July 23, 2010 at 12:32A caravan of electric robot cars moves from Italy to China
I will not tire of repeating that the present sometimes surprises more than any science fiction works. Indeed, for several decades, futurologists have promised us automatic transport that will drive itself without the need for a driver. So, it seems that the future has already come at least partially. The Italian company Vislab has learned to make just such automatic robotic cars, which, moreover, do not use gasoline and other petroleum products. Now, in order to show amazing cars to the whole world, Vislab is launching a caravan of these cars from Italy to China (it's 12,874 kilometers).
The company works at the University of Parma, working to successfully conduct this tour. The caravan will travel about 100 kilometers per day at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour.
It is not completely clear just how the car batteries will be charged, storing energy for car engines. The fact is that there is a large solar battery on the roof, but, apparently, it will provide only the electronics inside the car (laser scanners, cameras, GPS). But the batteries, it seems, will be charged from a normal power supply, at night. Thus, cars will move during the day, and at night the energy supply will be replenished.
I also note that the main car in the column of "robots" will be controlled by humans, and the rest, like ants, will follow each other, without the participation of people. Cars will be guided by installed laser sensors and radio transmitters. In the back seat of each car a couple of people
The success (or failure) of the team can be monitored on the site . Well, we wish the guys and their cars success - after all, such enthusiasts accelerate progress, right? By the way, “follow the progress” is not just an expression, on the specified site you can track the progress in real time, thanks to webcams installed on cars.