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I’m writing this on my laptop while driving the state-of-the-art, semi-autonomous Audi A8L on my way home. Lane-keep assist keeping me between the lines. Cruise control set at 55 mph. Adaptive cruise control following traffic in front of me at a safe distance. Brake mitigation bringing me to a stop at stoplights. Ah, bliss.<\/p>\n
Had you going there for a moment, didn’t I?<\/p>\n
In truth my eyes are glued to the road. The Audi is a remarkable beast inside and out with the body of Adonis, the interior of Exxon’s board room, and on-board computers that would embarrass Hal in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But unlike Hal, it’s not self-aware. Which might actually help.<\/p>\n
Because the driver-assist features on the Audi are a glimpse of how futuristic autonomous cars work. Except when they don’t. A self-aware car would avoid hitting a cement dividing wall on the Lodge because its instinct would be for self-preservation. But when Audi-tonomous overshot a solid lane marking line, the system merely beeped at me and flashed a message in the instrument cluster: “PLEASE TAKE OVER STEERING.”<\/p>\n
What the – ?!<\/p>\n
I can see the future, but for now autonomous cars are like Bruce Wayne. Talented, but they need a butler to get through the day. To be sure, Audi doesn’t advertise its driver-assist features as “self-driving” \u2013 but its camera and radar technologies preview what self-driving cars will in part rely on. Google is testing self-driving cars. I’ve been a passenger in one. It worked flawlessly at low speeds in Palo Alto, California. It holds huge promise for empowering the transportation-challenged elderly and infirmed. It could transform shuttle services.<\/p>\n
Rattan Joea, CEO of California-based, airport-focused Prime Time Shuttle, sees a future of Uber-like ride shares. “Driverless vehicles will change the game,” says the 20-year shuttle veteran. “It will streamline our service by taking the operator out of the equation. It will save on insurance by removing human limitations. Computers don’t get tired. They don’t get sleepy.”<\/p>\n
Think of a fleet of autonomous limos. “A beautiful vehicle comes and picks you up,” Joea imagines. “We can send out shuttle like that at the click of a button.”<\/p>\n
But no such vehicle yet exists for him to test. No affordable vehicle anyway. An analysis by techie mag Fast Company estimates that Google’s $24K Prius concept costs upward of $320,000 once optioned with necessary autonomous hardware like a $80,000 Velodyne LIDAR system, $10,000 visual and radar sensors, $200,000 GPS array, plus computer and software. Ouch.<\/p>\n
It’ll take a lot of airport runs for Mr. Joea to recoup that investment. Which takes me back to butlers. The ever-innovative Tesla will introduce its “Autopilot” system in its Model S sedan later this year. Autopilot is inspired by Boeing’s in-flight system where the operator never leaves the controls but where the plane is programmed to reach a destination.<\/p>\n