How do self-driving cars work? Self-driving cars use technology to replace driver assistance with automated safety features to navigate roads. A mixture of sensors, software, radar, GPS, laser beams and cameras monitor road conditions to operate and navigate an autonomous vehicle.

How Do Autonomous Cars Work? Autonomous cars rely on sensors, actuators, complex algorithms, machine learning systems, and powerful processors to execute software. Autonomous cars create and maintain a map of their surroundings based on a variety of sensors situated in different parts of the vehicle.

While each design varies, most autonomous driving systems create and maintain an internal map of the vehicle’s surroundings, based on a wide range of sensors. In-built software then processes these inputs, plots a navigational path and sends instructions to the vehicle’s acceleration, braking and steering systems.

Perception accepts visual and audio data from outside and inside the car and interpret the input to abstractly render the vehicle and its surroundings. The control system then takes actions to move the vehicle, considering the route, road conditions, traffic controls, and obstacles.