Iowa driving the way for autonomous vehicles

Iowa Now - Research

Transportation department, researchers want to be ready for the future


















Apr 14, 2017 at 6:36 pm | Print View



CORALVILLE — Daniel McGehee sat behind the wheel of a black Volvo XC90 as it traveled east down Interstate 80. But his hands barely touched the steering wheel.As it exited the interstate to Highway 965, the SUV used onboard cameras to “read” a speed limit sign, adjusted its speed and eventually came to a gentle stop behind a fellow motorist.McGehee’s feet never touched the pedals.The SUV, which belongs to the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator, is far from driverless, but researchers such as McGehee say they’re getting closer every day with driver-assistance technology.“This generation of technology is essentially looking over my shoulder,” said McGehee, professor and director if the National Advanced Driving Simulator in the UI college of engineering. “These are to assist the driver. If you connect the dots and sort of take this to the next level ... we can start to let the car control itself a little longer.”While McGehee has been working on this technology since the mid-1990s, some Iowa officials — including those in economic development and state transportation — have taken steps recently to position the state to be a leader in autonomous cars.RESEARCHWith cameras and sensors, lane-awareness functions and vehicle-detection systems, the UI’s 2016 Volvo may sound like something out of a science fiction novel to some. But anyone can buy the same vehicle off today’s car lot.And they’re getting cheaper, McGehee said.“This technology is here now, it’s not in the future, it’s operating on our roads and it’s inexpensive,” McGehee said. “It used to be only the really high-end cars had this technology — now it’s in entry-level vehicles.”As researchers such as McGehee and automotive companies bring vehicles closer to complete autonomy, the ...

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