, through IoT, the driverless car shares information about the road (which has already been mapped out). This information includes the actual path, traffic, and how to navigate around any obstacles. All the data of surrounding from sensors will shared on cloud and car will function analyzing this data.

The IoT connectivity processes the feedback from these radar lasers, plots a path, and sends instructions to the car’s controls (steering, acceleration, and braking). Each car is also equipped with obstacle avoidance and predictive modeling that conduct the vehicle to obey traffic rules and steer around certain obstacles.

The sensors are collecting the surrounding data continuously and sending it on the cloud or to the central unit. After that the system will analyze that data and perform according to that. All of this will happen in just fraction of seconds.

Let’s take one user case, suppose we need to go from one place to another place. we mark our location on GPS. Now our car starts and going to our marked location. Meanwhile , if any obstacle or pedestrian or object comes between the car then car will react according to situation.

Future of self driving cars

There are many companies working on a driverless car. Here is a list of some of the most notable and recognizable names: Uber, Honda, Toyota, Tesla, Hyundai, Volvo, Waymo (partnered with Google, Fiat Chrysler), BMW, Volkswagen, General Motors, and Ford.

Amongst all of these working on this technology, the companies that we hear the most about are Tesla, Uber, and Waymo (Google).