Driverless cars from universities and research institutions competed at the 6th Driverless Competition in China on November 15.

The competition, called the "The Future Challenge 2014," required the cars to cover courses set around a lake and featuring 90 degree turns. These intelligent cars slowly navigated the course and passed through obstacles.

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Unlike exciting car racing competitions, these driverless cars were also graded according to safe, smart and smooth driving.

These self-driving cars, also called autonomous cars, can sense their environment using radar and GPS techniques. Similar to robots, these vehicles are controlled by a computer, allowing them to track their locations using simultaneous mapping and reliable programming.

The first license for a driverless car was issued to a Toyota Prius in 2012 by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. The car was modified with Google's experimental driverless technology.

Driverless cars raise safety and policy concerns but the "cars of the future" also offer great advantages. With an autonomous system, a car's quick reaction time will decrease the number of road accidents. These cars also consume energy more efficiently.

With these self-driving cars, under-aged, elderly and disabled people can ride vehicles. During rush hours or emergencies, these cars are more efficient and safer than a human driver that might be distracted or intoxicated.

Nevada, Florida, California and Michigan already allow autonomous cars. Countries in Europe  like United Kingdom, France and Italy have plans to permit transport systems without human drivers. Problems still arise as the cars will have to merge in traffic with ordinary cars driven by humans.

These challenging driverless car competitions prove that advanced technology has already created roads for the "cars of the future". With a flawless navigation system that ensures almost complete safety, autonomous cars might soon be part of people's daily lives.

TagsDriverless Cars