The robot car ‘five years away’
NZPA London The drinking driver’s dream — a car that drives itself home — could be a reality within five years, according to a British scientist Dr Barry Thomas, of Bristol University, is developing a “robot car” for the Ministry of Defence that can navigate roads, avoid parked vehicles and deal with zebra crossings. “We hope that in three years we will have a vehicle that is able to travel at up to 70km/h along well defined roads without outside control,” he told the “Daily Telegraph” newspaper. The vehicle will use a camera and a sophistic-
ated computer to “see” objects and react accordingly. The Ministry is apparently interested in using the technology to develop robot tanks and missiles that can recognise targets.
Dr Thomas said he believed the technology would be available within five years to build robot trucks for longdistance work as well as cars that could find their own way home.
“Remarkable things will happen once we start incorporating computers in vehicles ... though the problems become really hairy when you want to do overtaking,” he said.
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Press, 9 January 1987, Page 23
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183The robot car ‘five years away’ Press, 9 January 1987, Page 23
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