The design of an intelligent real-time autonomous vehicle, TAIWAN iTS-1

Developed at National Chiao Tung University, TAIWAN iTS-1 is the first smart car with active safety systems and comfortable autonomous driving in Taiwan. An adaptive vision-based lane detection algorithm was proposed to help the lateral control unit to keep the car in its lane safely. It also carries a DSP system to generate warning signals for unintentional roadway departures. A laser radar measures the distance between the preceding car and TAIWAN iTS-1. With this information, the longitudinal control unit performs intelligent cruise control and stop-and-go functions. The remote control function is realized on TAIWAN iTS-1 for safety testing and military applications. Unlike most smart car studies, this paper considers not only driving safety demands but also non-driving security. An active mobile surveillance system will inform the car owner when the car is illegally broken into, anytime and anywhere. For drivers and passengers, the perception of comfort is achieved by intelligent vehicle dynamic control. All functions integrated into TAIWAN iTS-1 have been tested repeatedly on National Highway 3 and Expressway 68 in the Hsinchu area and the system's robustness has been successfully demonstrated in these real-road experiments.