Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Self-Steering Buses In Cambridge
Self-steering buses will be tested soon in Cambridge, England. The new system will allow thousands of miles of new bus lanes to be installed on roads that are too narrow for ordinary buses.
The new buses will use a camera mounted at the top of the windscreen to follow lines painted on the road; in tests, the bus does not deviate more than a few millimeters from its course. This allows bus lanee 5ft narrower than those used by driver-steered buses. Cyclists and pedestrians in city centres will be able pass close to the self-steering bus without fearing that the driver will suddenly veer off course.
The bus will also guide itself to within 4cm of the curb at bus stops, allowing level boarding for disabled passengers and people with wheelchairs. The camera can look 100 yards ahead, recognising the parallel lines of dashes and sending a signal to a box on the steering mechanism. The steering wheel vibrates as soon as the system detects the lines, informing the driver that it is safe to remove his hands.
Science fiction fans will recall the self-steering Camden speedster from Robert Heinlein's 1941 novel Methuselah's Children:
Update 07-Oct-2017: Check out the automatobus from Isaac Asimov's 1953 short story Sally. End update.
Update 11-Nov-2023:
As far as I know, the first science fiction writers to describe this idea, which they called an autobus were Stanley G. and Helen Weinbaum in the short story Tidal Moon:
End update.
These buses are already in limited use Rouen in France and Bologna in Italy. The drivers will continue to be used, owing to the inability of the buses to follow lines when covered by snow. Drivers will then steer by hand.
he car waited for a break in the traffic, then dived into the high-speed stream and hurried north. Mary settled back for a nap.
(Read more about Robert Heinlein's Camden speedster)
THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold, it was certainly preferable to traveling by hipp.
(Read more about autobus)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/3/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Transportation ")
CORLEO Robotic Horse Concept Looks Ready To Ride
Imagine digging your heels in to a steam horse!
Futuristic Transit Elevated Bus Never Really Worked
It was worth a try!
Japan Automated Cargo Transport
'It was not a roadway at all, as Graham understood such things...' - HG Wells, 1899.
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
'...the cars are wedge-shaped at both ends.' - John Jacob Astor IV, 1894.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
