Self-Driving Car ALVINN: A Technological Phenomenon Now Made Available? Updates And More [VIDEO]

Nov 28, 2016 07:22 AM EST | Rachelle Balanay

The self-driving car conned ALVINN stands for Autonomous Land Vehicle In a Neural Network. The introduction of a self-driving car has been in the process of advancement since three decades ago. Using a perception system, ALVINN learns how to control NAVLAB vehicles used during the 1980's through observation on how a human person drives.

Recent updates surfaced in the social media about this self-driving car when two notable engineers, Oliver Cameron and Dean Pomerleau, involved in its enhancement projects posted a video of a self-driving car maneuvering itself with the use of a camera. As indicated in the ALVINN home page, a special retina installed in the vehicle receives input from its surroundings and allows the self-driving car to process and convey a response according to its system. From the 30x32 two-dimensional retina, information is passed to a series of five concealed units which is further connected to 30 output units, allowing the car to travel in a linear direction on the road.

ALVINN was first introduced as a self-sufficient and genuinely autonomous car by Carnegie Mellon University's Navlab and ALV projects in 1984. A collaboration with Mercedes-Benz and Bundeswehr University Munich's Eureka Prometheus Project in 1987 further advanced the self-driving car project and numerous other car companies jumped on the bandwagon.

Even with a refrigerator-size CPU and a 5,000-watt generator, the self-driving car posted by Dean Pomerleau can run up to 70 mph. According to The Verge, CMU's Pomerleau plan to install neural networks to further upgrade the autonomous driving system to allow more adaptability in varied situations. Google's self-driving car project is currently in the works.

At present, many automotive manufacturers are delving into the world of self-driving cars. Driverless cars are being tested for advancement purposes. Although the novelty of self-driving cars has been met by mixed opinions from people around the globe, autonomous cars will continue to launch in the future with better and safer operating systems. More updates will be released soon.

What does it feel like to ride a Google self-driving car? Below is a video of a Google self-driving car.

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