How Do Self-Driving Cars Know Where They Are?

Think of a self-driving car like a kid who is learning to walk. It uses special eyes, like cameras and sensors, to watch the road, buildings, and even other cars around it. It also uses GPS, which is like a map in your phone that tells you where you are. The car combines these two things together so it knows exactly where it’s going. If it loses track of its position, it just looks at the surroundings again to find its way.

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Examples

A self-driving car uses GPS like a phone does, it shows where the car is on the map.
When a self-driving car drives into a tunnel, it loses GPS signal but still knows where it is because of sensors that detect nearby roads and walls.
If the car sees a traffic light it recognizes from its map, it can tell exactly where it is on the road.

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Categories: Technology · self-driving cars· GPS· autonomous vehicles· technology· navigation