The driverless car still has massive technical hurdles

According to the SAE On-Road Automated Vehicle Standards, there are 5 levels of automatic driving. Most of the vehicles with self-driving status are at level 2, but in 2017, Audi A8 became the first level 3 vehicle with Traffic Jam Pilot which means the driver does not need to focus on controlling the car. However, even the breakthrough product Audi A8 has many requirements to activate Audi AI.

automation drive level

So there still massive technical hurdles between level 2 to level 3 and level 3 to level 4. From level 2 to level 3, how to combine lateral control and longitudinal control is the question we should solve. Those two technologies are universal in the car we drive daily, but it is not easy to safely combine them. And, from level 3 to level 4, how to increase the accuracy of vehicle detection system and how the autopilot system handling emergencies are the challenges we meet.

when vehicle detection system malfunction

In my opinion, as the development of Machine Learning and Neural Network, the accuracy of the system can be quickly improved. If we solve those problems, our future automated vehicle will become cheap and safe.

[1]. SAE On-Road Automated Vehicle Standards Committee. Taxonomy and definitions for terms related to on-road motor vehicle automated driving systems[J]. SAE Standard J, 2014, 3016: 1–16.

[2]. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltaylor/2017/09/10/tthe-level-3-audi-a8-will-almost-be-the-most-important-car-in-the-world/#720eb096fb3d

[3]. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/01/business/inside-tesla-accident.html