Self-driving vehicles are also known as semi-autonomous or autonomous vehicles, as well as driver-less vehicles. The Society of Automotive Engineering; SAE; developed 6 levels of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles numbered 0-J3016 . These levels explain the difference from level 0 up to level 5, and how much is automated in the system. These levels are for automakers, suppliers, and policy makers to use to classify a systems sophistication.
Level 0 means no action, there is no autonomous action; the driver does the breaking, accelerating and negotiating traffic. For example: 1967 Porsche 911 and the 2018 Kia Rio. Level 1 is driver assistance, the car can control either the speed or the steering but not at the same time. The driver performs all the other driving and full responsibilities of monitoring the road and taking over when assisting systems fail to operate properly; for example: adaptive cruise control. Level 2 is partial autonomy, the system can steer, accelerate and break in certain circumstances. Tactical maneuvers deal with responding to traffic signals or changing lanes along with scanning the road for hazards. Such systems are in the Audi Traffic Jam Assist, Cadillac Super Cruise, Mercedes Driver Assistance System, Tesla Autopilot and Volvo Pilot Assist. Level 3 is Conditional Autonomous; the system allows the car to operate without human input or oversight.
The drivers must be able to take over at anyi time, such cars are the Audi Traffic Jam Pilot. Level 4 is High Action, The cars system can operate without human input or oversight only when under conditions such as road type or geographical area. There might not be any shared driver involvement if the area is restricted to a defined area. In a privately owned level 4 car, the driver might manage all driving duties on surface streets then become a passenger when the car enters a highway. An example of this level is googles now defunct Firefly pod-car prototype, which had no pedals or steering wheel and was restricted to 25 mph. The last level is Full Autonomous, the driverless car is ab le to operate on any road and in any conditions. A driver could negotiate, the only involvement for the driver is to enter the destination. So far this isn’t available; but waymo; googles formerly driverless car project is using a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica hybrids to develop its level 5 technology for production. On the future front, Lexus has a self-driving car to hit roads at the Olympics in Tokyo this summer.
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The semi-autonomous cars began in the 1920’s when the first radio controlled car was designed. In the following decades these fairly autonomous electric cars have been powered by embedded circuits in the road. By the 1960’s the autonomous cars have similar electric guide systems that came into the public’s eye. A technological milestone in the 1980’s saw vision guided autonomous vehicles. Similar modified forms of vision and radar guided technologies.
Safety should be improved by the semi-autonomous and autonomous cars. Public opinions dating back to the 1960’s seem to think taking humans out of the equation could save lives. Transport and Road Research Lab estimated anything could prevent 40% of accidents. A more recent report from American Personal Injury Law Firm; Cooney and Conway; in 2017 proposed driverless cars could stop 90% of the accidents and save around 300,000 lives per decade, cut $871 billion in costs from road traffic accidents. These cars have already helped to save lines with anti-lock-Analysts breaking systems in level 0. Analysts from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA), shows that in level 2 cars by Tesla’s autopilot equipped vehicles that follow the roads but can’t navigate, deployed their air bags once every 1.3 million miles. Non-autopilot cars did so every 800,000 miles.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), “self- driving cars have the potential in the future to reduce lives and injuries especially when the cause is distracted driving. The HECC also clarifies, “self-driving cars are projected to reduce traffic deaths by 90% saving 30,000 lives a year, autonomous cars can alleviate traffic, lessen accidents and help with pollution.” Automakers like Lexus and Volkswagen are seeing 2021 as the earliest date for rolling out autonomous cars. Advantages for the business world is that these cars can be driven all day with delivery robots picking up orders and delivering packages. This saves the environment on emissions and will help the huge pollution here in the United States.
Semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles in the military have been used as far back as World War 1, and this technology has exploded since then. In the present time Howe and Howe Technologies are developing for the military’s light tanks such as the Ripsaw MS1. The Gentry UGV, which is a Guardium, developed by G-NIUS, is an unmanned vehicle used to guard against invaders. The UGV can also be used in the auto mode or tele-operated mode. These two modes can be used without any human interaction. The remotely controlled all-electric electric robot is used for locating, handling and destroying hazardous objects. The DRDO Daksh is fully operational right now, keeping soldiers safe.
The semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles still have a ways to go,. Googles AV vehicle uses LIDAR lasers as sensors and cameras to see. The vehicles still have problems with bridges, in inclement weather, and on high speed freeways. With all the benefits that the semi-autonomous and autonomous cars can give us, it is still up in the air who is responsible when there are accidents. Even though many feel that when we take the human error there are still reported accidents and fatalities. Right now there is currently not a law saying who is liable. Many legal experts believe that the autonomous vehicles liability will go to the manufacturers. Many feel that because the safety will be so much better it must be a glitch in the system. At the present Google is working on perfecting their cars before bringing them to the masses; other brands like BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, and Tesla are offering models with semi-autonomous cruise controls; many have said it is “glorified cruise control.”
With semi-autonomous still considered experimental, drivers are still required to maintain control of the car. Which means the driver is still reliable in a collision. New laws will still need to be passed once we get to the full autonomous stage. Google documents every step by a self-driving car project monthly report, available to the public.
Esurance has made a table about distracted driving. This report shows why it is a good ideal to have semi-autonomous or autonomous cars. The report shows that drivers browse apps at a percentage of 92%, while texting and e-mailing came in a percentage point behind. That is astonishing that the percentage is that high and that that many people are typing while driving. One would think that more people would be talking and using their GPS navigation system which came in at 54 and 47% respectively. Coming in in the 30 percent tile is eating and changing the music 30 and 39%. In-car warning sounds and talking to passengers close up the percentage graph with 29 and 21percent respectively.
Another report done by Esurance is the study between distracted and rarely distracted drivers; 59% of rarely distracted drivers still are talking on their phones and at least texting and e-mailing are down to 10%. These drivers, these rarely distracted drivers use their GPS navigation system a whopping 77%. Even though drivers know what could happen, they still use their electronics. One would think that the more technology a car has the more attentive the driver would be, but more drivers even disable their new technology. One instance is a pregnant woman who narrowly missed having an accident due to her auto brank. While studies show some drivers are actually disabling their features.
So, it has been said that by 2021, 2025 and beyond we will have full autonomous cars, lots of work will have to be done to work out the glitches in the systems, new laws will have to be made to determine who will have to take responsibility for the problems that surely will happen.
