People are unaware that driverless cars actually existed in the 1970s
- Driverless cars actually existed in the 1970s
- Back then, the self-driving car project was under the Road Research Laboratory
- The technology incurred high costs and was limited at the time
Published on Aug 08, 2024 at 2:05 PM (UTC+4)
by Daksh Chaudhary
Last updated on Aug 08, 2024 at 7:05 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
When you think about the latest innovations in technology, you might think of EVs and driverless cars.
But what if we told you that self-driving cars are nothing new?
You might be surprised to learn that the driverless cars that we see today are actually an improved version of technology that existed as far back as the early 1970s.
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Driverless cars existed back in 1970s
A rare and fascinating video of a driverless car was posted on Instagram by The History Source.
The video, which was recorded in the 1970s, calls it the ‘robot car.’
Back then, the self-driving car project was under the Road Research Laboratory.
The car in the video can be seen with a computer-like system and sensors at the front.
The signals picked up by the sensors were then interpreted to command the car to respond to situations on the road.
This 1971 prototype is one of many early driverless cars created to drive themselves using basic computers and sensors.
Groundwork for autonomous vehicles today
The technology incurred high costs and was limited at the time, but these prototypes revealed the early efforts at starting something that would continue until the present day.
As it stands, self-drive technology is still not mainstream and is believed to be futuristic.
Similarly, the Toyota Prius was a strange mix of past and future, with one of the earliest cars to introduce the touchscreen tape deck.
The video further mentioned that in the future, every vehicle on the road would be driverless.
Well, that prediction is now coming true – sort of – with most car brands introducing self-driving technology in their vehicles.
The 1970s’ efforts laid the groundwork for the sophisticated autonomous vehicles we see today.
The journey from rudimentary computer systems to highly advanced AI-powered cars is one that proves how far technology has come.
Still, there’s a decent way to go yet.
