A compact green electric car moves through an S-bend on a road in the grounds of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). At first glance, nobody seems interested, but those who take a closer look are in for a surprise: there's no driver at the wheel. This may sound like a scene from a science-fiction film, but it's real. The unmanned car is not driven by supernatural forces but by a new intelligent system developed by researchers at AIT's mechatronics laboratory in Pathum Thani.

The team has spent two years developing what they call an "intelligent vehicle", the aim of which was to create a vehicle so smart that it can make its own decisions and therefore drive without the need for human control.

Project adviser Manukid Parnichkun said they had successfully developed a prototype that can self-drive in two ways.

The first is by following a car in front. Manukid explained that the team attached a red spot to the back of another vehicle which stays in front, allowing the intelligent car to detect it and follow its movement at a certain distance and speed.

It is able to do this through a digital camera that sends information to a computer system, which in turn sends commands to control its driving.

The second method involves following a white line on the road, which the digital camera picks up in a similar way.

In order to reach this stage, the research team developed a four-part system comprising mechanical, electrical, sensory and control elements.

The mechanical system regulates the movement of the steering wheel and the pressure on the accelerator and brake pedals for automatic driving, while the electrical system oversees the power source and electronic communication system.

The sensor system allows the car's intelligent machine vision to detect objects for further decision-making and navigation. This also includes the development of an intelligent navigation and anti-accident system.

Lastly, the control system includes an engine and brake-control system as well as the direction-control system.

Manukid said the prototype could drive on its own at 3.6 kilometres per hour, but the team hopes to eventually increase the speed to 60kph.

He added that intelligent vehicles had the potential to be used by people with disabilities who cannot drive by themselves.

This intelligent car at AIT is just part of the intelligent-vehicle development project initiated earlier by the Thai Robotics Society. The project, which has a budget of Bt27 million, was co-developed by 12 academic institutions with the aim of building a complete intelligent vehicle, but due to insufficient funding, the project has been carried out separately on a small scale at each university.

Although the projects have faced obstacles, a group of researchers in the field has worked with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre to set up a group to encourage the intelligent-vehicle project.

The recently established group will invite automotive manufacturers and the private sector to join the project and aims to be a centre to build a network and encourage cooperation from local researchers and the private sector to develop the intelligent-vehicle system for use by industry.

Manukid said each system created could be further developed for commercial use in the auto industry. Potential applications include automatic driving systems, anti-accident systems, intelligent navigation systems, intelligent control systems, and machine-vision systems. "There is huge business potential to license intelligent-vehicle technology module by module to automotive manufacturers. This will help local developers take part in the industry in a practical way," he said.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation