Essex: prototype for intelligent driverless car

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Researchers at the University of Essex, UK are developing an autonomous model car, which they say will pave the way for intelligent driverless cars.

The project, led by Simon Lucas of the Department of Computer Science, will build an autonomous model car to be tested on a race track at the university this summer. It is claimed this will provide a prototype for researchers around the world to develop their own smart model cars.

“This project will push computational intelligence methods to their limits, and beyond,” said Lucas. “As far as we are aware, this is the first time a completely autonomous model car has been developed.”

Similar principles have been applied to full-size cars in the past, but the cost of developing the technology using real cars is too expensive for most researchers. By using model cars the Essex researchers say it will be possible to investigate the technology far more easily and cheaply.

The intelligent model car will be built using a standard remote control model vehicle. A PC will be mounted on the chassis and a video camera, streaming real-time computer vision, along with other sensors will be added. The software written for the PC will allow the car to be fully autonomous, able to recognise obstacles and make tactical decisions as it drives itself around the racetrack.

The Essex prototype will allow researchers across the globe to build their own autonomous cars which will race against one another at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers World Congress on Computational Intelligence to be held in Hong Kong in 2008.

Lucas said, “We envisage that the technology needed to develop our prototype could pave the way for a future where driverless cars are a reality.”