The Self Driving Car: The Past and Where We Are Now

A Brief History Lesson:

The first self-propelled vehicle was invented by a Frenchman by the name of Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. It was a steam engine powered vehicle. Though the vehicle was quite respectable and had a sizable towing capacity of about five tons, it suffered from poor weight distribution and was also the first vehicle of its kind to be in a car accident. This was likely due to the fact that it did not have any brakes!

(Credit: Infogmation)

The First "Gas Engine Vehicle":

• The Benz Patent Motor car was patented on January 29, 1886 by Carl Benz. His gas engine ran for the first time on New Year's eve in 1879 and was a massive success which soon resulted in the creation of high-speed, two-seat motor vehicle.

(credit: Softeis)

The First Driverless Car in 1925:

• Francis P. Houdina, a former U.S. Army electrical engineer, founder of the Houdina Radio Control Company, set out to create the first radio-operated automobile. He eventually reached his goal, and in 1925, traveling along recognizable streets like Broadway and Fifth avenue in New York City traffic, the driverless car nicknamed the "American Wonder", changed speeds and honked at traffic down city streets. It eventually ended up crashing into photographers documenting the event but was considered an exciting success nonetheless!

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Did somebody say Elon Musk?

Controversial innovator and founder of Tesla first offered automated driving on October 9, 2014, for its Tesla Model S. Initially, autopilot relied heavily on the multiple cameras that were on the front, sides, and rear of the vehicle. However, this was changed somewhat in August of 2016, which had Tesla make more use of radar technology to assist with autonomous driving. In October of the same year, Tesla announced that all of its vehicles would come with sensing and computing hardware required for full autonomous driving. Tesla continues to roll out significant improvements to its autonomous driving technology and has recently announced that they possess "the world's most advanced computer for autonomous driving".

Only time will tell just how significant this tech will turn out to be for the future and if Tesla can stave off competition for that technology with companies like Nvidia. In conclusion, autonomous driving seems to be getting closer, what an exciting time to be alive!

(Credit: Reuters)

(Credit: Logan42, Reddit)

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References:

• Conserva, Henry T. Earth tales: new perspectives on geography and history. Bloomington, IN: 1stbooks Library, 2001.

• Daimler. “Benz Patent Motor Car: The First Automobile (1885–1886).” Daimler, www.daimler.com/company/tradition/company-history/1885-1886.html.

• Lambert, Fred, et al. “Tesla Promises 'Series of New Autopilot Features in 2018', Still Plans Coast-to-Coast Drive.” Electrek, Electrek, 7 Feb. 2018, electrek.co/2018/02/07/tesla-autopilot-features-2018-coast-to-coast-drive/.

• Lienhard, John H. The Engines of Our Ingenuity: An Engineer Looks at Technology and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

• Nguyen, Tuan C. "History of Self-Driving Cars." ThoughtCo, Jun. 14, 2018, thoughtco.com/history-of-self-driving-cars-4117191.