Have you ever heard of a car that can drive on it’s own? The Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak does just that. This amazing feat can be witnessed in reality when the new TTS Pikes Peak makes its first high speed test run. The test run is scheduled up the Pikes Peak in Colorado this fall.
The aim of the Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak research was to develop a technology that would assist the driver and enhance his abilities just the way pilots are assisted in jets and planes. When they started researching on this about a year ago, the main aim was to make use of software and algorithms and develop an application which will help the drivers drive safely, even on unfamiliar dangerous routes. They did not aim at replacing the driver but aimed at assisting the driver in controlling the car in the best way possible.
The Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak is designed based on the Audi TTS sports car. The Audi TTS was chosen because of its conventional and wonderful engineering. It comes with advanced features like drive-by-wire throttle and a semiautomatic DSG gearbox which make it the ideal design for a car to be driven on the basis of a software program and not by a driver. The main inspiration for the design of the Audi Pikes Peak was the rally car themes from the 1980’s.
The hardware used in the car will be as simple as that of a laptop computer. It is designed with two computers. One of them will run the critical safety algorithm using Oracle’s real time Java (Java RTS) and the other computer is used to run vehicle dynamics algorithms.
These two computers enable the Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak to drive and control the car on a variety of roads, terrains and at different speeds. The car is equipped with a differential GPS system which controls the car and keeps it in a range of 2 centimeters mark on a normal course. On difficult terrains like the Pikes Peak for example, the range would come down to one meter.
This car will make its first ever appearance at the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas. Six vehicles will be displayed by Audi, with the Autonomous TTS Pikes Peak being one of them. Among the other cars demonstrated will be an R8 custom Spyder by STaSIS Engineering. This Audi R8 convertible uses a 5.2 Liter V10 engine with a power of 710 horse power.
There are plans to demonstrate the working of Autonomous TTS Pikes Peak car after the show by a test drive. Hopefully it should go well, as the earlier drive for the commercial was a disaster with the crashing of the helicopter filming the advertisement. Audi plans to enter the Guinness book of world records by attempting to drive at the El Mirage Lake dry-lake bed in southern California or any another location nearby in the Fall at the fastest speed possible in the new Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak.
Source: topspeed
