Front Page Talking Points

FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 14, 2014

This only sounds like science fiction: Driverless cars roll closer to reality

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1.gifCan you find news about other futuristic research or a gee-whiz product? List benefits and drawbacks of one.

2.gifPick a type of transportation in a photo, ad or article and tell how it has changed since your parents or grandparents were kids.

3.gifNow look for someone in the news who has a job involving technology, inventions or making life better. What school subjects are used in that person’s work?

Engineers are testing small, cartoonish-looking cars that have no steering wheel, no accelerator and no brakes. The two-seat electric prototypes with a 25 mph top speed are driverless vehicles guided by software, cameras and sensors using radar and lasers. Google commissioned 100 of the models from a Detroit factory for road tests near its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. It hopes to persuade state officials to allow a wider pilot program there in coming years.

On the outside, the experimental versions looks a bit like the ultracompact Fiat 500 or Mercedes-Benz Smart car. Inside are seatbelts, start and stop buttons and a screen that shows the pre-programmed route – but none of the regular controls that drivers touch. Because the route is preset, impulsive changes can't be made without stopping and entering a new destination. The car knows exactly where it is within a few centimeters – though only on roads already mapped in Google's database. The company still is many miles away from solving the challenge of driving in rain, fog or snow that could impede the electronic sensors, which "see" about 600 feet in all directions on a clear day or night.

Google isn't the only company that envisions self-driving cars in our future. Ford is working on a car able to park itself in a curbside space. Mercedes showed a driverless prototype at a German auto show last fall, and two other European automakers – Volvo and Audi – also are doing research. In Japan, Nissan predicts it will sell no-driver cars by 2020.

Test passenger says: "It felt a lot like a theme park ride. . . . I didn't feel unsafe in the least. The car braked for jaywalkers, paused when it was coming around a curve and couldn't see whether the light in front of us was green or red, and skittered when it worried that a bus might be turning into our lane." – Liz Gennes at re/code blog

Google co-founder says: "There is nothing to say that once you demonstrate the safety, why can't you go 100 miles per hour." – Sergey Brin

Mercedes executive says: "We are convinced that this technology will make fewer mistakes than a human." -- Eberhard Kaus, head of the autonomous driving team

Front Page Talking Points is written by Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024

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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.