Drivers Redundant - 무인자동차

  Get in, lean back, relax - travelling in a car could one day be as easy as that. Scientists in Germany are conducting experiments that may boil down to driverless vehicles. In a few decades transport might be possible without the need for human oversight behind the steering wheel. It may smack of pure science fiction but it is founded on some solid research. A car stands in a laboratory at Berlin's Free University that in 30 years time could be a model for a driverless vehicle. The vehicle has been christened 'Made in Germany.' At first glance it looks like an ordinary Volkswagen Passat but a laser scanner device mounted on the roof indicates there is more to this car. "The scanner turns around at a speed of 10 revolutions a second, scanning its surrooundings and generating a 3-D image," explains a researcher. The scanner allows the car to "see" in almost every direction at the same time.

 

  Road markings, signs and traffic lights can also be recognized and there is a GPS system on board. Along with the ability to ditect position within a few centimeters, GPS performs other vital tasks. The driverless vehicle can instantly recognize the position of its owner as soon as she or he orders the vehicle ising a PC tablet. After initiating the order, the car will immediately make its way to the owner.

 

1. boil down to (something) : 본질이 ~ 이다, 결국 ~ 이 되다, ~ 으로 요약되다. 

       cf. In the end, what it all boils down to is money, or the lack of it.

2. smack of ~ : ~ 느낌이 난다. 낌새가 있다.

3. christen[^|krɪsn] : 세례를 주다. 이름을 붙이다.

4. at first glance ~ but ~ : 언뜻 보면 ~ 이지만, ~ 이다.