Andrew Ogawa says he is excited about self-driving car technology after getting his first ride in an autonomous vehicle Sunday.

"It was pretty cool," the 42-year-old Rochester resident said. "I think it can provide a lot safer conditions for drivers, since they will no longer be driving. It can unclog... the roads and traffic, so I think that'll be good."

Ogawa was among more than 500 people who took a free spin in an autonomous vehicle on an oval track set up inside Hall B at Cobo Center in downtown Detroit at part of a Society of Automotive Engineers Demo Days over the weekend.

Although the self-driving car moved a bit slow on the large, indoor track and seemed "a little jerky" when coming up to obstacles, Ogawa said the experience felt pretty close to riding in a car with a human driver.

Brian Sedik, 64, of Shelby Township, echoed Ogawa's thoughts about the slow-moving, jerky ride, but called autonomous vehicles "a wave of the future." He believes they could save lives.

"I think it's valuable from the standpoint of time saving and I mean you'd be able to do work, you'd be able to read a book, you'd be able to do any number of things while you're traveling," he said.

"I just got back from Washington, D.C., and it was crazy driving just in traffic. There are people cutting you off and this and that. I think a lot of this is going to eliminate it."

Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) partnered with the SAE to host the three days of demonstrations.

PAVE Coalition Manager Tara Andringa said the event was meant to answer questions people might have and demystify the developing technology by giving the public the opportunity to experience a self-driving car firsthand.

Participants were also asked to take pre- and post-ride surveys to share their observations, whether or not they learned new things from the experience, and if it changed their thinking about autonomous technology in any way.

The ride

Two cars, a Lincoln MKZ and Chrysler Pacifica, provided by Rochester Hills-based Dataspeed Inc., were available for participants.

Inside the autonomous Lincoln MKZ, a monitor displaying a view of the car's route, was on the center console.

Brian Neumeyer, a Dataspeed Inc. mechanical engineer, sat in the driver's seat for the demonstration and said that he would take over controls if an intervention was necessary. He explained the car's functions and processes as it traversed the track.

"It is a research and development vehicle not available to the public, but that's why we do research and development, so that one day it will be," he said.

The demonstration was mostly autonomous, but there were two teleop (remote operation) portions, in which a backseat passenger — equipped with monitors and a steering system of their own — could take control of the car.

As Neumeyer took the car out of park and enabled autonomous mode, the car shifted to drive and the wheel began to steer on its own as the car set off on the route. The teleop steering wheel in the back mimicked the car's main steering wheel.

Neumeyer explained how a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor on top of the vehicle was using infrared light to detect its surroundings and any vehicles.

"With the LiDAR, we create a map of the area we're driving through. ... On the map, we put different features that are important, such as the stop sign here," he said as the car halted.

Neumeyer added that speed limits for the different sections of the course are identified in the car's map.

"Kind of like (how) Google Maps knows the speed limits in different areas, so does our car," he said.

An electric car acting as an obstacle for the autonomous vehicle on the track then suddenly crossed the car's path, but the cars did not collide. Neumeyet said the LiDAR sensor identified the object and stopped the autonomous vehicle.

"I did not brake, the car is completely in control of the gas and brake," he said.

That teleop, or remote operations, mode was used in parts of the demonstration in which the car was taken off its planned route and a scenario was played out in which one of the car's sensors needed repair.

"Whenever the vehicle encounters a situation that it's unfamiliar with, such as a part of the road, one possible way to get around that is to have a remote driver connect to the vehicle by internet, 5G, something similar like that, and take over to guide the vehicle through that section," he said.

Someone can connect to the car and control it from within the car or as far away as "California, Texas or New York," Neumeyer said.

He said there are multiple levels of security in place. "And, you'd be connected just to your car. So, only the call center would have access to your vehicle."

Neumeyer said if a sensor needs diagnostics, a remote driver can take control of the car while an engineer does remote maintenance — so the car doesn't have to stop, because an engineer can connect with the vehicle "over the air" and identify or correct any problems.

What makes this possible

David Agnew, vice president of business development for Dataspeed, Inc., said they've been working on autonomous development platforms for about three years now, but prepped the cars for the demos with additional software and route planning.

"The base engineering for these cars was done a couple years ago — except for the Pacifica. That's a new product for us, we finished that about six months ago," he said.

Agnew explained that when folks first get their driver's licenses they're often taught that they're in control and always responsible for their car, which he said is often a level 1 or level 2 vehicle.

"Level 3 is the first time when there's a moment that someone's gonna say, in this car, you don't have to be paying attention anymore. You're not driving," he said.

Agnew explained that autonomous vehicles in development are currently in-between Level 2 and Level 3 — they can operate on the road, but passengers can't take their eyes off the road.

"It's just like cruise control that you're used to. You're responsible for that," Agnew said.

"The biggest thing with... getting to that Level 3, 4 or 5, where you don't have to pay attention anymore, those aren't available yet."

Agnew explained that in order to reach those levels, autonomous vehicles need to get to the point where they are driving just as safely, or better, than human drivers.

"One of the key milestones yet in development, is getting them to where they can go a billion miles without having a fatal accident."

Dataspeed, Inc. sells basic platforms to companies developing autonomous vehicles, and Agnew said that while they have about 100 customers around the world, most of them are startup companies in Silicon Valley.

"They need a vehicle that they can control the steering, the brakes and the throttle. That's what we give them, and then they put their computing on top of it," he said.

As for the autonomous vehicle's primary sensor, Brandon Jacques, a Velodyne LiDAR solutions engineer on-site, said the LiDAR sensor on top of the cars uses light to determine how far away something is and creates a 3D image.

"Basically, we refer to this as 'the eyes of the vehicle,'" he said, adding that currently the longest range they have on any of their sensors is 300 meters.

Mary Moore, strategic marketing director at SAE International, said the upcoming World Congress Experience, or WCX, from April 9-11 at Cobo Center is expected to bring in around 10,000 attendees focused on the technical side of the industry.

More on freep.com:

Get a free ride in a self-driving car this weekend in Detroit

GM's first autonomous car heads to Henry Ford Museum

Contact Aleanna Siacon: ASiacon@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AleannaSiacon.