Of
Felix Reek
How do robotic cars work?
In order to steer a car autonomously through traffic, the interaction of a large number of systems is necessary. Video cameras provide images of pedestrians, cyclists, objects, traffic signs and other vehicles. Sensors send radar waves and determine the distance to other road users, signals from satellites are received via GPS in order to analyze the surrounding area. Thanks to WiFi, LTE and 5G, more and more cars can communicate with each other. Upper-class models also use lidar sensors that draw an exact three-dimensional image of the environment through laser scanning. Based on this database, an environment model and a driving strategy are created almost in real time: the car can accelerate, brake or steer independently. This requires a high computing capacity, which is increasingly transforming vehicles into high-performance computers on wheels.