My brother was pretty excited to show me his new Prius hybrid electric car last month. After all the razzing and jabs at his masculinity for driving a Prius, he showed me a list of really neat features. Automatic parking, lane warnings, built in GPS, and too many options to list. It completely changed my opinion.
This week my car’s speedometer stopped working due to an electronic malfunction. While I wait for the replacement to ship, I’ve been using a GPS application on my phone. While I’m driving the application monitors the roads I’m driving with speed and altitude; all off GPS.
After relying on my GPS for a week it dawned on me that completely automatic cars aren’t that farfetched. With a little tweaking the Prius’ computer could be altered to allow a fully automatic mode. If you think about the premise, it’s not too unbelievable.
I spent some Google time searching for hacks to the Prius. Knowing the car is primarily controlled by a computer, I figured someone had to have modified the code. Sure enough, several groups have changed it to steer on its own, brake (or not), and do a ton of other odd things.
Back to the self driving car for a minute. The Prius is already equipped with enough sensors and monitors to warn drivers of unexpected issues. It’s also setup with parking assist which steers the car into a parking spot with the push of a button. Braking is done electronically; Toyota has done away with a traditional hydraulic braking system.
Morphing the Prius into a completely autonomous vehicle wouldn’t take that much rework. As much as it sounds like science fiction, I don’t believe it’s that far away. I imagine a day in the not so distant future when all we have to do is set a destination and the car will do the rest.
Obviously my 2001 SAAB would never be able to handle such a feat. The car was designed with a traditional hydraulic brake system and doesn’t have any sensors. A car like my trusty SAAB would need a complete overhaul and computer to accomplish such a task.
Adopting self driving cars would require a complete overhaul to our highway system. First we’d need to create special roads solely for automatic cars. Second, highways would need to be free of obstacles and pedestrian traffic. Finally, a system would need to be implemented that rejects automobiles with computer malfunctions.
Obviously having a completely self driving car has some kinks. People behind the wheel would need to be able to take immediate control in case of emergencies. Inclement weather would require human interaction. I believe drivers license requirements would need to be stiffened to drive in autopilot mode.
It all sounds really cool (at least to me) until you stop and think about the ramifications. Because the Prius is computerized, if the computer stops working the whole car will shut down. This not only includes the engine, but potentially the brakes.
I don’t believe the Department of Transportation will allow fully automated travel without lots of special legislation. If it ever does happen, cars like the Prius will be of the first to make the change. Toyota is one step away from taking driving (or riding) to the next level.
Leave it to Google to take the Prius to the next level. Google manipulated the Prius and added specialized controllers and sensors for their version of a fully self driving Prius. I still think it’s going to be a while before we see mass production; but until then, I’m still going to be driving my SAAB with a broken speedometer.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him directly at (978) 413-2840 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)