Answers.Body: <p>You're going to need some way to 'see' the area around the car, and to track the speed of nearby objects. Google uses a combination of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar" rel="nofollow">LIDAR</a>, radar, conventional cameras, and occasionally sonar (see <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-self-driving-cars-work-the-nuts-and-bolts-behind-googles-autonomous-car-program" rel="nofollow"> here</a> for a high-level overview). This technology is quite expensive, and can easily cost thousands of US dollars.</p>
  
  <p>However, a bigger obstacle than the expense of the hardware (which would be smaller for a table-top prototype) is the software complexity. Like many major projects, the software for self-driving cars is the result of years of work from AI research teams, and thus extremely difficult to duplicate on your own.</p>
  
  <p>That said, you're not trying to make a state-of-the-art self-driving car.  Assuming you're an expert in image processing and robotics, you can probably create a basic prototype, (like something that drive in a limited table-top environment). However, it's still going to take a lot of time and money. </p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2016-10-14T17:52:28.700Z
Answers.Text: The radar is used to detect and track objects under bright ambient lighting, or what is it used for? Thanks!
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Answers.CreationDate: 2017-08-29T20:25:12.513Z
Answers.Text: Is this radar the same type of radar that is used for detecting the locations of planes and boats?
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-11-23T00:38:18.417Z
Answers.Text: This answer really needs some references to improve its reliability.  Right now, you're saying that self-driving cars use AI techniques, but you don't really say 1. for what and 2. which specific techniques. It would be nice to have some examples.
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Answers.UserDisplayName: bpachev
Body: <p>Google, Tesla or Apple have all built or are building their own self-driving cars. As an expert in a related area, I am interested in knowing at a high level, the systems and techniques that go into self-driving cars. </p>
  
  <p>How easy is it for me to make a tabletop prototype (large enough to accommodate the needed computing power needs)?</p>
  
Tags: <ai-design><autonomous-vehicles>
Title: What technologies are needed for a self-driving car?
UserDisplayName: Harsh
ThreadText: # What technologies are needed for a self-driving car?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-08-12)
  
  Google, Tesla or Apple have all built or are building their own self-driving cars. As an expert in a related area, I am interested in knowing at a high level, the systems and techniques that go into self-driving cars.
  
  How easy is it for me to make a tabletop prototype (large enough to accommodate the needed computing power needs)?
  
  **Tags:** ai-design, autonomous-vehicles
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2016-08-13. Score: 4
  
  You're going to need some way to 'see' the area around the car, and to track the speed of nearby objects. Google uses a combination of [LIDAR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar), radar, conventional cameras, and occasionally sonar (see  [here](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-self-driving-cars-work-the-nuts-and-bolts-behind-googles-autonomous-car-program) for a high-level overview). This technology is quite expensive, and can easily cost thousands of US dollars.
  
  However, a bigger obstacle than the expense of the hardware (which would be smaller for a table-top prototype) is the software complexity. Like many major projects, the software for self-driving cars is the result of years of work from AI research teams, and thus extremely difficult to duplicate on your own.
  
  That said, you're not trying to make a state-of-the-art self-driving car. Assuming you're an expert in image processing and robotics, you can probably create a basic prototype, (like something that drive in a limited table-top environment). However, it's still going to take a lot of time and money.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: The radar is used to detect and track objects under bright ambient lighting, or what is it used for? Thanks!  
  > **username_3**: Is this radar the same type of radar that is used for detecting the locations of planes and boats?  
  > **username_4**: This answer really needs some references to improve its reliability.  Right now, you're saying that self-driving cars use AI techniques, but you don't really say 1. for what and 2. which specific techniques. It would be nice to have some examples.  
  
  ---
  
  