|
|
Automatic Vehicle Driving is a generic term used to address a technique
aimed at automating -enterely or in part- one or more driving tasks.
The automation of these tasks carries a large number of
economical and social benefits,
such as:
- a higher exploitation of the road network,
- lower fuel and energy consumption,
- reduction of personnel for people and goods mobility, and -of course-
- improved quality of mobility and
- improved safety conditions compared to the current scenario.
The tasks that automatically driven vehicles are able to perform range
from the following:
- the possibility to follow the road and keep
within the right lane,
- maintaining a safe distance between vehicles,
- regulating the vehicle's speed according to traffic conditions and
road characteristics,
- moving across lanes in order to overtake
vehicles and avoid obstacles,
- helping to find the correct and
shortest route to a destination, and
- the movement and parking
within urban environments.
The history of Intelligent Systems for automotive applications
may be subdivided in the following 4 consecutive stages:
- Systems able to save lives (Passive safety)
- Systems able to minimize injuries (Passive safety)
- Systems able to minimize accidents (Passive safety)
- Systems able to avoid accidents (Active
safety)
|
|