The University of Oxford is working on an autonomous navigation system that takes in information from onboard sensors, radar, cameras, lasers and Internet servers.
Volvo also is working on autonomous cars and already offers, in its S60 sedan, sophisticated options such as pedestrian detection and collision warning, both with full automatic braking.
It is no coincidence that some of the top engineers working on the firm's robocar project have also participated in autonomous-vehicle RACES funded by a research arm of America's military.