Developing Self-Driving Cars

Existing car companies specialise in “hardware” such as power trains and chassis, and even though they have years of manufacturing experience, it may not be enough anymore. Increasingly, cars don't just require manufacturing, they require software. Many cars already have features like smart parking assistants. Those features will likely continue to improve, until cars become fully autonomous.

 A couple of technology trends are making driverless cars possible. First, artificial intelligence (AI) — specifically deep learning — has improved significantly. Then, the technology required to build driverless vehicles continues to get cheaper and more accessible.

Let’s start with the AI problem. To build an autonomous car, machine vision accuracy is critical. Vehicles need to be able to see and understand the world in real time, then make decisions accordingly. Data collected by a car driving around with cameras and sensors is processed by so-called deep learning algorithms. Recently, these have become very accurate, the error rate having dropped to under 5%, making the algorithms more accurate at object recognition than humans.

Speaking of costs, it's also cheaper than ever to build a smart car. Many driverless car companies use tiny chips made by a well-known company, NVIDIA. For only two hundred dollars, you could get a circuit board taking up very little space but characterized by increased efficiency.

Additionally, a lot of the AI for autonomous vehicles is open-sourced, like Google's product TensorFlow, allowing more accurate technology to be created faster, every designer being able to learn from each other's data sets.

Still, some types of driving are easier to automate than others. Highway driving and parking, for example, are much easier for autonomous cars to master than city driving, there being fewer unpredictable obstacles, like pedestrians and bikers.

According to some researchers, once implemented, these technologies could significantly decrease accident rate. Being easily distracted, and—in some cases—intoxicated, humans are quite accident-prone as compared to AI. But the public may not be ready for driverless cars just yet. The public tolerance for robot accidents will most certainly be much lower than it is for human accidents. Though hardly justified, this prejudice is going to remain a bigger challenge.

Exercise 2.3.1. True or false? Correct the false statements.

a) The important thing about the existing cars is that they require manufacturing more than any other things.

b) Such car features as smart parking assistants will likely continue to improve, until cars become fully autonomous.

c) Driverless cars are not yet possible.

d) It's cheaper to build a smart car rather than an autonomous one.

e) Some types of driving are easier to automate than others.

f) City driving is much more difficult for autonomous cars to master than highway driving and parking.

g) Recently, these have become very accurate, the error rate having dropped to under 8%, making the algorithms more accurate at object recognition than humans.

h) Artificial intelligence as a car technology trend has improved significantly.

i) Artificial intelligence is quite accident-prone as compared to humans.

j) The public tolerance for robot accidents will most certainly be much lower than it is for human accidents.

Exercise 2.3.2. Answer the questions.

a) What are the modern requirements for the existing car companies?

b) What technology trends are making driverless cars possible? 

c) What factor is critical to build an autonomous car? How is it critical?

d) What can you say about the costs of building a driverless car?

e) Why are highway driving and parking much easier than city driving for autonomous cars?

f) How is data collected by a car driving around with cameras and sensors processed?

g) How would you explain the fact that the public may not be ready for driverless cars just yet?

Grammar

Exercise 2.4.1. Find participles and participle phrases in the text. *Rephrase them, if possible.

Exercise 2.4.2. Translate into English using participles and various participle phrases.

a) Мы описали крайне важное свойство материалов, характеризующихся высокой прочностью. b) Открыв исходный код своих программ, компания усилила свои лидирующие позиции. c) Поскольку компания автоматизировала сборку, производительность линии увеличилась. d) На конференцию приехали ученые, специализирующиеся на разработке «умных» домов. e) После того, как инженер освоил новое программное обеспечение, он получил повышение. f) Изготовленные на нашем заводе детали широко используются. g) Соответственно нашим точным расчетам, частота появления ошибок снизилась по сравнению с описанными ранее вариантами. h) Пытаясь оправдать бюджет проекта, босс говорил о новых тенденциях в отрасли. i) Информация, обработанная программой, выводится на экран. j) Поскольку это решение отличается простотой, оно стало популярным.

Lesson 3

 

Listening

Exercise 3.1.1. Work in pairs. Discuss the following questions:

1) What are the advantages of riding a bike instead of driving a car?

2) What are the disadvantages of riding a bike in a town or city?

3) When was the last time you rode a bike? Where did you go?

Exercise 3.1.2. Read the words you will hear in the text.

to recharge v.	заряжать повторно
to last for v.	длиться, хватать на (о заряде батареи)
trail n.	зд. велодорожка
effort n.	усилие

Exercise 3.1.3. Listen to the text and say what you learnt about an electric bike.

Exercise 3.1.4. Decide which statements are true.

1) It may look like any other bike, but the clue is in the sound.

2) What you can hear is an internal combustion engine.

3) The bikes can get up to 60 miles an hour.

4) In Britain at the moment, most people know a lot about electric bikes.

5) You can recharge a bike only at the charging station.

Exercise 3.1.5. Listen to the text again and answer the following questions.

1) What is the speed of the electric bike?

2) What are the advantages of it?

3) Where can you hire an electric bike?

4) How long does the battery last?

5) Why were the old railway tunnels reopened?

6) Do you ever go cycling in Moscow?

7) Have you ever hired a bicycle?

8) How much did it cost you?

9) Do you know where bicycle trails can be found in Moscow?

10) How convenient do you find cycling in Moscow?

Exercise 3.1.6*. Look at the following table. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different types of bicycles.

Road bikes	designed for high-speed travel, have narrow tyres, a short wheelbase, a lightweight frame, can’t be ridden on unpaved surfaces.
Touring bikes	used for long distances, have a smoother ride, lower gears than the average bike.
Mountain bikes	equipped to handle gravel roads, have better braking systems, shock-absorbing qualities, durable.
Hybrids	combine comfort, speed and durability, are good for short trips on paved roads, have narrower tyres than mountain bikes, are not as fast as road bikes.

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