Autonomous vehicles use sensory systems to make them sense their surroundings. These systems are radar, lidar, GPS, odometry and computer vision. To understand how it is possible to have a car that makes decisions, knows the traffic, knows where to go and the best way to go, we should take a look at each of these systems:
- The radar is an object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, and/or velocity, of the car;
- The lidar is a remote sensing technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser;
- The GPS (Global Positioning System) is a space-based navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is a clear line of sight to four or more GPS satellites;
- Odometry is the use of data from motion sensors to estimate change in position over time;
- Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analyzing and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, in this case, in forms of decisions.
All these 5 systems combined enable the car to know when to stop – measuring the distance between it and the car in front –, how to park – measuring distances and making decisions –, knowing where to go – with help of GPS –, between other features.
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