Experiments in Autonomous Vehicles

A little-known story from my little book of little-known facts and stories.
By Richard Delaloye

Bartlesville has a long and well-known history as a leader in the invention and development of products and services in the Oil and Gas Industry. Phillips 66, Reda Pump, Cities Service, Price Pipeline are a few of these companies. However, a “company” is composed of people who are empowered to act on their ideas and visions by the senior management of those companies. We should however remember the independent individuals who also act on their visions and ideas without the support and resources of a company or organization. One example from the spring of 1970 is still fresh in my memory……
• Who
o Dr. Dale Smith and Gary Howard
• What
o Early experiment with a self-driving car
• When
o Late one spring evening in 1970
• Where
o Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church parking lot
• Why
o Failure of the ignition switch
or
o Failure of the ignition solenoid
And
o Failure to set the parking brake
• Car
o A very clean and good-looking tan over brown 1957 2 door Ford Fairlane with a 292 V8 and a 3-speed manual transmission. In addition, the car had recently been through a tune-up in the Sooner High School auto shop and would quickly start once the starter was engaged.

Details – Dr. Dale Smith was the key sponsor and primary supporter of Sing Out Bartlesville, a local associate of the Up With People organization. A practice session had ended, the musicians with their instruments and most of the choir and soloists had left. Dr. Smith had locked up the church and the remaining few members (including Gary Howard and myself) were ready to depart. However, the starter in Dr. Smith’s car would not engage. Gary and I volunteered to assist with troubleshooting or if needed push starting his car. As I remember it, the car was parked in the middle of the car park. The three of us were troubleshooting the problem and had narrowed the problem down to a faulty ignition switch or starting solenoid. Gary was very knowledgeable on electrical issues (remember, he headed up the Sing Out Bartlesville stage crew which included lighting and sound) and knew how to bypass the ignition switch and starter solenoid. The ignition switch was on, the driver’s side door was open, the transmission was in reverse and the choke (with fast idle was set). The hood was open, Dr.Smith and I were watching, and Gary said “here, hold my beer Coke”. Gary next pulled a screwdriver from his tool kit and shorted the starter solenoid 12 V terminal across to the starter holding coil terminal. Our troubleshooting was spot on, the starter engaged, the engine immediately started and remained running even after the starter disengaged.

The Rest of the Story – With the transmission in reverse, with the ignition switch in the run position and with the parking brake not set the car was now off and running in reverse in self-drive mode. The church parking lot had several rows of cement chock blocks and as the car crossed over the center row of chocks the front wheels were kicked to the full lock (turn) position. We now had a self-driving car backing around the parking lot in reverse in circles. Each time the car bounced over the center row of chocks it would move just a bit to the West and closer to the church. Both Gary and I attempted to run with the car and pull ourselves into the driver’s seat however we were unable to match the car speed. Dr. Dale called us back and told us that our safety and wellbeing was more important than regaining control of the car. Around and around the car went slowly moving closer and closer to the church. At one point a Police car and officer arrived and watched for a while before leaving, I do not remember the officer interacting with any of us. Eventually the open door began to drag against the church. With each circuit the door strike to the building was a bit more solid. Eventually the door hinges failed, and the door was folded back against the front fender, the car continued to circle the lot. Finally the car moved close enough to the building that the front wheels straightened out, the car was parallel to the building and then traveled parallel to the building for approximately 30 feet before the rear bumper rode up the guy line of a power pole. With the rear wheel up off the pavement all movement stopped. However, the well-tuned engine continued to run. We were now able to open the passenger side door, climb in and turn the ignition switch off. I should add that the soundtrack included the calliope of the engine up on fast idle with the hood open, the clatter of the suspension and tires each time the car made another lap and finally the screech of sheet metal tearing each time the door struck the church. The Grand Finale was the sound of the car broadsiding the church and then climbing the power pole guy line followed by dead silence once the engine was shut off.
To the best of my knowledge this was the end of the project and no further development work was carried out. No injuries (thankfully), no major building damage but one very nice car destroyed. So, there you have it, an early experiment with a self-driving car in Bartlesville.
To tell the story today it is hilarious. At the time however it was both hilarious and sobering. The risk of injury or death was high. Thankfully the parking lot was empty of both other vehicles and people. The car probably circled the lot for 10 or more minutes. I suspect that Dr. Dale had only liability insurance and had to replace the car (a very nice one at that) at his expense. All of us were VERY fortunate.