Self Driving Cars: A Brief Introduction
Everything you need to know about the world of self-driving cars
Cars have been getting faster, sleeker, and cooler, but there is only one element of cars that has never changed: the way we drive. Driving has remained the same ever since Karl Benz took his Benz-Patent Motorwagen for a spin back in 1886. However, due to recent technological breakthroughs, the way we drive is about to undergo significant changes. Welcome to the age of Autonomous Vehicles (AV)!
Today, cars include many semi-autonomous features, like adaptive cruise control, forward collision alert, and lane departure warning. Even though these features do not make your car a self-driving car, they classify your car as a Level 1 Self-Driving Car. In fact, there is a system that assesses your car and gives it a level based on the car’s autonomous capabilities (see image below).
Most cars today are either Level 0 or Level 1. Companies like Honda, GM, Ford and Tesla aim to have fully autonomous (Level 4) cars by 2020.
How Self-Driving Cars Work
Now you may be wondering, how exactly does a self-driving car work?. Well, a self-driving car can drive itself using 5 core components: sensor fusion, localization, computer vision, path planning and control.
- Computer Vision is how the car sees the road. It uses cameras to identify lane lines, traffic lights, road signs, cyclists etc.
- Sensor Fusion algorithms combine data from all the sensors (RADAR, LIDAR and cameras) so that the car can understand its environment. LIDAR uses beams of light to create highly accurate 3D, 360-degree maps of the car’s environment. RADAR uses radio waves to create a larger picture of the car’s environment.
- Localization is how the car knows where it is in the world. It uses mathematical algorithms to give the car its exact location with extreme accuracy.
- Path Planning is how the car knows where to go. First, it must analyse its environment and predict what the surrounding vehicles or people are going to do. Then, it must plot a safe path so that it can maneuver safely without causing an accident.
- Control is how the car decides to turn the steering wheel or apply either the brakes or accelerator.
Once you have these 5 key components functioning in harmony, you will have yourself a self-driving car.
Affect on Society
So, now we know how a self-driving car work, but how will self-driving cars affect our society? Self-driving cars will affect our way of life in many ways. Some of these include:
- Accidents on the roads will decrease. Today, approximately 94% of accidents are caused by human error. Self-driving cars hope to significantly reduce this number, or even potentially eliminate all accidents caused by humans.
- Traffic will be nearly non-existent. I’m not exaggerating. In a world where the roads have more autonomous vehicles than regular cars, rush hour traffic will be a thing of the past. This would lead to less time spent on the road, and as a result, people will be much happier and have more time to themselves. According to a study by Mckinsey, autonomous vehicles will give people an extra 50 minutes a day (on average).
- Disabled People will now be able to have their own car, and not have to rely on other people to transport them. Self-driving cars will give them the freedom to go where they want, whenever they want to. This could also apply to old people who are unable to drive, or even to teenagers who don’t have a driver’s license. Yes, they have more freedom, but this could also open up a new set of problems.
- Drivers of all sorts may be at the risk of losing their job. Taxi drivers, truck drivers and delivery agents all have their jobs at risk with the new innovation of AV technology. On the positive side, taxi rides and shipping costs will decrease because the company doesn’t have to factor the driver’s wage in the price.
- The Car Insurance industry will also get affected. If cars are driven by robots, the roads would be significantly safer than they are today (since robots never drink and drive, or use their phones while driving). So if the roads are safe, why would we need insurance? Would this cause insurance prices to drop? Would car insurance completely disappear? Only the future can tell.
There are many more ways that self-driving cars will affect our society, but if I were to list all of them, this would turn into a 30-page essay😂.
“Automated or self-driving vehicles are about to change the way we travel and connect with one another.” (Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Transportation)
Progress in the Industry
Over the past couple decades, there have been many breakthrough inventions that seemed like they were going to be the next big thing, but they never made it into the market (mostly due to lack of funding or lack of research).
In the case of self-driving cars, I can assure you that self-driving car tech is extremely well funded and passionately researched. Today, many car and tech companies have invested millions of dollars into their own AV research or into other promising startups in the AV field. Some of these companies are:
- Uber has a self-driving car research division that is currently valued at $7.3B. They are one of the companies who are at the forefront of this revolution. Uber also has a $300M partnership with Volvo, and a $1B partnership with Toyota to develop their self-driving cars. Uber has plans to create an autonomous vehicle taxi service and hopes to have autonomous taxis in over 13 cities by 2022.
- Waymo was once the Google self-driving car project, but now its a fully-fledged company with a valuation of more than $100B. Like Uber, Waymo is considered one of the “Alpha Dogs” of the self-driving car race. Waymo’s self-driving cars have driven over 10 million miles. Waymo has launched an autonomous taxi service called Waymo One, that is currently operating in Phoenix, Arizona.
- Zoox is an autonomous vehicle startup that was founded in 2014. They are creating an electric Robo taxi that is bio-directional (can change direction without the car having to turn). They are backed very well financially, and they’re planning to launch their Robo taxi service in 2020.
- General Motors is a well-known car manufacturer, but they are also a key player in the self-driving car race. GM has invested billions of dollars into developing self-driving car tech, with its most notable move being the acquisition of Cruise automation in 2016 for $581M. GM also plans to open an autonomous taxi service in 2019.
Problems with Self-Driving Cars
Self-driving cars are one of the coolest inventions ever made (that statement was a tad biased), but there still are some ethical issues with self-driving cars that prevent them from reaching today’s roads. For example:
Say your self-driving car is driving on the highway behind a large truck that is carrying many boxes. To your left, there is an SUV with two people in it and to your right, there is a motorcycle with a single person riding it. Now imagine one of the boxes on the truck breaks off and starts falling towards your car. What must the car do in this situation?
Option 1: Turn left and crash into the SUV with two people
Option 2: Turn right and crash into the motorcycle.
Option 3: Don’t turn and allow the box to fall onto the car.
The correct answer is: we’re still not sure. No one knows what the car must do in a situation like this. Should it crash into the SUV because they have more protection? Should it crash into the motorcycle because it only risks one person getting hurt? Whose fault would it be if someone were to get injured? Ethical problems like this are one of the major issues of self-driving cars.
Article Summary
5 Levels of Autonomy
- Level 0: No autonomy whatsoever
- Level 1: Car has driver assistance systems (ex. Forward Collision alert)
- Level 2: Car can drive itself on highways
- Level 3: Car can drive itself on highways and on main roads
- Level 4: Car can drive itself on highways and on main roads even in intense weather storms.
- Level 5: Car can drive itself on highways and on main roads even in intense weather storms. It can do so anywhere, even if no clear lane lines or traffic signs.
Self-driving cars use LIDAR, RADAR and multiple cameras to create a picture of its environment.
Self-driving cars will benefit disabled people, reduce traffic and accidents
Many huge companies are investing in autonomous vehicle technology, like Uber, Waymo, Zoox and GM.
There are still multiple ethical and legal problems that prevent self-driving car tech from reaching today’s roads.
Conclusion
In conclusion, self-driving cars are an awesome technology that will improve the lives of millions, and provide a useful tool for many companies across the world. However, it’s only a matter of time before we see these vehicles of the future roaming our streets.
