Automotive, F1 & Motorsport Issue 1 - September 2018 | Page 12

Long has it been the dream of many to be transported from location to location with minimal effort. Whilst public transport in some locations offers this facility, many would rather enjoy taking such a journey in a private manner – e.g. via car.

Whilst there has been nothing wrong with current car transport methods in terms of the function of getting in a car and driving to a destination- new technologies and new thinking have built on the movement for autonomous driving – vehicles that are able to think, maneuver and park themselves with little to zero human interaction.

To allow cars to move without the human interaction, several pieces of technology have to come together and be in sync to allow the car to run in a fluid motion, maintain performance and keep the passengers and other road users safe.

In order to understand how long the desire has been in place for vehicles that can be moved autonomously, you would have to go back to around the 1500s when Leonardo da Vinci engineered art that could move without being pushed or pulled. Springs under tension provided the cart with the power to go and steering could be set in advance so that the cart would only travel on a predetermined path.

Fast forward centuries and other autonomous items would include weapons of war. Torpedoes that could propel themselves under water whilst maintaining the same level of depth, counteracting up thrust caused by the water was innovative for naval war ships. This would lead to wide evolution in other military apparatus such as aircraft, military vehicles and other weaponry.

The 1920s and 30s saw an industrious amount of work put into what would be the foundations of what we would call modern technologies.

In 1925, Houdina Radio Control demonstrated their “American Wonder” in New York City. The American Wonder was a 1926 that had been eqipped with a transmitting

UNANIMOUS

FOR

AUTONOMOUS

BMW look at Autonomous vehicles in 2018

China's first driver-less cars on test run

12 | MANE AUTOMOTIVE, F1 & MOTORSPORT | SEPTEMBER 2018