, a professor of computer science and director of the artificial intelligence laboratory at Stanford, told Computerworld that technology is revolutionizing what automobiles can do. He added that the U.S. lags behind Europe, Japan and South Korea in terms of finding ways to use robotics to make cars safer, more energy efficient and easier to use.
For example, Tokyo-based last fall showed off its at the Tokyo Motor Show. The robot, which sits in the dashboard of the company's Pivo 2 concept car, uses built-in cameras to read the driver's facial cues to pick up on whether she's getting tired or stressed out. The robot, speaking in English or Japanese, will nod, shake its head and even blink while it talks the driver out of a bad mood or suggests that she pull over and take a break.
On the home front, researchers unveiled their plans for the , a foldable, stackable two-seater vehicle. The frame of the car is designed to fold in half so the cars can be stacked up eight deep in one city parking space.
"I think the U.S., as a nation, has to push these technologies harder than anybody else," said Thrun in a phone interview following his keynote address today at the in Santa Clara, Calif. "For me, the American spirit is one of innovation and I don't see this that right now coming out of Detroit. This nation should take this moment to think about why we are not the leader in automotive technology. We clearly are not."
Thrun's keynote comes as over whether to bail out the ailing U.S. auto makers. The country's largest auto manufacturer, GM, is struggling just to survive a historically bad automobile market. And officials from Ford Motor Company, GM, Chrysler and the United Automobile Workers are today and tomorrow about the state of affairs in Detroit and their need for a bailout.
Thrun said that while refocusing on technology today will not pull the American auto industry out of its current financial trouble, car company engineers must immediately start looking closely at how they can better use technology, and specifically robotics.
"I think working on advanced technology like autonomous cars is the only way out for the automotive industry," said Thrun. "We have to be forward looking. We need to make transportation more efficient. There's a good chance it will be the demise of the industry if we don't."
Robotic gadgets that help drivers park their cars, avoid rear ending other vehicles and keep sleepy drivers alert are part of the evolution, he added.
Auto makers need to change the way they think about the vehicles they're building, said Thrun. Enough, he says, with the giant, heavy SUVs. Figure out how technology and robotics, in particular, can change the vehicles we're using.
Thrun pointed out that 42,000 people in the U.S. alone are killed in car accidents every year, even though 30% of an average car's weight is safety equipment. Therefore, if cars could be built so that they wouldn't rear-end another car, weave out of a traffic lane or even drive themselves, then they would be safer and use less fuel, he noted.
"We can make cars drive themselves," said Thrun. "Look at what causes accidents - distractions. They're on the phone or looking in the glove box. We could build cars that don't veer out of their lane on the highway. That right there would cut down on 10% of accidents. You know, human pilots are only allowed to land the planes themselves during good weather. Autopilot must be used in bad weather. With robotics, we could make cars much, much safer."
After last year's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( , a 60-mile race involving self-guided vehicles that were judged on both time and how well they performed, one team leader told Computerworld that may be using self-guided vehicles when they get too old to get behind the wheel themselves.
Chris Urmson, director of technology for 's Tartan Racing team, said in a previous interview that he wouldn't let the team's autonomous vehicle drive his wife and children around city streets just yet. But he added that he thinks we're only 10 to 20 years away from having driverless cars motoring around the roadways.
Thron, who talks to auto company officials about how they can better use robotics, said he hopes self-driving vehicles are on the road in less than a decade. He added that the first autonomous cars won't be driving us from the restaurant to the garage at first, but they may be able to take over the controls on the highway.