Which languages would be best for programming autonomous systems (e.g. autonomous cars)?

Question

I would like to build my own little autonomous car with some very basic features. Which programming language would be best to learn to realize this project?

Answer 1

I agree that c/c++ would be great for it. Some reasons would be:
- Compiles to native machine code which means it runs more efficiently than languages that don't like Python, Java
- c++ is one of the languages supported by OpenCV.
- c and c++ have compilers for embedded devices so it is the best language if you want all of your project's code to look similar.

Some tools you might want to look at are RobotOS(ROS) and a driving simulator.

I created a standalone simulator for autonomously controlled miniature cars at https://github.com/joshi1983/IARRCSim It deploys as a web application and you'd connect to its HTTP-based API's to read sensor data and control a simulated car. The sensors include camera, GPS, Lidar, and ultrasonic depth sensors.

Answer 2

I would think the main unit/computer has the logic built in C/C++.