The Brains Behind the Wheel

Greta Lorge in Stanford Magazine:

Imagine you’re driving home at night after a grueling day at work. You’re tired and preoccupied; you don’t notice when your car starts to drift out of the lane and into oncoming traffic. But fortunately, an onboard computer senses the vehicle leaving the lane and automatically pulls it back.

This “lane-keeping assistant” is the brainchild of Chris Gerdes, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. It’s one of several projects under way at the Dynamic Design Lab on campus, where Gerdes and a cadre of graduate students tinker with the next generation of computerized cars, creating vehicles that will be safer and more fun to drive.

More here.