Had my first experience in an autonomous
car yesterday, at a technology presentation by Bosch in Germany. It was easily
the most popular of the different displays on the test track, an indication of
how interested the media are in the topic even if the public are, so far, less
bothered. So the BMW 3-Series Touring is fitted with a range of systems which
allow it to navigate itself to a preset destination - in this case, round the
test track. The car has a built-in digital map of the environment and can
follow that using GPS. However, it can also recognise hazards, so will stop
at a junction because it knows it’s at a junction, but will only pull out when
it’s safe to do so. It can spot red traffic lights and react appropriately when
they go green. All very impressive, but even though there was an engineer
behind the wheel just in case, driving at 60mph with one one in control is a
strange experience.
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