Towards more affordable L3 autonomous driving in urban traffic
Watch presentation recordingAbout five years ago there were many startups declaring their programs and presenting demos alongside big automotive OEMs and Tier1s. Consolidation initiatives started when startups began realising the challenges and related costs of evolving demonstrations to a safely running industrial product, and we are still on that path today. When I look at the current progress, I don’t see the aspiration of having autonomous vehicles on urban roads on a large scale with a profitable business model becoming a reality within at least the next seven years.
Safety is certainly the main challenge. OEMs won't risk jeopardising their brand with fatal safety incidences. As there are plenty of critical safety requirements, the cost for both development and deployment are major concerns. Besides rigorous testing, there are additional demands like safety-by-design, such as redundancy. As a result, the cost of development and the cost of a final product can easily rise to a level that makes it very challenging to establish a profitable business model.
Mostly the development is trying to solve automated driving-related challenges mainly at the vehicle level. However, especially when it comes to an urban environment, the challenges ahead are too large to be solved only from a vehicle side. I believe that a more holistic approach including other technologies and the surrounding environment will significantly help to realise automated driving in urban settings.
Our experience in V2X projects showcases the benefits of taking advantage of telecom technologies such as 5G and increased computing power with edge computing. Infrastructure plays a key role in enabling urban automated driving and speeds up time to market. Most importantly, it can be a solution for a profitable business model.
We showcased a case example and ideas at the event on the 16th of September, ScaleUp 360° Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Europe. Please see the recorded presentation.
Mohamed Harb holds an M.Sc. In Computer Electronics and has over 16 years of experience in Automotive sector within different areas like power steering, engine control and L3/L4 Automated driving. With extensive experience in SW and System development, he has been leading for over 12 years cross-functional teams to bring safety-critical systems to the market.