An autonomous car is a vehicle capable of sensing its environment and operating without human involvement. A human passenger is not required to take control of the vehicle at any time, nor is a human passenger required khổng lồ be present in the vehicle at all. An autonomous car can go anywhere a traditional car goes và bởi everything that an experienced human driver does.
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The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) currently defines 6 levels of driving automation ranging from Level 0 (fully manual) khổng lồ Level 5 (fully autonomous). These levels have sầu been adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Autonomous vs. Automated vs. Self-Driving: What’s the difference?
The SAE uses the term automated instead of autonomous. One reason is that the word autonomy has implications beyond the electromechanical. A fully autonomous car would be self-aware và capable of making its own choices. For example, you say “drive sầu me to work” but the car decides to take you lớn the beach instead. A fully automated oto, however, would follow orders và then drive sầu itself.
The term self-driving is often used interchangeably with autonomous. However, it’s a slightly different thing. A self-driving oto can drive itself in some or even all situations, but a human passenger must always be present và ready lớn take control. Self-driving cars would fall under Level 3 (conditional driving automation) or Level 4 (high driving automation). They are subject to lớn geofencing, unlượt thích a fully autonomous Level 5 car that could go anywhere.
How vị autonomous cars work?
Autonomous cars rely on sensors, actuators, complex algorithms, machine learning systems, & powerful processors to execute software.
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Autonomous cars create and maintain a map of their surroundings based on a variety of sensors situated in different parts of the vehicle. Radar sensors monitor the position of nearby vehicles. Video cameras detect traffic lights, read road signs, trachồng other vehicles, & look for pedestrians. Lidar (light detection và ranging) sensors bounce pulses of light off the car’s surroundings lớn measure distances, detect road edges, and identify lane markings. Ultrasonic sensors in the wheels detect curbs & other vehicles when parking.
Sophisticated software then processes all this sensory input đầu vào, plots a path, và sends instructions khổng lồ the car’s actuators, which control acceleration, braking, and steering. Hard-coded rules, obstacle avoidance algorithms, predictive sầu modeling, and object recognition help the software follow traffic rules & navigate obstacles.
What are the challenges with autonomous cars?
Fully autonomous (Level 5) cars are undergoing testing in several pockets of the world, but none are yet available to lớn the general public. We’re still years away from that. The challenges range from the technological và legislative lớn the environmental and philosophical. Here are just some of the unknowns.
Lidar and Radar
Lidar is expensive sầu & is still trying khổng lồ strike the right balance between range and resolution. If multiple autonomous cars were lớn drive sầu on the same road, would their lidar signals interfere with one another? And if multiple radio frequencies are available, will the frequency range be enough khổng lồ support mass production of autonomous cars?
Weather Conditions
What happens when an autonomous car drives in heavy precipitation? If there’s a layer of snow on the road, lane dividers disappear. How will the cameras & sensors trachồng lane markings if the markings are obscured by water, oil, ice, or debris?
Traffic Conditions và Laws
Will autonomous cars have trouble in tunnels or on bridges? How will they do in bumper-to-bumper traffic? Will autonomous cars be relegated khổng lồ a specific lane? Will they be granted carpool lane access? And what about the fleet of legacy cars still sharing the roadways for the next đôi mươi or 30 years?
State vs. Federal Regulation
The regulatory process in the U.S. has recently shifted from federal guidance to state-by-state mandates for autonomous cars. Some states have even proposed a per-mile tax on autonomous vehicles to lớn prevent the rise of “zombie cars” driving around without passengers. Lawmakers have also written bills proposing that all autonomous cars must be zero-emission vehicles & have sầu a panic button installed. But are the laws going to be different from state khổng lồ state? Will you be able lớn cross state lines with an autonomous car?
Accident Liability
Who is liable for accidents caused by an autonomous car? The manufacturer? The human passenger? The lachạy thử blueprints suggest that a fully autonomous Level 5 car will not have a dashboard or a steering wheel, so a human passenger would not even have the option khổng lồ take control of the vehicle in an emergency.
Artificial vs. Emotional Intelligence
Human drivers rely on subtle cues & non-verbal communication—like making eye tương tác with pedestrians or reading the facial expressions & body language of other drivers—to lớn make split-second judgment calls and predict behaviors. Will autonomous cars be able lớn replicate this connection? Will they have the same life-saving instincts as human drivers?