I know there has been experimentation being done on cars in California, but I would realy like to see auto pilot installed in cars. Little sensors all around the car would control braking when approaching cars, and side sensor to keep you between lanes. If a lane change is needed an audible alarm would notify you. Of course this auto pilot would only be used on long road trips. This would allow you to be hands and feet free and you could turn and talk with the passenger and play games to make time go by faster, or watch movies.
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The state of equipment control is still in the initial stages. If you and your friends want to talk or sleep, it's more practical to take a bus or train.
It would probably be easier & better to immediately implement the use of the device that senses objects when the car is in reverse and sets the brakes when the vehicle is too close to said object. This device is already invented, operates as intended, and available. Some high-end autos probably already have it. I don't know how many lives are lost each year in backing accidents but the property damage is large and easily preventable by this sensor.
A lot of research has gone into providing auto-pilot for cars. Until recently, computers have been too slow and the image recognition would not respond quickly enough to provide a reasonable safety margin. Recently there have been image processing chips made that speed up recognition, but they still do not provide the safety margin needed on a roadway.
* Some of the considerations:
* Identifying children that run out into a roadway
* Identifying pot holes in the road
* Vehicle spacing and collision avoidance
* Anticipating changes in speed limits
* Differentiating changes in color from actual objects (spilled paint)
* Anticipating weather surfaces and conditions
* Anticipating vehicle performance problems (blowouts, driver sleeping, ...)
* Emergency Responses (too many to list)
* Being able to safely get off the road and get back on to avoid objects and allow for emergency vehicles
It has been proposed to embed RFID in roadways to simplify autopilot technologies and to provide absolute unique positioning of the vehicle, impervious to most, if not all, weather conditions. GPS fails in cities and is in-general accurate to only +/- 25 feet without special instrumentation placed every few miles. The RFID embedded in roadways would provide tolerances to less than 6" and would be unaffected by overhead obstructions.