Autonomous Vehicles - Negative impact and Burden
Several barriers hinder the widespread acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). Consumer perception, social influence, system characteristics, geographic and economic factors influence adoption. Some of the key challenges are listed below:
1 - Human behavior: Consumer Trust, Decision making & Control
Humans trusting AVs to execute key decisions may take a longer period. AVs have been in the market for almost a decade with significant hands-free improvements. Yet, we have seen several real-life situations wherein drivers doze off or ignore ongoing traffic needs resulting in manufacturers adding in mandatory check-in every few minutes to ensure drivers are attentive. On the other side, skepticism and reluctance also exist where drivers choose not to trust autonomous mode, thus using these vehicles as traditional driver management.
2 - Actuation
To accomplish level 4 and level 5 (Autonomous)¹ from the current Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) mode, significant enhancements need to be implemented with synchronous integration amongst Lidar, sensors, video units, and the central processing units within each vehicle. Actuation testing² in real-life situations has resulted so far with mixed results, including poor decisions by drivers resulting in a fiery crash to major malfunction impacting drivers and their surroundings.
3 - Computational Resource capabilities & Object Detection efficiency
The majority of AVs being prototyped right now are essentially testing the increased sensor complexity and the software algorithms needed to process a large amount of information coming into the vehicle, make the right decision about what to do, and then action it. This processing requires a substantial amount of software, with the current estimate of 1 billion lines of code to power a full AV. AV also has challenges with skin-tone detection. Dark-skinned pedestrians³ often do not get flagged, which may result in potential accidents.
4 - Extreme weather conditions
AV systems integrate multiple information systems. Navigation is reliant on global positioning systems (GPS), which are supported by a satellite network. However, satellites and radio signals are subject to interference from sunspots. As AVs become a more significant portion of the economy, it is necessary that they have the resilience to operate in extreme conditions⁴.
5 - Price of autonomy
It has been suggested that if produced in 2020, a Level 4 and Level 5 car could cost between an extra $75,000 to $100,000 compared to a regular car⁵. Truthfully, this figure may even be too low as the total cost is likely to exceed $100,000⁶ when considering the number of sensors needed to achieve Level 4 and Level 5 autonomy. To make it affordable for consumers, the price of an AV will need to come down dramatically.
References
[1] SAE international. (2018). SAE International Releases Updated Visual Chart for Its “Levels of Driving Automation” Standard for Self-Driving Vehicles. Sae.org. https://www.sae.org/news/press-room/2018/12/sae-international-releases-updated-visual-chart-for-its-%E2%80%9Clevels-of-driving-automation%E2%80%9D-standard-for-self-driving-vehicles
[2] Saheli Roy Choudhury. (2019, July). Self-driving cars face two important challenges, says World Economic Forum executive. CNBC; CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/01/autonomous-vehicles-face-two-challenges-technology-and-business-model.html
[3] Pinkstone, J. (2019, March 11). Driverless cars are more likely to HIT people with darker skin. Mail Online.
[4] Hoback, A. (2020, April 14). Effect of Space Weather on Autonomous Vehicle Navigation. Www.sae.org. https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2020-01-0140/
[5] 7 key challenges impacting autonomous vehicles. (2019). Arm.com. https://community.arm.com/developer/ip-products/system/b/embedded-blog/posts/7-key-challenges-impacting-the-mass-deployment-of-autonomous-vehicles
[6] Self-Driving Automobiles: How Soon And How Much?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2019/05/21/self-driving-automobiles-how-soon-and-how-much/?sh=6d87d3e38bd2
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