Autonomous vehicles are a relatively old dream, born in the early twentieth century. Initially, they were mostly seen as a technological innovation and progress—a part of advanced vehicle control development, such as the automated guided cars of the Futurama exhibition sponsored by General Motors at the 1939 World’s Fair. Several projects allowed for impressive demonstrations, albeit more proof-of-concept projects than commercially available developments, in the last two decades of the twentieth century in the US, Japan, and Europe. The twenty-first century has changed this approach due to several Silicon Valley-based companies, above all Google’s Waymo, from 2015, followed by Chinese software technology-oriented companies, before it was accepted by traditional American and European automotive OEMs. The Silicon Valley approach was probably mainly technology-oriented, with a software-oriented mindset, considering that everything is possible with software and microelectromechanical system (MEMS) control systems. It worked well, however, in identifying new, large-scale business opportunities, capturing idle drivers for entertainment and other software services, cherished not only by GAFAMGAFAM but also BaiduBaidu and other Chinese technology companies. Traditional automobile companies, initially wary of various technological and legal issues, have finally decided to follow, targeting improved road traffic safety, comfort, and freedom for relaxation during self-driving. A major issue that remains is road and vehicle safety. Early on, new technological validation was recognized to be required, with vehicles being run for hundreds of billions of miles in testing facilities. An additional difficulty identified by vehicle control and human factor engineers is the necessity of placing self-driving vehicles in various critical scenarios. This raises further issues concerning proving grounds and the field testing of road hazards that correspond to potential vehicle collisions when testing accident avoidance. A major toolset was provided by massive (including cloud) and driving simulation, already initiated in automotive driving simulation research conducted in both automotive OEMs and road research organizations. Yet, several drawbacks pose challenges, such as the simulation sickness (e.g., car sickness) that will be further experienced when using autonomous vehicles in the future or the representativity and completeness of simulation.
Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous Vehicles and Virtual Reality ; Kapitel : 3 ; 51-70
2023-10-29
20 pages
Aufsatz/Kapitel (Buch)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Kraftfahrwesen | 2005
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