Читать книгу Robot, Take the Wheel - Jason Torchinsky - Страница 22

In an experiment quite similar to the RCA/State of Nebraska one, the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) of Crowthorne, Berkshire, in the United Kingdom buried a four-mile-long length of cable beneath the stretch of the M4 motorway between Slough and Reading.15 The cable was laid, as in Nebraska, while the road was being built, and experiments were performed on the stretch of road before it was opened to the public.

Stills from Key to the Future, GM’s film about the Firebird II, showing its automatic driving features and the control towers of the Autoway Safety Authority. This is worth watching because there’s lots of singing involved.16

An early 1960s experiment using a Standard Vanguard was quite similar to the Nebraska/RCA one: the car had its windscreen obscured with cardboard, and information about steering was conveyed via an indicator mounted to the dashboard.

A more sophisticated experiment followed, this time using a Citroën ID19. The Citroën had an advanced hydropneumatic suspension system, and this high-pressure hydraulic system was used to drive actuators for the steering, brakes, and throttle. Using the system and receiving guidance information from the embedded cable, the Citroën was able to drive completely independently, and was tested at speeds up to 80 mph, as well as in ice and snow. It performed remarkably well in all the tests. But while results were promising, it was determined that implementation would be too costly based on (in hindsight, woefully conservative) estimates of future traffic growth; the TRRL was ordered to stop development and research on the project.