Science's Not Boring

What is a self-driving car?

July 27 · 11 min · Season 1 · Episode 388 · 8.6 MB
0:00-11:56

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Buckle up for a wild ride into the future! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride in a car that drives itself—with nobody touching the steering wheel? Join Mira and Finn on Science is Not Boring as they explore the amazing robotic brains behind self-driving cars! Discover how these futuristic vehicles use an incredible technology called LiDAR to shoot millions of invisible laser beams every second, creating a massive 3D video game-style map of the world. You won't believe how smart they are! Did you know a modern robot car uses over one hundred million lines of computer code? That is way more than a giant flying passenger jet! We'll also travel back in time to the 1980s to meet Ernst Dickmanns and his crazy five-ton self-driving van. Plus, we'll answer a special listener question about a real-life transforming sports car from Slovakia that grows giant wings and actually flies through the clouds! Get ready to explore spinning lasers, super-fast robot brains, and the high-flying future of engineering! Tap play and let's hit the road!