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by James Neely, freelance writer: click | HERE | to check out GPS products from Rocky Mountain Tracking

Imagine being able to get into your vehicle, start it up, input your destination then sit back and enjoy the ride as you are whisked along without any input in the process.  It’s a pipe dream, right?  From a current reality standpoint, yes, it is impossible, however Audi has a different opinion.

Cars That Drive Themselves & GPS

They have developed a vehicle that drives itself with no input from the occupant.  Notice the word ‘driver‘ was not used.  How did they do this and what does it mean for the future of vehicular transportation?

Actually, the goal of the Audi engineering team is not so much to create a driverless vehicle as it is to make for a safer trip.

Audi has developed a TTS model that will ascend to the summit of Pikes Peak at 130 mph using technology including GPS Tracking to help the project be a success.  Remotely controlled vehicles have done this before, but not at these speeds.  The highest was 25 mph.

The GPS Tracking technology being used in this instance is called ‘differential.’  It is a hybrid tracking system that provides a 2 centimeter degree of accuracy.  Standard GPS Tracking systems are currently only able to track to within a few meters.

With safety at the top of the priority list, Audi expects to create vehicles that are safer, easier and more fun to drive.  Vehicles that will eventually employ these systems will be able to take over if and when the driver gets in over his head.  A good example of this would be encountering a patch of ice.  Your car would take measures that would keep you from going off of the road.  Or, if you try to take a curve too quickly, the car would perform maneuvers that would bring itself back from the brink of an accident.

Safety systems have been an important part of vehicles for years now, but none as all-encompassing as this.  It appears that sooner than we think, automobile accidents could become a thing of the past.

It would also solve the problem of driving while intoxicated.  Imagine being able to get into your own vehicle after a night of partying, and issuing it a command to take you home while you sit back and relax.

We already have cars that will park themselves, so this is not really that far-fetched.  The future of vehicular travel will prove interesting in the next 20 years and the systems being developed right now will make it so.