Tag: Automotive

If you think about it, we have been using autonomous vehicles for years. You probably only have to go as far as your nearest airport to see the proof. The commercial aircrafts being boarded will spend most of the journey flying on autopilot. And depending on the airport, the shuttles transporting people to the planes could very well be driverless. Some people even have self-driving vehicles navigating around their homes – in the shape of robot vacuum cleaners.

But in terms of autonomy, the ultimate prize has yet to be claimed. In a world of autonomous vehicles – the personal car is the holy grail. In recent years, the development of autonomous cars has evolved into a full-fledged race, with car manufacturers investing immense amounts of time and money into getting to be the first to make an age-long dream come true.

But how close are we really to seeing roads filled with self-driving cars? Let’s take a closer look at how far development has come and when, if ever, fully autonomous cars will be ready to take their place on the throne.

Where we’ve been 

Believe it or not, but the first step towards autonomous cars might have been taken over 500 years ago, by Leonardo da Vinci. In a sketch from the late 1400s, he designed a cart built around a large coiled clockwork that would allow the cart to move without being pushed or pulled. But as far as we know, his self-driving cart was never actually built.

Fast forward a few centuries. The last hundred years has seen many experiments with autonomy, and exactly when and where the first self-driving car was developed is really a matter of definition.

But a big step forward was taken when the first autonomous car system using neural networks was created by researchers Dean Pomerleau and Todd Jochem at Carnegie Mellon University in the early 90s. And in 1995, their Navlab drove coast-to-coast from Pittsburgh to San Diego, with its inventors only controlling the vehicle’s speed and braking.

But the autonomous cars developed by researchers or automotive pioneers have been far from commercially available for personal use. Up until very recently, the self-driving car was either subject to science fiction novels or research experiments. It was only about 20 years ago that cars at Level 1 autonomy with park assist or adaptive cruise control functions started popping up in the premium segment. But in the last decade, car manufacturers have put in a higher gear and development seems to be picking up speed in a way we’ve never seen before.

Where we are

If you like to keep up with automotive news, you’ve likely seen a growing number of innovative car manufacturers trying to break each other with bold statements about when they are planning to put driverless cars on the market. The timeline given is usually within just a few years. But for all the ambitious promises of OEMs, most of the cars we see on the roads are still limited to Level 1 automation.

Meanwhile, a fair amount of new car models are earning the definition semi-autonomous. These include Level 2 autonomous functions, like automatic steering, acceleration, braking and speed maintenance. The problem is that several of these models are sometimes labeled as autonomous, giving drivers a false sense of security and causing them to lose focus behind the wheel. As long as the systems require an attentive driver to be able to regain control of the car at any moment, driver monitoring systems should count as a mandatory feature in order to keep semi-autonomous cars safe. And from the looks of it, semi-autonomous cars will dominate the market for a long time to come.

Where we’re going

Truth to be told, there is no saying when fully autonomous personal cars will be available for mass-production. Some even claim it’s a question of “if”, rather than “when”. But with so many world-leading car manufacturers and developers deeply invested in making the dream a reality, it’s getting easier to imagine a not-so-distant future where fully autonomous cars rule. So, what would that future look like?

First of all, most people probably wouldn’t own a car. Instead, we would be getting where we need to go by ordering a driverless transport car – smoothly taking us from point A to point B while giving us the opportunity to answer a few e-mails, read a book or take a nap. Meanwhile, the reduced number of cars would have a positive impact on the environment by both reducing CO2 emissions and allowing for greener, less car-oriented urban areas. But perhaps most importantly, a world with driverless cars would eliminate the risk for human error when driving. This would most likely be enough to avoid 90% of car accidents – saving the lives of millions.

But if there’s no need for a human driver, is there really a need for a driver monitoring system? Well, yes. But its main purpose would shift from making sure the driver is engaged, to creating an overall better cabin experience. Driver monitoring systems will evolve into interior sensing systems, with the ability to recognize and cater to the passengers’ moods and needs.

Picture the future. Maybe you’re seeing a place where cars float through the sky, food comes in the shape of little pills and the only color available seems to be silver. This well-known image of life in a futuristic city tends to be ingrained in our minds. But as we keep improving on our increasingly advanced technologies, a different vision is starting to take form.

It’s no secret that the car industry is in love with the idea of autonomous vehicles. And it isn’t hard to understand why – a car driving by itself feels like something straight out of science fiction. But once you consider just how much our lives revolve around our cars, the idea of autonomous vehicles expands to something much bigger than a technological achievement. It becomes something that could completely change our cities, our homes and our habits. And even though we can’t say for sure how far off these changes could be, there are those who believe the majority of all newly-produced cars will be autonomous as soon as 2040. These are five ways we believe autonomous cars would make a difference in our everyday lives.

1. Get shared custody of your car
This point might seem a little disheartening to those of us who treat our cars like a member of the family. But once self-driving cars take over, many are bound to find their garages suddenly gaping empty. With autonomous ride-sharing or taxi services available in the blink of an eye, there just won’t be any practical reason for most people to own their own car. Paying for access to a fleet of autonomous cars won’t just be considerably cheaper, but much less of a hassle.

Chances are only true car enthusiasts will own their car just for the sake of owning it. For them, driving will first and foremost be a hobby. When buying an autonomous car, the steering wheel will be sold as an optional accessory.

2. Cities made for people – not for cars
An obvious consequence of more people sharing fewer cars is that the total number of cars crowding urban areas will go down. But have you thought about just how much our cities are adapted to people driving cars?

Let’s start with all that parking space. A self-driving car can drop its passengers off at their destination, before seeing itself out of the city area to a more remote parking spot – where it just so happens to park itself perfectly. Parking tickets will soon join large parking garages in our memory of cities past.

And since autonomous cars can be made to be more precise in their driving than human-driven cars, the roads can be built narrower to make way for pedestrians and cyclists. With less traffic, our concrete jungles are free to become greener, cleaner places for human interaction and recreation.

3. Reducing the carbon tire print
Once again, fewer cars will cater to more people. And in this case, sharing is caring – about our planet. According to statistics from EPA, transports currently amount for almost 30 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. So, cutting down on the number of cars, combined with the efficiency of autonomous cars, would no doubt reduce our carbon footprint. Add the electrification of the remaining cars, and we could really make a difference.

In another win for the environment, autonomous cars could very well replace domestic and short-haul flights. Imagine heading to the airport, going through security, check-in and boarding only to be put in a seat with minimal leg space next to a crying baby. Now imagine simply ordering an electric, overnight-car to your front door and letting it smoothly take you where you need to go while you sleep soundly in the backseat. Saving the planet suddenly got a lot easier.

4. Make your commute count
Once we take driving out of the equation, the car might feel more like a second living room than a mean of transport. With the help of AI-powered interior sensing systems, the car will be able to scan and recognize the car’s occupants. Over time, it will get to know their preferences, moods and needs. And with a system determined to make your ride as comfortable and enjoyable as possible, that time-consuming commute to work could start feeling like a breeze.

Once you stop feeling like the time spent in your cars is time wasted, a long commute will feel like less of an obstacle. This will likely make people more open to settling down further away from large cities, paving the way for more vibrant rural areas and less crowding in the cities.

5. Lifesaving technologies
Of course, everything else seems a bit trivial when compared to the effects autonomous cars are predicted to have on road safety. 1.35 million people currently lose their lives to road crashes every year, and a staggering 93 percent of accidents are caused by human error. By removing the driver, we will be able to save thousands, if not millions, of lives.

But even though autonomous cars will be many times safer than human-driven cars, there is no way to completely eliminate the risk of accidents. Autonomous cars will still need effective security features, and interior sensing systems will be essential for keeping passengers safe. By inspecting the condition of the car, the system would be able to discover technical malfunctions before they cause any danger. And by scanning the positions and states of the passengers, it would guarantee that security functions are able to adapt to the situation at hand.