Driving
involves sharp eyes and keen ears, analyzing with a brain, and coordination
between hands, feet and brain. A man has sharp eyes and keen ears, analyzes
through his brain, and maintains coordination (协调) between his hands and brains.
He can control a fast-moving car with different parts of his body. {{U}}
{{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}Apparently there isn't anyone in the driver's
cab (驾驶室), but there is in fact a virtual driver. This virtual driver has eyes,
brains, hands and feet too. The minicameras on each side of the car are its eyes
and are responsible for observing the road conditions ahead of it as well as the
traffic to its left and right. If you open the boot (行李箱), you can see the most
important part of the automatic driving system: a built-in computer. {{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}The brain of the car is responsible for
calculating the speeds objects surrounding the car are moving at, analyzing
their position on the road, choosing the fight path, and giving orders to the
wheel and the control system. In comparison with the human
brain, the virtual driver's best advantage is that it reacts quickly. {{U}}
{{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}However, it takes the world's best racecar
driver at least one second to react, and this doesn't include the time he needs
to take action. With its rapid reaction and accurate control,
the virtual driver can reduce the accident rate on expressways considerably. In
this case, is it possible for us to let it drive at any time and in any place?
{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}With its limited ability to recognize
things, the car can now only travel on expressways. The
intelligent car determines its direction by the clear lines that mark the lanes
clearly and recognizes vehicles according to their regular shapes. {{U}}
{{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}This being the case, people still have high
hopes about driverless cars, and think highly intelligent cars are what the cars
of the future should be like. A. Experts say that we cannot do
that just yet. B. In the near future, intelligent cars will be
put into commercial operation. C. This is the brain of the
car. D. But how does an intelligent car control
itself? E. It completes the processing of the images sent by
the cameras within 100 milliseconds. F. However, it cannot
recognize moving people and bicycles on ordinary roads that have no clear
markings on them.