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(thundering music)

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(engine roaring)

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We live in an exciting time in human history,

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a time when the world has never been smaller.

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A time when we can drive,

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sail, and fly to almost anywhere.

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We can even leave our planet.
Three, two, one.

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Lift off.
(rumbling)

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How did this happen?

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This is the incredible story

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of our civilization's ceaseless desire to move.

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(laughing)

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I'm Sean Riley.

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I've always been fascinated by speed.

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Come with me on a journey

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to better understand the game-changing engineering,

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(grunts)

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courageous innovators.

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Oh God, it really fights ya.

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And the machines that take us further, higher,

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and, above all, faster.

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(intense music)

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(horns honking)
(sirens wailing)

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You ever notice something?

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Human beings aren't spread evenly across the planet.

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We tend to cluster together.

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Today, more than half the world's population live in cities.

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It's a point that becomes very clear

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if you view the world from a unique perspective, up there.

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(gentle orchestral music)

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Orbiting 250 miles above the Earth,

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a striking pattern of civilization emerges.

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Giant hubs of human activity,

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cities and mega-cities.

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Our communities are connected.

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Laced together over vast distances

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by sophisticated transport networks,

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some as old as civilization itself.

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How we live has been shaped by speed,

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humanity's relentless desire to move faster.

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So what jump-starts this modern pattern of human movement

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back and forth across the continents?

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Well, this is County Cornwall in England,

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and a pivotal moment in engineering happens right here

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over 200 years ago.

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It's a moment that changes the way we all move forever.

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It's 1801, the Age of Steam.

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Cornish copper mines are booming,

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thanks to steam-driven water pumps preventing flooding.

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Inventor Richard Trevithick, son of a mining manager,

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can barely read or write,

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but he's about to have a radical idea

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that changes the course of history.

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So Trevithick is no stranger to steam engines.

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He grows up around them,

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but he's a bit of a rebel and he wants to try something new.

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It's something that the people around him

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are telling him is, at best, a bad idea,

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and, at worst, impossible.

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But he's about to do it anyway.

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He's gonna make a steam engine with a difference.

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(upbeat orchestral music)

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Until now, steam is produced by fires lit

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under large domed water boilers,

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but the design loses a lot of heat,

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only producing low pressure steam.

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Creating higher pressure steam is the challenge,

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but it's risky, with engines potentially exploding.

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Trevithick is a risk taker.

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He designs a cylindrical boiler,

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surrounding the heat source.

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He figures his innovation will increase steam pressure

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without catastrophic failure,

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producing what's called strong steam.

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Trevithick has a flash of inspiration,

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an entirely novel application

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for his smaller strong steam engine,

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one that lights the fuse for an explosion in speed.

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Look at this, this is great.

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There's certain pieces of technology,

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certain machines that, when they show up,

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they send us off on a new direction in history.

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But often when, once they're obsolete,

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they're forgotten, they're destroyed.

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We don't have them around anymore.

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That's why it's so cool that we still have this one.

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Hello, I'm Sean Riley.

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Hello, Sean.

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What am I looking at here?

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Well, we're looking at a replica

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of the world's first successful self-propelled vehicle.

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We call it the Puffing Devil.

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Trevithick, the Cornish engineer,

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came up with this fresh concept of how to raise steam.

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It's essentially a tube and then within it

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we have another tube, half the diameter.

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And within that middle tube is the fire.

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So the fire is totally surrounded by water.

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And this was an amazing leap forward.

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Trevithick saw a future where

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you could get more energy out of a smaller package,

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and maybe, just maybe, if you could get enough energy

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from a small enough engine,

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then the engine could move itself, right.

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(imitates explosion) That's this mind blowing idea,

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and this is where he achieved it.

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So, the question is, what's it like to drive?

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Ready?
<v ->Yeah.

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As ready as I'm gonna get, let's give it go.

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(steam hissing)

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I gotcha.
(man talking indistinctly)

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Uh huh, oh God, it really fights ya.

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I see.

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Yeah.

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There we go.

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Not exactly precise steering.

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You just kind of head in a general direction

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and hope it goes there.

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There we go, oh yeah, coming back over.

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With the Puffing Devil, Trevithick makes

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steam powered transport a reality.

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And in 1801 that is mind blowing.

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Wow, man that is a beast of a steering, it's so heavy.

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That is not easy to drive, man.

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It takes a lot of strength and you can't really

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tell it what to do, you kind of have to

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just keep it within a range,

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and point it down the road,

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and hope it goes where you want it to.

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Woo, it's a handful.

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(steam hissing)
(gentle music)

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A few years after rolling out his Puffing Devil,

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Trevithick builds the world's first steam railway.

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(horn whistling)

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And a familiar sight and sound begins to fade

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into the background of history.

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You see, up until this point,

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if you wanted to get anywhere

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quicker than you could walk,

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or if you wanted to haul a heavy load,

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this is what you used.

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A big, beautiful horse.

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That's what you'd use, that's what your father used,

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that's what your father's father before him used,

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as far back as anyone can remember.

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That's what makes Trevithick's idea so revolutionary.

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With his very first test drive

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he does away with thousands of years of tradition.

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He's swapping horse power for steam power.

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(majestic music)

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Even so, the legacy of my four-legged friend lives on.

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The steam locomotive is dubbed the Iron Horse.

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And the standard unit of engine strength

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is forever more measured as horsepower.

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Now that I've had a chance to ride on the Puffing Devil

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I have a much better sense of how this story begins.

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You see, Trevithick's innovation

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ignites a revolution in steam locomotion.

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It helps to turn fledgling countries

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into giant nations with the power

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to move faster and further.

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But there's one nation in particular

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that really benefits from the full force

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of the steam locomotive.

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(western music)

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America.

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In the early 1800s most of the country

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is still virgin territory.

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Only the brave, the foolish, or the desperate

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risk the slow trek across this vast,

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unforgiving land.

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(bluesy country music)

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But with the arrival of the Iron Horse,

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America embarks on one of its greatest

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engineering projects.

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Linking east and west by rail.

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Between Omaha and Sacramento

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thousands of men set to work.

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Over flat ground, they lay up to 10 miles of track a day.

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But crossing the Rocky Mountains

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proves more formidable.

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And progress slows to less than two feet a day.

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Finally, in 1869, after six grueling years,

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almost 2,000 miles of railroad meet

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at Promontory Summit, Utah.

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It's life changing for 19th century America,

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and it allows the wild west to join

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the rest of the country.

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(uptempo music)

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The railroads move more people than ever before.

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Now crossing America is not only safer,

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it's much faster.

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And the place these life changing journeys begin

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will play a defining role in the way we move.

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This is Grand Central Terminal.

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It's a magnificent piece of architecture,

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and it's also a testament to the importance

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of the railroads.

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Over 150 years old, it's still the largest

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railroad station on the planet.

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By the mid-20th century, Grand Central

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is an established starting point

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for fast long distance travel

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to cities across America.

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Today, its rail network connects

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over 500 destinations.

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With 150,000 miles of track.

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More than any other nation.

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It could circle the globe six times.

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The growth of the railroads changes the face of America.

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They play a pivotal role not just in establishing

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cities like New York,

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but in supersizing them into giant urban centers.

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But it's not just America.

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(uptempo dramatic music)

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This revolution in human motion continues today.

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Innovations in rail technology

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carry more of us further and faster

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than ever before.

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Maybe the best place to experience this

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is in a nation that's led the world

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in train engineering, Japan.

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For over 50 years Japan has been at the cutting edge

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of speed on rails.

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(train whizzing)

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(dramatic music)

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I'm on a Japanese bullet train

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traveling at 175 miles an hour.

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And it is smooth as silk.

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The Tokaido Shinkansen line connects Tokyo with Osaka,

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Japan's two biggest cities.

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Since its opening on October 1, 1964,

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this 320 mile long track alone

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has shuttled almost six billion people.

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On that morning, the Hikari Number One pulls out

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from Tokyo Station's platform 19,

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and arrives at Shin Osaka Station

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exactly on time four hours later.

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Just the day before, that same journey

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would have taken six and a half hours.

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It's an amazing increase in speed and efficiency.

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But it's one that almost didn't happen.

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(suspenseful music)

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In the 1950s trains are topping out

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at almost 70 miles an hour.

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One Japanese engineer, Hideo Shima,

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dreams of a revolutionary high speed rail network,

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the Shinkansen, that will smash

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the 100 mile an hour barrier.

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In 1958 a committee led by Shima develops the concept.

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His first idea is each carriage should have

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individual electrified motors to move them,

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rather than one locomotive pulling the lot.

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Next, he designs the train to use compressed air

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as shock absorbers to minimize vibrations.

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Finally, Shima and his team will engineer rail routes

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where gradients and bends will be kept to a minimum

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to maintain high speeds.

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It's a bold engineering vision.

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It's one that comes with an estimated price tag

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that runs into the hundreds of millions.

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It turns out, it's a little too bold,

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and his home country won't risk the funding.

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(suspenseful music)

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So, Shima travels to Washington, D.C.

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to ask the World Bank to finance his revolutionary vision.

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The bank's policy is not to loan to experimental projects.

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But Shima argues that his designs

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are robust and dependable.

270
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,723
The bank agrees to fund his bold vision.

271
00:15:23,790 --> 00:15:27,060
Six decades on, and today Shinkansen bullet trains

272
00:15:27,060 --> 00:15:30,243
are famed for their speed and their appearance.

273
00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:34,423
They owe both to Hideo Shima's original design.

274
00:15:37,140 --> 00:15:40,350
His determination, his original engineering,

275
00:15:40,350 --> 00:15:42,530
lives on in these bullet trains.

276
00:15:42,530 --> 00:15:45,250
It makes them not only remarkably fast,

277
00:15:45,250 --> 00:15:47,240
but it also makes them, I think,

278
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,250
very beautiful machines.

279
00:15:49,250 --> 00:15:52,103
There you go, the legacy of Hideo Shima.

280
00:15:53,710 --> 00:15:57,108
The man who saw the future, and propelled us into it.

281
00:15:57,108 --> 00:15:59,858
(dramatic music)

282
00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,990
Fast forward to today, and Japanese engineers

283
00:16:05,990 --> 00:16:09,153
are developing an even faster form of rail transport.

284
00:16:13,930 --> 00:16:15,660
One which could make wheels

285
00:16:17,798 --> 00:16:18,803
a thing of the past.

286
00:16:23,722 --> 00:16:25,820
Now this is one of a kind.

287
00:16:25,820 --> 00:16:28,360
I'm in the Yamanashi maglev train station.

288
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,140
And here Japanese engineers are working on perfecting

289
00:16:31,140 --> 00:16:33,420
the fastest train on the planet.

290
00:16:33,420 --> 00:16:34,770
It's designed to carry passengers

291
00:16:34,770 --> 00:16:37,313
at up to 300 miles an hour.

292
00:16:40,915 --> 00:16:41,823
This is the L0.

293
00:16:43,810 --> 00:16:47,010
It holds the record as the fastest in the world.

294
00:16:47,010 --> 00:16:50,383
An incredible 374 miles an hour.

295
00:16:51,868 --> 00:16:54,870
Whoa, that thing is booking, man.

296
00:16:54,870 --> 00:16:56,260
It's just flying.

297
00:16:56,260 --> 00:16:59,190
I mean, it's not really flying 'cause it doesn't have wings,

298
00:16:59,190 --> 00:17:01,480
but it's going airplane speeds,

299
00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:03,730
and I guess technically it's not touching the ground.

300
00:17:03,730 --> 00:17:05,180
The truth is I don't know what to call it,

301
00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:08,530
but it is very cool and very fast.

302
00:17:08,530 --> 00:17:09,363
There's one other thing, too.

303
00:17:09,363 --> 00:17:10,990
Did you hear how the only thing we hear

304
00:17:10,990 --> 00:17:13,360
is the wind whooshing past the outside?

305
00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:15,840
That's because there's no engines on board.

306
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,140
And that is because of an inspiration that happened

307
00:17:18,140 --> 00:17:20,173
in New York in the 1960s.

308
00:17:21,158 --> 00:17:23,575
(jazz music)

309
00:17:27,590 --> 00:17:31,170
Stuck behind the wheel, American physicist James Powell

310
00:17:31,170 --> 00:17:32,863
has a thought that we've all had.

311
00:17:35,770 --> 00:17:38,313
What if we could just rise above the traffic?

312
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,640
Powell's idea might sound crazy,

313
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:43,690
but it's actually grounded

314
00:17:43,690 --> 00:17:45,840
in very well understood science.

315
00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,160
Magnetism, it's an invisible force of nature

316
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:49,710
that surrounds us, you can't see it.

317
00:17:49,710 --> 00:17:51,700
But if you've ever played with a set of magnets

318
00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:53,100
you might have felt it.

319
00:17:53,100 --> 00:17:55,320
Now, magnetic fields have a polarity.

320
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,970
And if you oppose them, plus to minus, minus to plus,

321
00:17:58,860 --> 00:17:59,960
they attract.

322
00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,820
But, if you align them plus to plus, minus to minus,

323
00:18:03,820 --> 00:18:05,380
they repel each other.

324
00:18:05,380 --> 00:18:07,910
It's this idea that gets Powell excited.

325
00:18:07,910 --> 00:18:09,320
He thinks to himself,

326
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,423
what if you could scale that up and put it to work.

327
00:18:13,820 --> 00:18:17,013
Powell takes this magnetic principle and thinks big.

328
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:19,230
Really big.

329
00:18:19,230 --> 00:18:21,600
He figures by using repelling poles

330
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,540
of super powerful magnets he can levitate

331
00:18:24,540 --> 00:18:27,803
the entire weight of a carriage above the tracks.

332
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,833
But how does he get it to move?

333
00:18:32,730 --> 00:18:34,513
Powell has an answer for that, too.

334
00:18:35,430 --> 00:18:39,610
Use another set of strong magnets built into the track,

335
00:18:39,610 --> 00:18:42,130
whose polarity alternates,

336
00:18:42,130 --> 00:18:45,313
constantly creating forces that push and pull.

337
00:18:46,430 --> 00:18:50,200
The result is magnetic levitation, or maglev for short.

338
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,030
Powell is the first to think of it in terms of motion.

339
00:18:53,030 --> 00:18:56,186
But can magnets really levitate a train?

340
00:18:56,186 --> 00:18:59,186
(suspenseful music)

341
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,410
Enlightened engineers across the globe

342
00:19:02,410 --> 00:19:03,883
embraced the concept.

343
00:19:05,580 --> 00:19:08,863
Developing a range of maglev transport designs.

344
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,160
And the Japanese see the potential

345
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,580
for record breaking speed.

346
00:19:17,580 --> 00:19:19,590
The new bullet train.

347
00:19:19,590 --> 00:19:20,783
Yes.
<v ->Yeah.

348
00:19:29,025 --> 00:19:31,420
I'm interested to know how far

349
00:19:31,420 --> 00:19:33,633
does the train float above the ground?

350
00:19:37,010 --> 00:19:39,290
Amazing, yeah.

351
00:19:39,290 --> 00:19:41,943
Has this been a difficult technology to develop?

352
00:20:09,258 --> 00:20:11,390
So I'm about to take my first ride on a maglev train.

353
00:20:11,390 --> 00:20:14,750
I'm about to take off, leave the station?

354
00:20:14,750 --> 00:20:17,362
I don't know what to call it, but, it's pretty cool.

355
00:20:17,362 --> 00:20:19,945
(gentle music)

356
00:20:25,850 --> 00:20:28,200
So whenever the train's at rest or at lower speeds

357
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,700
we're actually riding on wheels sitting on top of the track.

358
00:20:30,700 --> 00:20:32,870
And right now we're just starting to speed up,

359
00:20:32,870 --> 00:20:34,380
and the wheels are still underneath us,

360
00:20:34,380 --> 00:20:36,170
we're rolling along on the ground.

361
00:20:36,170 --> 00:20:38,100
When we get to a certain speed we'll actually

362
00:20:38,100 --> 00:20:39,700
engage the super conduction magnets,

363
00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:42,350
levitate up off the ground, and disengage the wheels.

364
00:20:43,188 --> 00:20:45,863
And that should happen any minute, here we go.

365
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,230
You can feel the whole thing lift off.

366
00:20:59,230 --> 00:21:01,630
It's starting to levitate now, floating along,

367
00:21:01,630 --> 00:21:05,053
cushioned by superconducting magnets.

368
00:21:10,650 --> 00:21:11,950
Pretty nice way to travel.

369
00:21:21,010 --> 00:21:23,710
Everything outside is just whizzing along.

370
00:21:23,710 --> 00:21:26,940
It's just zipping by so quick you can't see anything.

371
00:21:26,940 --> 00:21:29,053
This really is like flying on the ground.

372
00:21:36,810 --> 00:21:40,350
490, she's telling us we're coming up to our maximum.

373
00:21:40,350 --> 00:21:43,910
498, 500 kilometers an hour.

374
00:21:43,910 --> 00:21:45,310
That's over 300 miles an hour.

375
00:21:45,310 --> 00:21:47,050
That is a personal record for me,

376
00:21:47,050 --> 00:21:49,710
that's as fast as I have ever gone over the land.

377
00:21:49,710 --> 00:21:51,000
And I'll tell you what, I can guarantee

378
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,630
it's a personal record for all of them too

379
00:21:52,630 --> 00:21:56,313
because that's as fast as anyone can go on the ground.

380
00:21:57,447 --> 00:21:58,690
Here we go, this is it man.

381
00:21:58,690 --> 00:22:00,580
This is the height of technology.

382
00:22:00,580 --> 00:22:03,673
The real question is, in the future, can we go faster?

383
00:22:12,630 --> 00:22:15,797
(uptempo funky music)

384
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:29,860
What's inside this steel tube

385
00:22:29,860 --> 00:22:31,680
is straight out of science fiction.

386
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,110
And it could take us into a future

387
00:22:33,110 --> 00:22:34,883
of moving at incredible speed.

388
00:22:38,700 --> 00:22:42,060
This sealed cylinder is over 10 feet wide

389
00:22:42,060 --> 00:22:43,623
and 500 yards long.

390
00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:49,173
Inside is a unique piece of engineering.

391
00:22:51,010 --> 00:22:52,950
A test track in a tube

392
00:22:52,950 --> 00:22:55,563
with almost all of the air extracted.

393
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:04,400
Virgin's hyperloop one promises to carry us faster

394
00:23:05,860 --> 00:23:07,153
than ever before.

395
00:23:09,230 --> 00:23:10,630
What are we about to see?

396
00:23:10,630 --> 00:23:14,630
So, this is it right here, this is the pod.

397
00:23:14,630 --> 00:23:16,363
The star of all of our testing.

398
00:23:18,470 --> 00:23:20,473
This test pod is a prototype.

399
00:23:21,450 --> 00:23:22,993
It can't carry people yet.

400
00:23:24,020 --> 00:23:28,000
But soon larger versions could whisk up to 15 of us

401
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,093
across entire continents.

402
00:23:31,180 --> 00:23:32,650
And this is the one and only.

403
00:23:32,650 --> 00:23:35,760
Yep, nothing else like it.

404
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,620
It kind of looks like an airplane fuselage

405
00:23:37,620 --> 00:23:39,243
without wings.
Yeah, exactly.

406
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,463
Like normal maglevs,

407
00:23:49,170 --> 00:23:50,620
the hyperloop one uses

408
00:23:50,620 --> 00:23:53,243
a powerful series of magnets to accelerate.

409
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,633
As it picks up speed, the wheels retract.

410
00:24:01,570 --> 00:24:03,750
And magnetism levitates the pod

411
00:24:03,750 --> 00:24:05,973
over a central aluminum track.

412
00:24:08,810 --> 00:24:11,360
But cocooned in its vacuum-sealed tube

413
00:24:13,530 --> 00:24:16,020
the hyperloop one has a distinct advantage

414
00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:17,523
when it comes to speed.

415
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:23,350
So we have no resistance from wheels,

416
00:24:23,350 --> 00:24:24,610
we have no resistance from air.

417
00:24:24,610 --> 00:24:26,380
You've got no friction, nothing to slow you down.

418
00:24:26,380 --> 00:24:28,780
We get ourselves up to speed, we're levitating,

419
00:24:28,780 --> 00:24:30,500
we're sailing along.

420
00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:34,080
We don't need to constantly feed energy to this system.

421
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,500
Even on this short track,

422
00:24:35,500 --> 00:24:38,923
the test pod accelerates to almost 250 miles an hour.

423
00:24:39,921 --> 00:24:42,653
But the real thing will be much, much faster.

424
00:24:43,810 --> 00:24:44,900
What kind of speeds are we talking about?

425
00:24:44,900 --> 00:24:46,600
We're talking 700 miles an hour.

426
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,160
700 miles an hour.

427
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,440
Oh yeah, super fast.

428
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:50,780
So we're going faster than a jet plane.

429
00:24:50,780 --> 00:24:52,850
Yeah, faster than any commercial transportation

430
00:24:52,850 --> 00:24:53,770
that's out there right now.

431
00:24:53,770 --> 00:24:54,660
Cool.
<v ->Yeah.

432
00:24:54,660 --> 00:24:56,870
Yeah, so you're riding along inside,

433
00:24:56,870 --> 00:24:58,500
you've got air in there, you have power,

434
00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:00,530
you're charging your cell phone, you're having a drink,

435
00:25:00,530 --> 00:25:02,210
what do you think it's gonna feel like to ride this?

436
00:25:02,210 --> 00:25:03,730
As comfortable as an airplane.

437
00:25:03,730 --> 00:25:06,950
So although we can accelerate and decelerate very quickly,

438
00:25:06,950 --> 00:25:09,300
and we can move you around with crazy turns,

439
00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:10,133
we're not going to.

440
00:25:10,133 --> 00:25:11,170
It's not a roller coaster,

441
00:25:11,170 --> 00:25:12,660
it's something you take every day.

442
00:25:12,660 --> 00:25:14,540
So it's a very comfortable ride,

443
00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:16,410
and a very smooth ride.

444
00:25:16,410 --> 00:25:18,150
Any chance for a roller coaster version?

445
00:25:18,150 --> 00:25:20,760
Um, probably not, but nice try.

446
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,430
All right, moving on.

447
00:25:24,470 --> 00:25:27,753
This offers a new and exciting era in human speed.

448
00:25:31,172 --> 00:25:34,420
In hyperloop one, traveling the 2,500 miles

449
00:25:35,350 --> 00:25:38,110
between New York and Los Angeles

450
00:25:38,110 --> 00:25:41,010
could take just three and a half hours.

451
00:25:41,010 --> 00:25:44,223
Faster, cleaner, and more efficient than a jet plane.

452
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,763
And you can forget about turbulence.

453
00:25:50,510 --> 00:25:52,740
The hyperloop really is engineering

454
00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:54,520
out on the bleeding edge.

455
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,280
It uses some technologies borrowed from other applications

456
00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,080
mixed with some fresh innovations.

457
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,700
And all of it put together in a brand new way.

458
00:26:01,700 --> 00:26:05,163
This really is a new form of transportation.

459
00:26:10,023 --> 00:26:13,240
(uptempo music)

460
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,063
Railroads have transformed the way we travel.

461
00:26:19,060 --> 00:26:21,723
But in our quest to speed across continents,

462
00:26:23,330 --> 00:26:26,883
one invention has driven us further than any other.

463
00:26:36,110 --> 00:26:38,173
It's the early 1880s.

464
00:26:39,900 --> 00:26:41,690
The son of a train driver wrestles

465
00:26:41,690 --> 00:26:43,363
with a life long obsession.

466
00:26:45,390 --> 00:26:47,860
The audacious dream of Karl Benz

467
00:26:47,860 --> 00:26:50,910
is to build a powered moving machine

468
00:26:50,910 --> 00:26:53,703
that doesn't use steam or run on tracks.

469
00:26:55,370 --> 00:26:56,713
An automobile.

470
00:26:57,670 --> 00:27:00,973
But his engineering challenges are daunting.

471
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,500
Benz has no precedents or prototypes.

472
00:27:05,500 --> 00:27:07,120
How many wheels?

473
00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:08,390
How can he steer it?

474
00:27:08,390 --> 00:27:10,880
How will the engine be attached to the carriage?

475
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:12,243
The list goes on.

476
00:27:13,850 --> 00:27:16,220
Against the odds, and against great criticism,

477
00:27:16,220 --> 00:27:19,940
in 1885 Karl Benz unveils his masterpiece.

478
00:27:19,940 --> 00:27:23,233
The world's first practical motor car.

479
00:27:24,877 --> 00:27:27,750
Now to really understand how bold Benz's vision is,

480
00:27:27,750 --> 00:27:29,380
I gotta drive it for myself, right.

481
00:27:29,380 --> 00:27:30,790
So I've come here to Somerset, England

482
00:27:30,790 --> 00:27:32,610
to the Haynes International Motor Museum

483
00:27:32,610 --> 00:27:35,550
because they have an exact replica of the original.

484
00:27:35,550 --> 00:27:37,483
And they tell me it even runs.

485
00:27:38,610 --> 00:27:39,580
Matt, is it?

486
00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:40,760
It is, hello Sean.

487
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,460
Hi, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.

488
00:27:42,460 --> 00:27:43,293
This is it, huh,

489
00:27:43,293 --> 00:27:44,660
look at this beauty.
It is indeed.

490
00:27:44,660 --> 00:27:45,710
It doesn't seem like much,

491
00:27:45,710 --> 00:27:47,400
but this really the start of something

492
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:48,480
very important, right?

493
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,693
Yeah, it was the start of motoring as we know it,

494
00:27:50,693 --> 00:27:54,370
because there is a bloodline from this car

495
00:27:54,370 --> 00:27:56,410
to every other car that you see on the roads

496
00:27:56,410 --> 00:27:59,070
through motoring history, they are all related.

497
00:27:59,070 --> 00:28:00,350
I mean up until now, too,

498
00:28:00,350 --> 00:28:02,040
a lot of the road going vehicles

499
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,490
had been steam powered or they'd been design around

500
00:28:04,490 --> 00:28:06,390
basically a horseless cart,

501
00:28:06,390 --> 00:28:09,560
these giant wood frames and big static wood wheels.

502
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,850
And here we're starting to see bicycle technology.

503
00:28:11,850 --> 00:28:13,340
We are indeed, because Benz was

504
00:28:13,340 --> 00:28:14,680
a fan of the bicycle,

505
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:16,610
and he was riding one at the time.

506
00:28:16,610 --> 00:28:20,103
So yes, you do see that kind of technology creeping in.

507
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:23,810
So give me the quick tour, front to back.

508
00:28:23,810 --> 00:28:24,670
Starting with the wheel.

509
00:28:24,670 --> 00:28:26,280
Yeah, one wheel.
<v ->One wheel.

510
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:29,430
Unsprung, and the steering is very basic.

511
00:28:29,430 --> 00:28:33,480
You operate just by turning this lever here.

512
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,310
Which might seem funny, but you gotta think about it.

513
00:28:35,310 --> 00:28:37,640
It's way easier to make mechanical linkage

514
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:38,980
for one wheel steering than it is

515
00:28:38,980 --> 00:28:41,310
to try to build two wheels that steer together.

516
00:28:41,310 --> 00:28:43,740
So this is just a quick down and dirty way of doing it.

517
00:28:43,740 --> 00:28:45,133
Well, exactly, yes.

518
00:28:46,110 --> 00:28:49,500
And then you have the single cylinder engine at the back,

519
00:28:49,500 --> 00:28:53,480
giving a top speed of around 10 miles an hour,

520
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:57,160
and the capacity of the engine is just under one liter.

521
00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,440
One liter, and what's the horsepower?

522
00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:00,950
Just under one.

523
00:29:00,950 --> 00:29:03,646
One liter, one horsepower.
<v ->Yes, yes, just under.

524
00:29:03,646 --> 00:29:04,479
Yeah, wow.
<v ->Yeah.

525
00:29:04,479 --> 00:29:07,570
So to put it in some context, the car that I drove the work

526
00:29:07,570 --> 00:29:09,780
in this morning has a two liter engine

527
00:29:09,780 --> 00:29:12,930
with about 150 brake horsepower,

528
00:29:12,930 --> 00:29:16,630
and could fall probably about 135 miles and hour.

529
00:29:16,630 --> 00:29:18,140
Yeah, so clearly we've come a long way,

530
00:29:18,140 --> 00:29:19,880
but this is where it starts.

531
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:21,920
Absolutely, it does indeed.

532
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,093
Amazing.
(fanciful music)

533
00:29:30,152 --> 00:29:34,040
In 1886, Benz obtains a patent for his invention.

534
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:35,600
Woo, look at that.

535
00:29:38,620 --> 00:29:40,923
The original car is ready to roll.

536
00:29:43,650 --> 00:29:45,100
Well, as far as vintage cars go,

537
00:29:45,100 --> 00:29:47,657
it doesn't get much more vintage than this.

538
00:29:47,657 --> 00:29:49,260
But it's pretty exciting to think

539
00:29:49,260 --> 00:29:51,170
that this is what is was like

540
00:29:51,170 --> 00:29:53,870
to really try this whole technology out for the first time.

541
00:29:53,870 --> 00:29:55,653
I mean, it's all unprecedented.

542
00:29:57,410 --> 00:29:59,320
Not sure if it's gonna work.

543
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,358
Just put it down and go.

544
00:30:01,358 --> 00:30:04,525
(car engine chuffing)

545
00:30:08,772 --> 00:30:12,193
(laughing) Yes!

546
00:30:18,460 --> 00:30:21,150
Man, whoever took the first test drive on this,

547
00:30:21,150 --> 00:30:22,063
they were brave.

548
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:26,313
Ah, this is amazing.

549
00:30:27,504 --> 00:30:29,660
I mean once you get it going it just purrs along.

550
00:30:29,660 --> 00:30:30,760
Of course there's no brakes,

551
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:32,290
so you gotta keep feathering the throttle

552
00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:33,363
if you want to turn.

553
00:30:40,060 --> 00:30:43,216
Oh yeah, now I'm starting to get the hang of this thing.

554
00:30:43,216 --> 00:30:46,383
(car engine chuffing)

555
00:30:51,020 --> 00:30:53,160
So the Benz car works, but the whole world

556
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,810
doesn't really take notice until one brave

557
00:30:55,810 --> 00:30:58,570
audacious woman gets behind the wheel.

558
00:30:58,570 --> 00:31:03,570
(fanciful music)
(car engine chuffing)

559
00:31:06,410 --> 00:31:09,770
Critics of the car believe it's a novelty item,

560
00:31:09,770 --> 00:31:12,420
incapable of long journeys.

561
00:31:12,420 --> 00:31:15,053
But Benz's wife Bertha thinks otherwise.

562
00:31:16,350 --> 00:31:20,690
On August 5, 1888, without her husband's knowledge,

563
00:31:20,690 --> 00:31:23,420
she and her two sons set off in the automobile

564
00:31:23,420 --> 00:31:27,713
to visit her mother in Pforzheim, over 50 miles away.

565
00:31:29,650 --> 00:31:32,030
But it's no easy ride.

566
00:31:32,030 --> 00:31:34,370
The car doesn't have gears.

567
00:31:34,370 --> 00:31:37,403
So whenever they encounter a hill, they push.

568
00:31:38,990 --> 00:31:40,743
And then a belt fails.

569
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,540
So Bertha takes off her garter

570
00:31:44,540 --> 00:31:46,973
and uses it as impromptu replacement.

571
00:31:51,659 --> 00:31:54,420
Bertha's initiative to take that first trip

572
00:31:54,420 --> 00:31:56,913
proves the potential of the motor car.

573
00:32:01,870 --> 00:32:03,650
Bertha makes it to her destination,

574
00:32:03,650 --> 00:32:06,530
and she telegrams home to say that she's arrive safely.

575
00:32:06,530 --> 00:32:08,540
Now, with that first test drive

576
00:32:08,540 --> 00:32:11,280
she silences all the critics.

577
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,170
Because of her determination to drive to her mother's house,

578
00:32:14,170 --> 00:32:16,570
she changes the course of human history.

579
00:32:16,570 --> 00:32:18,710
It is perhaps the single biggest revolution

580
00:32:18,710 --> 00:32:20,513
in transportation, ever.

581
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:24,703
But motoring doesn't come cheap.

582
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,673
A Benz car costs $1,000.

583
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,050
About twice the annual income

584
00:32:33,050 --> 00:32:35,583
of the average American at the time.

585
00:32:37,540 --> 00:32:39,823
Only the very rich can afford one.

586
00:32:41,900 --> 00:32:43,990
Fast forward to today, and there are about

587
00:32:43,990 --> 00:32:46,640
a billion cars driving around the world.

588
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,020
So how does that happen?

589
00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:53,290
Well, this is what happened.

590
00:32:53,290 --> 00:32:54,990
The Ford Model T.

591
00:32:54,990 --> 00:32:58,400
It's the first car to be produced on an assembly line,

592
00:32:58,400 --> 00:32:59,680
out of standardized parts,

593
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,080
and they're built in huge numbers.

594
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,045
That's the genius of Henry Ford.

595
00:33:05,045 --> 00:33:08,310
(playful music)

596
00:33:08,310 --> 00:33:10,040
At the beginning of the 20th century,

597
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,210
Henry Ford's assembly line sparks

598
00:33:12,210 --> 00:33:14,343
a revolution in car manufacturing.

599
00:33:16,490 --> 00:33:20,133
His streamlined construction method accelerates production.

600
00:33:21,380 --> 00:33:23,610
The time it takes to assemble a single car

601
00:33:23,610 --> 00:33:26,463
shrinks from 12 hours to just 2 1/2.

602
00:33:27,970 --> 00:33:30,633
And as everyone knows, time is money.

603
00:33:33,700 --> 00:33:36,450
The production line slashes the price of a car

604
00:33:36,450 --> 00:33:40,040
from $850 down to about 300.

605
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,170
And that puts this revolutionary invention

606
00:33:42,170 --> 00:33:45,080
within reach of almost anyone who wants one.

607
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:47,080
And boy do they want one.

608
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:52,012
Within 20 years, there are 15 million Model Ts on the road.

609
00:33:52,012 --> 00:33:57,012
(bright music)
(engines revving)

610
00:34:04,420 --> 00:34:08,080
What's amazing to me is the impact of the automobile.

611
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:11,440
It's profound, right, it alters landscapes.

612
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,280
It changes cultures.

613
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,110
And it powers mobility in a way

614
00:34:15,110 --> 00:34:17,840
that was unimaginable before Benz.

615
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,143
I mean, just look at what happens.

616
00:34:22,610 --> 00:34:25,770
It's the early 1900s and our Ford Model T

617
00:34:25,770 --> 00:34:27,730
is tearing through town at an incredible

618
00:34:27,730 --> 00:34:28,963
40 miles per hour.

619
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,410
Our newfound speed will demand change.

620
00:34:33,410 --> 00:34:36,123
Like our first stoplight in 1914.

621
00:34:37,460 --> 00:34:39,730
Soon roads reach out of town,

622
00:34:39,730 --> 00:34:42,323
but a car can only carry so much gas.

623
00:34:43,340 --> 00:34:45,873
We need some good old American enterprise.

624
00:34:46,860 --> 00:34:51,430
By the 1920s the U.S. is spending over a billion a year

625
00:34:51,430 --> 00:34:53,760
building roads like Route 66

626
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,733
connecting L.A. to Chicago.

627
00:34:58,090 --> 00:35:01,420
Now our car can make the trip, but we are beat.

628
00:35:01,420 --> 00:35:03,650
We need a hotel for motorists.

629
00:35:03,650 --> 00:35:06,703
And in 1925, we get the first of many.

630
00:35:08,690 --> 00:35:12,080
In the 1940s innovations like the automatic transmission

631
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,350
of the Buick Special make driving fun.

632
00:35:15,350 --> 00:35:18,920
So much fun, that we don't want to get out of our cars.

633
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:22,130
Even to eat or watch a movie.

634
00:35:22,130 --> 00:35:24,530
It's the American dream.

635
00:35:24,530 --> 00:35:27,370
Cars like the Cadillac increase our cruising speeds

636
00:35:27,370 --> 00:35:30,500
through the 50s and 60s along the nation's new

637
00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:32,023
interstate highways.

638
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,303
Now cars can change how and where we live.

639
00:35:37,180 --> 00:35:40,040
By the 70s and 80s, millions of us

640
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:41,980
are speeding through new commuter belts

641
00:35:41,980 --> 00:35:45,130
in satellite towns, which eventually merge

642
00:35:45,130 --> 00:35:47,485
into the metropolises of today.

643
00:35:47,485 --> 00:35:50,152
(uptempo music)

644
00:36:00,530 --> 00:36:03,250
Along with railroads, cars drive the single greatest

645
00:36:03,250 --> 00:36:04,563
movement in human history.

646
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,800
Ah, but, with this many people moving,

647
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:14,663
none of us are going anywhere.

648
00:36:16,570 --> 00:36:18,380
The freedom the car promised

649
00:36:18,380 --> 00:36:21,223
is now strangling our towns and cities.

650
00:36:23,900 --> 00:36:26,650
Incredibly, the average speed here in New York City

651
00:36:26,650 --> 00:36:28,583
is about five miles an hour.

652
00:36:28,583 --> 00:36:30,633
You could almost get out and walk faster.

653
00:36:32,750 --> 00:36:34,800
So, is that the end of the road?

654
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:36,740
I mean, is there any hope of getting things

655
00:36:36,740 --> 00:36:38,890
back on track and getting back up to speed?

656
00:36:40,203 --> 00:36:41,036
Come on.

657
00:36:42,168 --> 00:36:44,835
(horns honking)

658
00:36:46,781 --> 00:36:49,531
(dramatic music)

659
00:36:52,900 --> 00:36:55,390
well, maybe the answer lies with cars

660
00:36:55,390 --> 00:36:57,703
designed to be smarter than us.

661
00:37:06,610 --> 00:37:09,540
2,000 miles from the congested streets of Manhattan

662
00:37:14,270 --> 00:37:15,800
engineers are putting the theory

663
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,973
of driverless vehicles to the test.

664
00:37:25,250 --> 00:37:28,523
Well, driverless car, here we go.

665
00:37:29,810 --> 00:37:31,640
I've heard the hype, I've seen all the tech,

666
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:32,473
I know this should work,

667
00:37:32,473 --> 00:37:34,660
but for a control freak like me,

668
00:37:34,660 --> 00:37:36,499
it's pretty hard to let go.

669
00:37:36,499 --> 00:37:39,499
(suspenseful music)

670
00:37:44,577 --> 00:37:48,263
(chuckling) It's driving itself.

671
00:37:49,430 --> 00:37:51,520
This is weird, the car is just driving

672
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:52,930
through the parking lot,

673
00:37:52,930 --> 00:37:55,110
and it's seeing the fence and the telephone poles.

674
00:37:55,110 --> 00:37:56,420
At least I hope it's seeing all that,

675
00:37:56,420 --> 00:37:58,620
it seems to be steering itself through,

676
00:37:58,620 --> 00:38:02,250
and I am just riding in the car

677
00:38:02,250 --> 00:38:03,603
letting the computer drive.

678
00:38:04,550 --> 00:38:06,437
And I guess this is the wave of the future,

679
00:38:06,437 --> 00:38:08,293
but it feels pretty weird.

680
00:38:10,310 --> 00:38:13,390
So, computers can navigate a slow moving car

681
00:38:13,390 --> 00:38:15,033
around a parking lot perfectly.

682
00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,420
But can they cope with rapidly changing speeds

683
00:38:19,420 --> 00:38:20,303
on a highway?

684
00:38:21,570 --> 00:38:25,193
All right, I survived my first ride in a robot car.

685
00:38:25,193 --> 00:38:27,520
I don't think I'm ready to let it drive my kids around,

686
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:28,830
but I do trust it enough

687
00:38:28,830 --> 00:38:30,918
to take part in today's experiment.

688
00:38:30,918 --> 00:38:33,668
(dramatic music)

689
00:38:47,500 --> 00:38:50,680
I'll be riding second from last in a convoy of cars

690
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:54,857
all of which have ACC.

691
00:38:56,730 --> 00:38:58,910
Adaptive cruise control.

692
00:38:58,910 --> 00:39:01,203
Monitored by an onboard computer.

693
00:39:08,270 --> 00:39:10,323
For the test I'll be steering,

694
00:39:12,610 --> 00:39:15,290
but the computer will control my speed,

695
00:39:15,290 --> 00:39:17,340
by adjusting the adaptive cruise control.

696
00:39:19,780 --> 00:39:21,530
And should keep me a safe distance

697
00:39:21,530 --> 00:39:22,683
from the car in front.

698
00:39:25,610 --> 00:39:27,750
But can a computer driven car cope

699
00:39:27,750 --> 00:39:29,373
with a sharp braking event?

700
00:39:36,620 --> 00:39:38,380
I'm setting my adaptive cruise control

701
00:39:38,380 --> 00:39:40,930
at 55 miles an hour.

702
00:39:40,930 --> 00:39:42,640
We'll run up against the car in front of us,

703
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:44,810
and when the radar detects that car in front of us,

704
00:39:44,810 --> 00:39:46,530
it'll just keeps us right there.

705
00:39:46,530 --> 00:39:49,030
When the lead car starts to slow down,

706
00:39:49,030 --> 00:39:51,580
each subsequent car will have to slow down as well.

707
00:39:53,180 --> 00:39:55,753
The cars drive themselves independently.

708
00:39:56,700 --> 00:39:59,623
With their exact position monitored via GPS.

709
00:40:01,930 --> 00:40:05,140
If the test is successful, each car will brake

710
00:40:05,140 --> 00:40:07,863
in a way that keeps the traffic at a constant speed.

711
00:40:09,010 --> 00:40:11,823
And more importantly, avoids a collision.

712
00:40:13,260 --> 00:40:14,380
Right now I'm changing the setting

713
00:40:14,380 --> 00:40:17,250
on the adaptive cruise control down to one bar.

714
00:40:17,250 --> 00:40:19,010
That will keep the least amount of distance

715
00:40:19,010 --> 00:40:21,007
between the car in front of us and us.

716
00:40:28,390 --> 00:40:29,860
This is more nerve wracking, right.

717
00:40:29,860 --> 00:40:31,300
I mean, I'm still letting the computer drive,

718
00:40:31,300 --> 00:40:32,590
but we are a lot closer,

719
00:40:32,590 --> 00:40:33,860
which means the reaction time

720
00:40:33,860 --> 00:40:35,363
is gonna be much shorter.

721
00:40:36,210 --> 00:40:38,360
I hope this computer knows what it's doing.

722
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:41,543
I need to stay alert.

723
00:40:42,690 --> 00:40:46,980
If my car's ACC can't keep me at a safe distance,

724
00:40:46,980 --> 00:40:49,923
I'll have to take control to avoid a crash.

725
00:40:50,818 --> 00:40:53,568
(dramatic music)

726
00:40:56,481 --> 00:41:00,734
Okay, hear that, here comes the test event.

727
00:41:00,734 --> 00:41:01,834
All right, here we go.

728
00:41:03,055 --> 00:41:04,255
I see the lights coming.

729
00:41:05,670 --> 00:41:08,010
Come on car, slow down, slow down, slow down, slow down.

730
00:41:08,010 --> 00:41:08,860
40, ooh.

731
00:41:11,050 --> 00:41:12,520
Oh, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake.

732
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:14,420
Yeah, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake.

733
00:41:14,420 --> 00:41:18,860
Suddenly, my white car finally brakes.

734
00:41:18,860 --> 00:41:21,240
But so quickly it forces the last car

735
00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:23,340
behind me to swerve.

736
00:41:23,340 --> 00:41:26,240
Okay, adaptive cruise control slowed us down

737
00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:27,550
but it also disengaged.

738
00:41:27,550 --> 00:41:30,790
So I was told if this happened I need to pull over

739
00:41:30,790 --> 00:41:32,693
and let the GPS zero out.

740
00:41:32,693 --> 00:41:35,410
So that the experimenters know

741
00:41:35,410 --> 00:41:36,770
that my adaptive cruise control

742
00:41:36,770 --> 00:41:38,253
couldn't handle that much.

743
00:41:41,950 --> 00:41:43,853
And the experiment is over.

744
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,460
So any surprises today?

745
00:41:47,460 --> 00:41:48,370
Yeah, of course there were.

746
00:41:48,370 --> 00:41:49,650
You experienced it yourself.

747
00:41:49,650 --> 00:41:51,540
Yeah, the adaptive cruise control kicked out

748
00:41:51,540 --> 00:41:53,603
and it gave manual control back to me.

749
00:41:57,930 --> 00:42:01,570
Can we look at that one to see what happened?

750
00:42:01,570 --> 00:42:04,583
The steep lines indicate each car's drop in speed.

751
00:42:05,660 --> 00:42:08,523
The steeper the line the harder the braking.

752
00:42:09,490 --> 00:42:11,963
As the computer tries to keep distance.

753
00:42:13,190 --> 00:42:15,930
So here you see lead vehicle,

754
00:42:15,930 --> 00:42:17,280
five mile an hour slow down.

755
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,243
Right, we're all tracking along together,

756
00:42:19,243 --> 00:42:21,030
then the lead vehicle starts to slow down,

757
00:42:21,030 --> 00:42:23,320
and then look how steep they get.

758
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:24,990
Every one of those cars had to slow down

759
00:42:24,990 --> 00:42:26,600
more than the car in front.

760
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,390
That means a small braking event in the front

761
00:42:29,390 --> 00:42:31,883
created a complete stop and go traffic jam.

762
00:42:32,779 --> 00:42:34,550
Until you get to my car in the orange,

763
00:42:34,550 --> 00:42:36,010
and it just drops off

764
00:42:36,010 --> 00:42:38,030
like almost as a wall--
It's like a cliff.

765
00:42:38,030 --> 00:42:39,270
That slow down was so extreme,

766
00:42:39,270 --> 00:42:40,260
by the time it got to you,

767
00:42:40,260 --> 00:42:42,660
your adaptive cruise control kicked out.

768
00:42:42,660 --> 00:42:44,050
So you're still really learning stuff

769
00:42:44,050 --> 00:42:45,000
while you're doing these experiments?

770
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,130
This is just the beginning.

771
00:42:46,130 --> 00:42:49,220
We're gonna allow these cars to start to talk to each other,

772
00:42:49,220 --> 00:42:50,410
so they can coordinate

773
00:42:50,410 --> 00:42:52,560
and actually smooth out these traffic jams.

774
00:42:54,820 --> 00:42:57,400
Meaning traffic congestion could become

775
00:42:57,400 --> 00:42:58,803
a thing of the past.

776
00:43:03,710 --> 00:43:05,280
Do we have the technology to make

777
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:07,470
driverless cars a reality?

778
00:43:07,470 --> 00:43:09,270
Well the answer might lie with a discovery

779
00:43:09,270 --> 00:43:10,870
made by two NASA engineers

780
00:43:10,870 --> 00:43:13,284
back at the beginning of the space race.

781
00:43:13,284 --> 00:43:16,284
(suspenseful music)

782
00:43:18,210 --> 00:43:20,323
It's 1964.

783
00:43:23,450 --> 00:43:25,640
Incredibly, six years after the launch

784
00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:28,590
of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I,

785
00:43:29,660 --> 00:43:32,290
those on the ground still can't precisely

786
00:43:32,290 --> 00:43:33,483
determine its orbit.

787
00:43:37,910 --> 00:43:40,063
Enter physicist Henry Plotkin.

788
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:43,400
Plotkin believes that the answer lies

789
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,713
with a recent invention, the laser.

790
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:50,813
What if they fire a laser from the ground,

791
00:43:51,900 --> 00:43:54,560
aimed at a satellite covered with mirrors,

792
00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:56,720
and measure the time it takes for the laser

793
00:43:56,720 --> 00:43:59,163
to travel up and reflect back to them?

794
00:44:00,470 --> 00:44:02,623
The laser travels at the speed of light.

795
00:44:04,350 --> 00:44:05,750
So if they can precisely measure

796
00:44:05,750 --> 00:44:07,543
the time delay of the beam,

797
00:44:08,650 --> 00:44:10,913
they can calculate the satellite's distance.

798
00:44:12,740 --> 00:44:13,803
But will it work?

799
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:18,723
On Halloween night, 1964,

800
00:44:19,580 --> 00:44:22,453
Plotkin and his team put their theory into practice.

801
00:44:26,100 --> 00:44:30,833
They aim their laser at a test satellite, Explorer 22.

802
00:44:34,700 --> 00:44:37,060
Timing the delay of the reflection

803
00:44:37,060 --> 00:44:38,840
pinpoints the position of the satellite

804
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:40,093
to within 10 feet.

805
00:44:45,700 --> 00:44:48,670
Plotkin demonstrates light detection and ranging,

806
00:44:48,670 --> 00:44:50,180
better known as LIDAR.

807
00:44:50,180 --> 00:44:52,400
At the time, it's a key piece of technology

808
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:53,880
in space exploration.

809
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,834
But today, it might hold the key to autonomous driving.

810
00:44:57,834 --> 00:45:00,417
(bright music)

811
00:45:06,570 --> 00:45:08,380
I'm here in Silicon Valley to look at

812
00:45:08,380 --> 00:45:10,290
a key piece of tech that promises

813
00:45:10,290 --> 00:45:13,493
to get the driverless cars of the future up to speed.

814
00:45:21,491 --> 00:45:22,650
Hi Michael, how you doing?

815
00:45:22,650 --> 00:45:24,270
Hi, Sean, welcome to Velodyne.

816
00:45:24,270 --> 00:45:26,210
Thank you so much man, this is very cool.

817
00:45:26,210 --> 00:45:27,130
What do you have going here?

818
00:45:27,130 --> 00:45:28,980
Let me show you our latest technology.

819
00:45:28,980 --> 00:45:29,813
Please.

820
00:45:29,813 --> 00:45:32,930
On the stand over there is the VLS 128 sensor.

821
00:45:32,930 --> 00:45:34,230
It's a LIDAR sensor.

822
00:45:34,230 --> 00:45:38,510
It has 128 lasers inside a spinning apparatus,

823
00:45:38,510 --> 00:45:41,270
able to scan 360 degrees.

824
00:45:41,270 --> 00:45:42,400
Is that what I'm seeing here?

825
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:46,300
Yes, it's scanning at five to 20 times per second,

826
00:45:46,300 --> 00:45:48,070
and out to 300 meters.

827
00:45:48,070 --> 00:45:51,410
Right, so this sensor is sending out laser pulses,

828
00:45:51,410 --> 00:45:54,110
bouncing off of all the objects in this room here,

829
00:45:54,110 --> 00:45:55,820
including us, including the back wall,

830
00:45:55,820 --> 00:45:57,670
and its then measuring how long

831
00:45:57,670 --> 00:45:59,580
it takes those pulses to come back to the sensor.

832
00:45:59,580 --> 00:46:01,680
And then it gets not only just a picture of the room,

833
00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:04,150
but also a measurement for where everything is.

834
00:46:04,150 --> 00:46:04,983
Pretty precise?

835
00:46:04,983 --> 00:46:07,883
Yes, 2.4 million times per second.

836
00:46:08,782 --> 00:46:10,100
(suspenseful music)

837
00:46:10,100 --> 00:46:13,040
These computer screens visualize how the sensor

838
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:14,603
interprets its environment.

839
00:46:15,810 --> 00:46:19,370
They allow you to enter LIDAR's world.

840
00:46:19,370 --> 00:46:20,470
This is so cool.

841
00:46:20,470 --> 00:46:23,310
So I can really navigate within this 3D world

842
00:46:23,310 --> 00:46:24,830
that's built by the sensor.

843
00:46:24,830 --> 00:46:27,310
In real time.
<v ->In real time.

844
00:46:27,310 --> 00:46:28,900
Look, there's someone walking by.

845
00:46:28,900 --> 00:46:30,380
I can see the lasers hitting them,

846
00:46:30,380 --> 00:46:31,990
and the information that's bouncing back

847
00:46:31,990 --> 00:46:33,640
to the sensors from those lasers.

848
00:46:36,130 --> 00:46:39,850
How is the LIDAR sensor better than the human eye?

849
00:46:39,850 --> 00:46:42,610
The human relies on the available light.

850
00:46:42,610 --> 00:46:45,020
Our LIDAR sensors provide their own light.

851
00:46:45,020 --> 00:46:48,370
It doesn't rely on visible light, this is infrared.

852
00:46:48,370 --> 00:46:50,850
Right, so it can see 360 degrees,

853
00:46:50,850 --> 00:46:54,830
it never blinks, it knows exactly how far things are away,

854
00:46:54,830 --> 00:46:56,130
and it can see in the dark.

855
00:46:56,130 --> 00:46:57,928
Those are four things we can't do.

856
00:46:57,928 --> 00:47:00,350
(suspenseful music)

857
00:47:00,350 --> 00:47:02,130
In a brightly lit office environment

858
00:47:02,130 --> 00:47:04,260
LIDAR is impressive.

859
00:47:04,260 --> 00:47:06,753
But is it really practical out on the road?

860
00:47:09,820 --> 00:47:13,663
Drivers and pedestrians are most vulnerable at night.

861
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:19,590
There's less traffic, but hazards like dazzling headlights,

862
00:47:19,590 --> 00:47:21,210
and pitch black backgrounds

863
00:47:22,310 --> 00:47:25,090
means a high percentage of fatal accidents

864
00:47:25,090 --> 00:47:26,543
occur in the dark.

865
00:47:29,010 --> 00:47:31,410
This car has a human driver.

866
00:47:31,410 --> 00:47:34,280
But on the roof is a LIDAR sensor.

867
00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:36,290
And Michael has set up an experiment

868
00:47:36,290 --> 00:47:38,820
to show me how we might be safer

869
00:47:38,820 --> 00:47:41,823
if a LIDAR linked computer is in control.

870
00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:45,960
All right now look at this, this is amazing.

871
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,400
With this bird's eye view, you can actually see

872
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,210
360 degrees all around the car,

873
00:47:50,210 --> 00:47:52,540
and I can see all through the neighborhood.

874
00:47:52,540 --> 00:47:53,990
I mean I see the parked cars,

875
00:47:53,990 --> 00:47:56,080
I see the tops of the houses, the roofs,

876
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:57,750
the landscaping, the trees.

877
00:47:57,750 --> 00:47:58,890
This is amazing, look at this intersection.

878
00:47:58,890 --> 00:48:01,560
I'm seeing way down the street in both directions,

879
00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:03,710
deep into the pitch black I can see what's down there,

880
00:48:03,710 --> 00:48:05,540
it's open, it's clear.

881
00:48:05,540 --> 00:48:07,570
Can we zoom down now into the car?

882
00:48:07,570 --> 00:48:08,420
Sure.

883
00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:10,553
Whoa!

884
00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:17,520
Feeling like I'm center stage in a sci-fi movie

885
00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:19,310
is a lot of fun,

886
00:48:19,310 --> 00:48:21,693
but LIDAR could be a life saver.

887
00:48:30,780 --> 00:48:33,460
Whoa!
(brakes squealing)

888
00:48:33,460 --> 00:48:34,293
Heads up.
Who is that?

889
00:48:34,293 --> 00:48:36,380
Look at that guy, he's wearing all black,

890
00:48:36,380 --> 00:48:38,530
couldn't see him at all in the nighttime.

891
00:48:38,530 --> 00:48:40,220
He just jumped out.
<v ->Yeah.

892
00:48:40,220 --> 00:48:43,560
You could see him clearly on the LIDAR display.

893
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,340
As soon as he came out from between the parked cars

894
00:48:45,340 --> 00:48:47,000
he just jumped out on the screen.

895
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:50,000
But here in the darkness I couldn't see him for real at all.

896
00:48:52,038 --> 00:48:55,026
(dramatic music)

897
00:48:55,026 --> 00:48:56,300
A situation just like this where you have

898
00:48:56,300 --> 00:48:58,600
a person walking the dark wearing all black,

899
00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:01,090
this is when you want LIDAR onboard.

900
00:49:01,090 --> 00:49:02,740
Both to keep the people in the car safe

901
00:49:02,740 --> 00:49:04,340
and to keep the pedestrian safe.

902
00:49:10,915 --> 00:49:13,240
(Sean grunts)

903
00:49:13,240 --> 00:49:15,460
This is a phenomenal technology.

904
00:49:15,460 --> 00:49:18,030
And it's only getting better every day.

905
00:49:18,030 --> 00:49:21,110
Clearly, self driving cars are coming.

906
00:49:21,110 --> 00:49:22,950
But will they solve the problems of congestion?

907
00:49:22,950 --> 00:49:24,230
Do they really hold the key

908
00:49:24,230 --> 00:49:25,843
to the future of how we move.

909
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:29,210
I don't know, there are some who say

910
00:49:29,210 --> 00:49:31,533
the ultimate answer is to rise above it all.

911
00:49:35,373 --> 00:49:37,956
(gentle music)

912
00:49:56,870 --> 00:49:59,583
So what does the vehicle of the future look like?

913
00:50:03,430 --> 00:50:05,390
Well it could look something like this.

914
00:50:05,390 --> 00:50:06,450
It's kind of a cross between

915
00:50:06,450 --> 00:50:08,543
the family SUV and a helicopter.

916
00:50:12,490 --> 00:50:15,160
It's VTOL, vertical take off and landing.

917
00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:17,270
That means it can come and go in a small footprint.

918
00:50:17,270 --> 00:50:19,090
It can land in a parking space,

919
00:50:19,090 --> 00:50:21,253
on top of a building, in your backyard.

920
00:50:22,470 --> 00:50:23,980
It's got multiple rotors on it.

921
00:50:23,980 --> 00:50:26,260
That gives it precision and stability.

922
00:50:26,260 --> 00:50:28,790
But it also means that it has redundancy, so it's safer.

923
00:50:28,790 --> 00:50:30,690
It can afford to lose a motor or two

924
00:50:30,690 --> 00:50:32,203
and still fly just fine.

925
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:38,133
VTOLs are coming sooner than you might think.

926
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:42,333
Unmanned test flights are already under way.

927
00:50:45,550 --> 00:50:47,590
Refining the technology needed

928
00:50:47,590 --> 00:50:49,380
to lift us into the skies

929
00:50:49,380 --> 00:50:51,403
above our congested cities.

930
00:50:56,890 --> 00:50:58,940
Is this the answer to the traffic jam?

931
00:50:58,940 --> 00:51:00,870
Is this the way we get everybody moving again?

932
00:51:00,870 --> 00:51:03,290
Is this the way we get back up to speed?

933
00:51:03,290 --> 00:51:04,910
Maybe.

934
00:51:04,910 --> 00:51:07,830
And the truth is you probably won't be flying it.

935
00:51:07,830 --> 00:51:10,093
It'll be autonomous, flying via robot.

936
00:51:13,440 --> 00:51:15,823
Getting across town will be a breeze.

937
00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:19,350
Soaring above all the stop lights,

938
00:51:19,350 --> 00:51:22,713
gridlock, and stop and go traffic of the past.

939
00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:30,530
It's easy to imagine a future with swarms

940
00:51:30,530 --> 00:51:33,760
of VTOLs flying through highways in the sky,

941
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:36,213
taking us anywhere we want to go.

942
00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:41,930
Looking back at where we've been,

943
00:51:41,930 --> 00:51:43,913
and looking ahead to where we're going.

944
00:51:46,770 --> 00:51:48,703
I can be sure of this.

945
00:51:49,750 --> 00:51:52,500
Revolutionary technology will accelerate

946
00:51:52,500 --> 00:51:54,973
our next leap in speed.

947
00:51:56,999 --> 00:51:59,832
(dramatic music)