Do you think steering your car is a bit of a fag? According to Milan-based Parodia Electronica, if current trials are successful, self-steering cars will no longer belong to the world of science fiction.
The company has developed new and innovative software, which uses servo commands from a car’s navigation system to actuate an electro-hydraulic steering mechanism, in the manner of a yacht auto-pilot. The new software has been installed in a number of test vehicles, which are currently undergoing trials in southern Italy.
The satellite navigation systems of the test cars have been upgraded to respond to location data generated by differential GPS (dGPS). dGPS uses ground-based trigonometrical ‘fixes’ to enhance the plotting capabilities of regular satellite tracking. Such is the accuracy of dGPS, said the company, that, on any stretch of road within the test locality, the position of the test vehicles can be determined to within plus or minus 50 centimetres.
The steering-wheels of the test vehicles have been "strategically disabled", yet so well does the software meet its objectives that the vehicles are able to navigate on public roads between a number of fixed points without receiving any steering input from the driver, who controls only the brake and accelerator pedals.
"The steering wheels are for show only," said Parodia’s technical director, Pesce d’Aprile, adding: "It might prove disconcerting to other road users if they were to see a car approaching in which, for example, the driver had his arms folded. Instead the driver simulates steering action in the manner of a toy car on a kiddies’ merry-go-round."
It was also decided to retain the steering wheel to enable the driver to deal with unforeseen circumstances. By pressing a floor-mounted, foot-operated switch, the driver can instantly re-engage the steering mechanism.
A spokesperson for the Federazione Autostradi et Via Munizipali d’Italia said of the trials: "The technology appears to work, but the acceptance of it by the police and other authorities has yet to be considered."
On the other hand, someone might be pulling your leg...