Creating a safe and reliable autonomous vehicle or AV would indeed be an immensely achievable landmark for humankind. The AV race is on with Ford, Tesla, Apple, Renault, Uber, and many other automakers competing for technical expertise and becoming the “first” to launch. That last five to ten percent of the journey, though, appears to be somewhat elusive, and that is why driverless cars are not yet here.
Here are some of the reasons that achieving this dream has proven to be somewhat tricky.
Architectures Must Be Real-Time and Expandable
The manufacturing and design system must be in real-time and pro-active. It will require an artificial intelligence or AI network-based system with flexible architectures. These architectures will offer networks of high performance in functional departments, connected to a speedy data back end structure. Complete cybersecurity, though, appears to be one hurdle that has not yet been achieved. The more complex the system, the more difficult it will be to build, control, protect, and maintain.
The Demand for High-Speed Data Will Surely Grow
Autonomous cars will require complicated and complex systems comprising computers that offer superior and an improving measure of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) sensors, including mono cameras, Radars, LIDAR, and listening sensors, etc. All of these systems will need complex electronic help, including cable assemblies, links, and connections.
The inward piece of the driverless vehicle will make use of data nodes with information streams running in equal ways. They will be masterminded in changed systems with an adequate edge to guarantee the vehicle makes the correct choices. The makers of these vehicles will be required to improve transfer speeds to highlight point information pipes and dispersed system structures that fulfill the most recent required needs.
For example, when Level 5 (completely autonomous) vehicles are in use, they will send 25 gigabytes of the information every hour to the cloud-based framework. This amount of data is equal to 1250 hours of browsing by people operating phones or computers.
Outer Connectivity for Security and Other Applications
V2X interchanges utilize radio-based correspondence and sensor innovation. Vehicle sensors help vehicle frameworks to cooperate with their quick environmental factors. Whereas radio systems allow vehicles to exchange information with other vehicles and traffic signals, signs, and tolls. This feature will allow the system to actively communicate their state and change conditions according to the surroundings.
Accordingly, a light communicates and indicates a change from red to green, and a traffic sign indicates the next turn is 4 miles (6.44 km) ahead. These kinds of features will make driving safe and secure. Information regarding driving conditions like icy roads ahead, traffic slowdowns, and geofenced cybersecurity concerns can enable vehicles to communicate and make automated decisions such as shifting to a different route. Automated systems should be capable of making decisions in seconds, just like humans.
Recent cellular radio standards such as LTE have a latency of around 30-40 milliseconds, which makes it an alarming situation for driverless vehicles. 5G mobile communication will provide higher data rates of around 10 GBP with less latency than LTE, making it suitable for real-time safety applications.
5G has not yet been implemented and government regulators are fighting over spectrum use. Also, the physical infrastructure to complement V2V technology is only in the experimental stages in several cities and rural areas around the world. Unclear if money will be available to broaden V2V accessibility in the near future when many rural areas do not yet have broadband access and infrastructure funding for road maintenance and construction is the current priority.
The Reliability and Driving Quality Are Non-Negotiable
Data transmission and sensing for AVs absolutely without a doubt has to be 100 percent reliable. The public has to be assured that interior vehicle connectivity doesn’t drop due to adverse road conditions and road obstacles. This 100 percent reliability can only be achieved by using highly robust automotive-grade connectivity systems, offered by experienced suppliers with expertise in engineering and material science fields. Testing, testing, and more testing will also need to meet rigorous standards for sensors, data transmission, and cybersecurity. Then the public will need to be convinced that reliability is 100 percent safe.
Autonomous and Connected Cars Will Require the Latest and Advanced Safety Approach
As human lives will depend on these driverless cars, automakers will be required to provide an extraordinary level of safety measures and precautions. It is absolutely essential to make sure that data streams are safely transported by taking necessary safety steps and provide the highest possible data security networks.
Suppliers must utilize in-vehicle networks based on global automotive Ethernet standards that would encrypt data for securing networks. Adapting these standards would protect AVs from being hacked or remotely controlled by unauthorized access.
Next-Generation Cars Will Require Advanced Solutions
As AVs will utilize sophisticated architectures and systems, manufacturers will be required to design automotive grade and immensely integrated connectivity solutions. As links increase, actuators and sensors will become smaller. The automotive Ethernet allows manufacturers to deliver data and power over a single pair of wires. Manufacturers also have to identify and meet the population and moisture tolerance for systems. Again, with complexity comes more problems, and those might not be worked for a long time.
Final Thoughts
These six major considerations of Autonomous driving are likely just a shortlist of many issues the auto industry will need to utilize to gain the public trust. In the end, driverless vehicles should be safer than human-driven vehicles for them to gain wide-spread acceptance. Even though automakers are competitive, it will take all of them to use the same standards to make sure vehicles are safe internally and connected to the broader world.
Shawn Mack is a content writer who offers ghostwriting, copy-writing, and blogging services. His educational background in business and technical field has given him a broad base from which to approach many topics. He occasionally writes articles for Junk Car Wizard.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Photo attribution: Automobile Italia licensed under Creative Commons 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).
