The Auto Writer

Relax ‘n Ride

There may come a day when you’ll get in your car, put the seat back all the way down, and take off.

No, you won’t be driving your car and neither will anybody else — automakers are imagining the future and that future completely automates the driving process.

General Motors and Carnegie Mellon University have developed the GM-Carnegie Mellon Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab, a facility which is being established under the terms of a five-year, $5 million agreement. The lab will operate as an extension of GM’s Global Research & Development network and will be located at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Faculty from the university’s School of Computer Science and College of Engineering will participate in this pioneering program.

“GM and Carnegie Mellon University have a lengthy and successful history of working together on autonomous and robotic technologies,” said Alan Taub, executive director of GM Research & Development in Warren, Mich. “We have a shared vision of developing technologies that have the potential to resolve transportation challenges. Continuing this successful working relationship is a natural next step toward achieving our mutual goals.”

Winners of a Driverless Race

In November 2007, GM teamed with Carnegie Mellon to win first place in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, a competition between driverless vehicles over a 55-mile course of urban and suburban roadways held in Victorville, Calif. The race was a watershed event for personal transportation, and proof positive that autonomous technology is an achievable task.

“Technologies ranging from electronics, controls and software to wireless capabilities and digital mapping could ultimately change how people drive and use their vehicles,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president of R&D and Strategic Planning. “Imagine being virtually chauffeured safely in your car while doing your e-mail, eating breakfast and watching the news. The work we’re doing with Carnegie Mellon is a big stepping stone toward making this a reality.”

Kill the Thrill!

Oh, great…exactly what I don’t want to imagine! Just when $4 per gallon gasoline took the thrill out of joy riding, now we have robots that will shuffle us all over the place, forever killing the experience of getting behind the wheel, powering up, and burning rubber.

The world is getting weird — please, will somebody let me off?