Self-Driving Car: Test Your Understanding
Teacher's Guide
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What kinds of innovations are needed to advance self-driving-car technology?
Technologies that will advance self-driving cars include developing extremely reliable computers as well
as designing software and algorithms capable of processing information from the many types of sensors.
What legal and legislative issues will arise as true self-driving cars become commercially available in the
United States?
In the United States, no federal laws currently exist for self-driving cars. Definitions of what constitutes a
self-driving car are lacking, and the question of how to prevent the hacking of a self-driving car has yet to
be addressed. The question of liability in the event of an accident also needs to be resolved.
Critical Thinking: You are designing a self-driving car. What three types of automotive technology would
you include in your design, and why?
Sample answer: I would include a range-based sensor for adaptive cruise control. This would allow the
car to automatically brake when the distance between my car and the car in front of me shortens. I would
also include optical sensors that assist in keeping the vehicle from departing the lane and alerting me if
another vehicle is in one of my blind spots. Lastly, I would include vehicle-to-vehicle communication to
prevent collisions.
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