Guanjia Wang
Sep 6, 2018 · 2 min read

Signal 1: Autonomous Vehicle and Where We At

https://www.techemergence.com/self-driving-car-timeline-themselves-top-11-automakers/

Technology has got to the point where autonomous vehicle is finally not a myth any more, companies like Tesla has already implemented a portion of autonomous driving technology to their commercial products. But before getting a hyped about this, I think it is worth taking time to look at this chart provided by SAE International that summarizes the level of automation.

Source: SAE International — Levels of Driving Automation
  • Level 1 automation some small steering or acceleration tasks are performed by the car without human intervention, but everything else is fully under human control
  • Level 2 automation is like advance cruise control or original autopilot system on some Tesla vehicles, the car can automatically take safety actions but the driver needs to stay alert at the wheel
  • Level 3 automation still requires a human driver, but the human is able to put some “safety-critical functions” to the vehicle, under certain traffic or environmental conditions. This poses some potential dangers as humans pass the major tasks of driving to or from the car itself, which is why some car companies (Ford included) are interested in jumping directly to level 4
  • Level 4 automation is a car that can drive itself almost all the time without any human input, but might be programmed not to drive in unmapped areas or during severe weather. This is a car you could sleep in.
  • Level 5 automation means full automation in all conditions

So currently we sit at the level 3 automation with Tesla being the pioneer, and according to the timeline provided by techemergence.com, most companies are looking forward to reach level 4 by 2021. In my opinion, we wouldn’t be too far away from level 4 automation if we pass the law to allow autonomous vehicle to run legally on any roads and reduce the cost of autonomous vehicles’ prices to the point where everyone could afford one in order to eventually replace all human drivers. Because if there is anything that could cause autopilot to go wrong, it would be the other human drivers who change lanes too suddenly.

Replacing all human drivers, or to come up with a algorithm smart enough to react to literally ALL road conditions, there is a long way to go, either way.

Civic Analytics 2018

NYU CUSP

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