Driverless Vehicle

A driverless vehicle is a vehicle that has been built or modified to allow it to be controlled by a computer.

Google

Google has demonstrated that self driving cars are feasible with today's technology. It is likely that this type of smart car will eventually much safer than today's cars, and with computer power rising exponentially (Moore's Law) and computing costs dropping, it won't be long before this sort of technology is common, and perhaps even mandated as a safety feature.

The Google cars use LIDAR, radar and video cameras to navigate.

Local Government Implications

• Safer cars would reduce the number of accidents, and hence the cost to Council. They would also tend to drive down the cost of insurance.
• It may prove possible to employee some of the cars' sensors to collect traffic & road condition data.
• Councils typically have a large fleet of vehicles and Council offices are often located near to transport hubs. A very progressive Council could consider converting their fleet to driverless vehicles and having them double as driverless taxis when not in use.

Australia

In Australia the safe and successful introduction of driverless vehicles is being championed by the Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative.

Related Pages

• Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative
• Automated Car Convoy
• Local Government Future Technology Special Interest Group
• Quadrotor
• Smart Car Data Collection
• Technological Change Forecast

Collaborators

The following people have indicated (via the Local Government Collaboration Topics Survey) that they have an interest and/or expertise in the topic of 'driverless vehicles' and are willing to collaborate with their peers at other councils to identify challenges and resources relating to the topic and to look for ways to work together to overcome any challenges that are identified.

• Charles Taveira (City of Greater Dandenong)
• Chris Saunders (Glenelg Shire)
• Damien Hense (C.I.C.A)
• James Meakes (City of Busselton) ^E
• Kamal Ranaweera (City of Logan)
• Michael Constantinou (Banyule City Council) ^EL
• Wayne Eddy (City of Whittlesea)

Contributors

The following site members have contributed to this page:

• Wayne Eddy

External Links & References

1. Google Search
2. Google has robotic self driving cars - Next Big Future (October 2010)
3. Robot Audi Races Up Pikes Peak - Singularity Hub (November 2010)
4. China gains on Google in driverless car race with 177 mile road trip video - Singularity Hub (August 2011)
5. Ford predicts self driving cars by 2017
6. What will happen to truck drivers when self-driving vehicles take over? - Washington Post (November 2013)
7. This is how autonomous vehicles will change your life - IPWEA (May 2017)
8. Australian Driverless Vehicles Initiative
9. Tesla Self Driving Vehicle Video
10. Shared or private: what's more likely for driverless cars? - Sara Stace (July 2017)
11. Will Driverless Vehicles Change Our Streetscapes - Sara Stace (April 2016)
12. Driverless bus to be trialled at Sydney Olympic Park - Sydney Morning Herald (August 2017)
13. Automated Vehicles Get the Green Light - Victorian Premiers Department
14. What if Autonomous Vehicles Actually Make Us More Dependent on Cars? - SingularityHub (June 2018)
15. AI algorithm teaches a car to drive from scratch in 20 minutes - New Atlas (July 2018)
16. What will your commute to work look like in a connected and automated future? - IPWEA (July 2018)
17. REE Reinvents the Wheel - New Atlas (July 2019)