Hyperdrive
Too Much Sun Could Wreak Havoc on Driverless Cars
Space meteorologists warn automated vehicle engineers against relying on GPS.
The sun emitted a modest coronal mass ejection that was associated with a small solar flare on Jan. 22, 2018.
Photographer: NASA, Solar Dynamics ObservatoryThis article is for subscribers only.
Self-driving cars are still working to master the snow. It turns out that excessive sun can also pose a problem for the coming wave of robot drivers.
The threat comes from solar storms, those occasional eruptions of vast amounts of energy that can cause a massive spike in geomagnetic activity and radiation. While these storms aren’t immediately evident to human drivers, they can sever the data connection between a vehicle’s global-position system and the satellites that supply location information. That’s what could spell trouble for driverless cars now under development, at least if engineers aren’t careful.