Yet again, an invention of technology which has made man more sluggish. Mobile applications have made all the things reach one's door steps, in dark with a tap on mobile we have a torch, sending messages be it professional or family invitations can be sent easily though emails. And an addition to this luxury and lazy life, are the driverless cars, also known as ‘self-driven cars’/ autonomous cars.
What are autonomous cars?
As the name implies: These cars are self driven. No need of a professional driver, one can enjoy the whole journey in this car. These vehicles can sense its surroundings and wont cause as many accidents, as caused by humans mis-driving. Way back in the 1920s an experiment on an automated driving system(ADS), began and the trials were done in the 1950s. This vehicle reached a speed of 30km per hour. Yes, it possesses a number of different sensors like: radar, lidar, sonar, GPS, odometry and inertial measurements units. These cars can travel anywhere, just like a traditional car. It has 6 different levels of driving. These cars simply rely on sensors, the radar sensors monitor the position of other cars for safe driving, video cameras can detect the traffic light or even pedestrians, ultrasonic sensors are present in the wheels which detect curbs.
Accepting the fact ‘double-sided sword cuts both ways’, even this self driven has some drawbacks. Let's check how this useful invention can turn into harming humans, some or the other way:
Risks:
- Susceptible to Hacking: According to me, this is the most dangerous drawback of an autonomous car, because this vehicle will be continuously monitoring the owners location and all other details. And hence, may turn out to be the major target of hackers.
- Non-functional sensors: With changing weather sensors failure is prone to happen. Which may turn out to be a dangerous situation, for example: in case of heavy rainfall if one of the sensors stops working then you may be stuck in the car for hours.
- Concerns about safety and security: Technology keeps on updating and it's a bit obvious to have faulty code, if the update is not properly done. Which may ultimately lead to some security concerts to the owners of this car.
- Prone to terror attacks: Being one of the best options to hackers, this will definitely lead to terror attacks. These groups are good at locating people or even making things happen according to their plan, is their cup of tea. One’s these automatic cars/trucks/vans are on the road, it's sure to create havoc and hence these cars won't be preferred.
Disadvantages:
- High cost: This high-technology vehicle has some expensive equipment. A high amount of money is invested in choosing the right and most functional materials needed to make it a great product. Which may ultimately make this vehicle expensive.
- Fewer job opportunities: As this vehicle will be doing all the job of a driver, be it dropping its owner in the office or picking them up, all the work is automated. In a less developed or developing country it may lead to loss of jobs for some for needy people.
So, after knowing few drawbacks of these driverless cars, one will surely feel, ‘driving is fun’. Rather than adding an hour to scroll on Instagram, while the car is self driven, the better way is to drive it yourself and enjoy it. And for those who love travelling, shopping, but have to curb their will as they don't drive, these cars are a blessing for them.