Don't be surprised if you see a car going down the road without a driver in Beijing these days. In March, 2018, Baidu was given a license to test its self-driving cars in Beijing,ChinaDailyreported.
Self-driving cars have been in development since 2010, when Google announced that it was making such cars. Since then, companies like Tesla, Uber and Baidu have been working to produce and test their own self-driving cars.
Self-driving cars are expected to change the way we get around. They are safer and more environmentally friendly than regular cars. They can remove the stress(压力) of driving and allow disabled or blind people to get around more easily.
But self-driving cars have their own disadvantages as well. In one test, researchers pointed a laser pointer (激光棒) at the car's sensors (感应器) while it was moving. The car mistakenly thought that the laser beam (波束) was in its way and slowed down or changed directions.
The software (软件) that is used to direct the cars may not be safe enough. Reported Live science. Sometimes, without any reasons, it may break down when we use out computers or smart phones. If the software in a self-driving car happened to crash, the results could be deadly. Maybe improvements to the software could solve this problem.
Information Card
| The time when Baidu got a testing license of its self-driving cars in Beijing |
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| The company which has firstly developed self-driving cars since 2010 |
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| The thing that will happen to the moving car if a laser beam is in its way |
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| The number of companies that have been working to produce and test their own self-driving cars |
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| The way to solve the problem of self-driving cars |
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