The Pros And Cons Of Autonomous Vehicles

. Background a. In the last couple of years one of the hottest topics being discussed in the engineering and science world is the topic of the autonomous vehicle. This topic has been placed on the front line due to all the technological advancements that have been made in that field. For many years the self-driving vehicle was nothing but an idea, and even a dream for certain people. Those ideas and dreams are now starting to become a reality. Many big leading companies such as Tesla, Google, Ford, and even Uber have been using there precious resources such as time and money, in order to achieve the creation of their own autonomous vehicles. At this point in time many of those big leading companies are still in the testing and prototyping phase, but many have stated that they will have a function autonomous car within the next five years. Predictions gathered from many different places have all pointed towards having truly autonomous vehicles populate the roads within the next twenty years. With all the advancements that have been made on the creation of autonomous vehicles, many ethical issues and questions have arisen. For

So what exactly is an autonomous car? Well, “an autonomous car is a self-driving vehicle that has the capability to perceive the surrounding environment and navigate itself without human intervention.”(1) Autonomous cars use extremely difficult algorithms in combination with actuators, computers and sensors. All these things combined create a system which maps out and localizes its surroundings. In addition this system takes into account control and planning. Autonomous cars are continuously taking in big loads of crucial data which is converted into automatic driving. This data is also used to make decisions, and to deal with varying factors such as weather and other moving objects and people. The self-driving car is such a complex system that top engineers and companies are continuously attempting to improve and perfect all its