Autonomous driving aid systems have come a long way in recent years. Ranging from simple self-parking systems to fully autonomous testing vehicles. SAE International describes autonomous driving systems in six levels: No Automation (Level 0), Driver  Assistance  (Level 1) – such as auto-braking systems --, Partial Automation (Level 2) – such as lane keeping assistance --, Conditional Automation (Level 3) – ‘Fully’ autonomous but requires the driver to intervene in certain situations --, High Automation (Level 4) – meaning that the system will perform even when the driver does not respond to the intervene request --, and last, Full Automation (Level 5) – meaning that the driver does not have to aid the system.

Looking at every day passenger cars available on the market, most of them have at least the option of autonomous braking, parking or lane-keeping – i.e. Level 1, 2 or 3 depending on the combination of systems and their design. For example, Tesla Autopilot or Volvo Lane Keep Assist provide ‘autonomous’ driving in some conditions. However, the driver ultimately has the responsibility and is required to act when the system gives an alert. Thus, making these systems merely a driver aid rather than a complete autopilot. On a side note, I would argue that Tesla naming their driving aid system as autopilot is rather controversial, as it gives the impression that the car will be able to handle everything itself. This might cause some trouble for uninformed drivers, since they might rely too much upon the system.

More advanced solutions exist today, but mainly for testing purposes. An interesting example of this is the Wepods shuttle buses in Gelderland, Netherlands. This project is already underway and the shuttle buses are open for the public. The shuttles, in comparison to other similar projects, drive along with regular traffic and drive passengers between the Ede-Wageningen railway station and the WUR university campus.

I believe that these kinds of shuttle services, taxi and car-pooling is the best way to integrate autonomous car into today’s society. The public transport of today, at least where I live, is quite well-functioning as it is right now, but autonomously driven buses could improve the working ways of our public transport. Firstly, they would enable 24/7 bus traffic without any real hassle regarding driver fatigue and the like. It would also enable the buses to be designed in such a way as to maximize the passenger space, resulting in more passengers per trip. Of course, this also requires the electrification of such busses.

Along with improved public transport, transportation of goods could also be improved greatly by the implementation of driverless trucks. While the package delivery services from, for example DHL or UPS, are very quick and the packages usually get delivered within a few days no matter where it started, they could still benefit from driverless trucks and other sorts of transportation systems. Since the truck driver is eliminated from the equation, truck manufacturers would design the truck to maximize the cargo space. Thus, more packages per truck and no driver involved could reduce shipping costs by a large margin. Furthermore, it would also allow the trucks to run around the clock, resulting in overnight transports being highly effective and efficient.  


Comments

  1. Thank you for your in-depth introduction. The Wepods shuttle buses sound interesting! - The CDIO Academy Team

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