Cars could drive themselves some day, scientists believe

By Thomas Geiger Sep 28, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Munich - Cars that go on autopilot with the driver comfortably taking a nap has long been seen in science fiction movies but is today a technical reality with vehicles finding their own way with the help of radar, lasers and cameras scanning the road ahead.

If Nico Kaempchen, a project leader at BMW in Munich, has his way all cars could some day in the future go on autopilot. At the moment however the car maker is only going as far as optimising assistance systems to support the driver in certain situations.

'Introducing this type of technology in serial production cars where cars find their own way to a destination is still a long way off,' he concedes.

Already a reality in many cars is the parking assist where the vehicle manoeuvres its way into an empty parking space by itself after the driver has pressed a button. All the driver needs to do is to operate the accelerator and brake.

The Park-Assist is an option costing between 500 and 1,000 euros (685 to 1,370 dollars) which is a worthy investment, according to Hans-Georg Marmit from the German technical testing authority Kues. 'Just a small bump can be very costly both in repairs on your car and the one which has been damaged during a parking procedure,' he says.

Researchers at BMW and VW are already one step further along with systems that can park the car without the driver inside the vehicle. Such a system can be especially useful in narrow parking spaces where it would be difficult for the driver to get out of the vehicle. If the driver wishes to drive off again, all he needs to do is to press the remote control. The car engine then starts by itself and moves out of the parking lot.

Both VW and BMW are however hesitant to reveal a date when they would be ready to offer such a system for the mass market. Customers too are reluctant to spend a lot of money on a system where they would no longer be in control of the car.

According to a recent poll conducted by Autoscout24 in Germany, some 24 per cent of the respondents said they enjoyed driving while another 27 per cent were sceptical about the technology. Another third of the respondents said they wanted to choose whether to use the system dependent on the traffic situation. Only 17 per cent of the respondents voted for the autopilot.

'For most people an autopilot in the car is still from science fiction and it should offer real advantages before it is introduced,' says Thomas Weiss, who conducted the survey for Autoscout24.

But car researchers are moving ahead. Christopher Borroni-Bird, head of research at General Motors, explains that the car maker's EN-V electric city vehicle need only drop its occupants in front of a restaurant while it continues its journey to the charging station in the underground parking lot.