A team of scientists led by Peter Stone is conducting research on using Artificial Intelligent (AI) computing systems to drive cars autonomously. Towards this end, Stone and his team have created an autonomous car in partnership with Austin Robot Technology called Marvin.
This invention participated in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge competition. Stone is also developing virtual intersection systems which ensure that vehicles do not stop at traffic signals but instead move in a steady continuous flow.
According to Stone, though computers are already flying passenger jets, when it comes to driving automobiles, coordination is required. In the latest intersection system developed by the scientist, the AI driver agents otherwise called autonomous vehicles reserve a space at an intersection at a particular time by calling ahead. In the next phase an arbiter agent or intersection manager approves the request to reserve space, after which the vehicle moves through. In this manner, the amount of stopped traffic is very less.
Stone informed that though this entire process in now being carried out through a computer on a single car called Marvin, in the very near future solid virtual intersection systems will be used to move autonomous vehicles on the roads and control traffic.
Stone will make the presentation on this topic at the annual meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science to be held in Vancouver, Columbia.
Source: http://www.cs.utexas.edu