Self-driving car tech has been a long time in the making. It definitely didn’t happen overnight. However, it sure feels like autonomous cars went from being the subject of science fiction to on-road reality in just a few short years.
So, it’s safe to say we can’t pinpoint all the details of how self-driving cars technology will evolve to change the face of transport.
However, I thought it would be interesting to write an article that touches on the main factors which impact its development.
If this is something you want to know more about, then keep on reading.
Emerging Technical Innovations
Autonomous driving is a field in which change and innovation are constant.
According to a recent report, auto and tech companies have invested more than 80 billion dollars in an effort to bring fully autonomous cars to market. A significant portion of that was spent on research, as well as testing the best tech to develop and perfect self-driving vehicles, including:
- sensors
- digital mapping
- AI/Deep learning systems.
Among the top priorities is using new technologies which can make the self-driving experience more secure and more efficient.
Like for instance, this new laser-based technology which allows autonomous vehicles to “see” around corners to reveal objects or obstacles before they are directly visible to the car’s camera.
Or Nvidia’s new self-driving car chip called Xavier which will incorporate artificial-intelligence capabilities. The system can process 30 trillion operations. Per second; that is. In other words, it can crunch a lot of data.
Self-Driving Cars Technology and the Human Factor
Fully autonomous vehicles don’t require a human driver — but they do serve humans. So, one of the main directions in which technology evolves is to address human concerns and needs in regards to autonomous driving.
And speed up the adoption curve as a result.
So how are today’s top players in the industry using technology to reassure passengers and offer them the best experience aboard of a car which drives itself?
Well, in the case of Uber, the solution was to equip their self-driving cars with a tablet which faces the passengers in the backseat.
The tablet shows a visual representation of what the car can “see” as it is driving to provide riders with an increased level of safety.
See how the tablet and the entire experience looks like by watching the video below:
Some companies such as Alphabet’s Waymo are going even further and included a Help button in one of their latest test vehicles.
By pressing the button, the passengers can get in touch with a human operator who can provide information or comfort them if they feel anxious.
Riders can also press a button to start the ride once inside and ask the car to pull over whenever they want.
The entire user interface is designed to provide riders with a sense of increased control.
In addition to data regarding speed and location, the display shows running commentary to let riders know the actions the vehicle is performing, such as “looking for a spot to pull over.”
Cost Implications
From Mazda and Maserati to Google and Tesla, all major automakers and tech companies are active in the race to be first to bring a fully autonomous car which is affordable to the public.
By looking at it from a business perspective, you can see why costs have a significant influence on how self-driving cars technology is evolving.
The goal is to reduce cost and complexity of self-driving tech to make it affordable — and thus increase their profits and scale their business.
But while the end goal is the same, the tactics companies resort to in order to achieve it are different. Here are a few examples:
- Partnerships (like the one between BMW and NVIDIA)
- Strategic acquisitions (such as General Motors buying Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based developer of autonomous vehicle technology)
- Finding cheaper alternatives to critical components or developing them in-house to bring down the costs. Waymo’s CEO John Krafcik announced back in 2017 they’re using a new LIDAR which costs 90% less than others on the market. LIDAR is an essential component of driverless vehicles which helps them “see” the world around them. It’s also one of the most expensive ones, as well.
As things stand right now, the price of a self-driving car is still outside the budget of most people. But some experts believe it is possible for the cost of an autonomous vehicle to drop 90% by as early as 2025.
It may sound far-fetched.
But what if I told you industry specialists expect for the cost of a single unit of LIDAR to drop from $75,000 to less than $100 in the short future?
More and more companies are betting on a self-driving future and are feverishly working towards making it a reality as soon as possible using new technology.
So it should not come as a surprise it is predicted that by 2040, 75% of all vehicles will be autonomous.
Before You Go
You’ve reached the end of this article.
But if you’d like to stay up to date with the exciting things happening in the world of self-driving cars, technology and more, make sure to follow my activity on Medium and Twitter.
