Self-driving cars are analogous to another autonomous entity, the human being: thecar's computer serves the controlling role that our brain does, while its sensors do what our own senses do.
But in the computing-infused future of automobiles, the parallel only goes so far when it comes to sensors. Not only are cars able to detect radio and light waves that humans can't, they also never get drowsy and they can see in all directions at the same time.
The shift to self-driving cars will turn vehicles into roaming sensoriums connected to heavy-duty computers. Google's self-driving cars, for instance, use quad-core PCs that each second process 1.3 million laser measurements and make 20 driving decisions.
The sensor transition has already begun with the arrival of very small computer systems called microcontrollers that are in charge of cars' traction control systems, engines, airbags, and antilock brakes. LINK
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