Over the years, our group of experts has been very interested in optical recognition. Specifically optical flow recognition that can be used by moving objects so they can run autonomously or fly autonomously. Now, using optical sensors is quite difficult and requires certain things from the environment. Whatever medium you are looking through, it needs to be clear so as not to give false readings. In the case of an underwater UAV, the water can’t be too cloudy and the lighting has to be just right, otherwise you’re going to bump into things and get lost, and that’s pretty expensive when it comes to prototyping trying to figure out a flawless autonomous navigation.

Now the other day I was driving in the rain, I turned a corner and couldn’t really tell where the road was because the markings had faded, visibility was bad and I was having trouble with my own organic sensors, namely my eyesight. trying to figure out where i was supposed to be when i turned the corner, no i don’t have bad eyesight ok but it was challenging for a couple of seconds there. I’m sure we’ve all been in this situation, and there’s another problem called “headlight overdrive” and that happens when you’re traveling at a decent speed and your car’s lights aren’t bright enough. to give you time to stop if there is something in the way. This is the reason why we have giant collisions in the middle of a thick fog on the roads, very dangerous indeed.

Whether it is an organic sensor such as the human eye or an electronic optical visual sensor (optical flow sensor) used in autonomous navigation, it is actually the same problem. In the future, self-driving cars will likely use at least some optical flow sensors to augment your other sensors to help you navigate. If so, then the road markings must be fairly visible and distinguishable from other objects on the road, near the road, or across the road. Also, powers that be at the local municipality, the state, or when it comes to the federal highway system, the federal government should take the ultimate responsibility for maintaining road markings.

We’ve all heard that due to budget cuts, some cities are unable to patch potholes in the roads or major road repairs fall apart. In the future with autonomous cars, this is not going to be a decent excuse because if the road markings start to fade or are not properly maintained, then all the robotic cars will start crashing. That’s not much fun if you’re driving into one that gets lost and goes off the road into something solid. Please consider all this and think about it.