Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 34

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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS

SELF-DRIVING CARS MOVE
ON DOWN THE ROAD
By Ken Cormier, Managing Editor
Despite the expected setbacks due to
COVID-19's incursion into the human
experience, autonomous vehicles continue rolling toward what appears to be
widespread deployment. The trusty steeds
of tomorrow rely on sensors such as radar,
lidar, GPS, sonar, inertial measurements,
and odometr y to perceive their
surroundings.
According to the National Conference
of State Legislatures, at least 29 states
have enacted legislation related to autonomous vehicles. According a recent
report by Verified Market Research, the
global connected car market, valued at
$72.68 billion in 2019, is predicted to be
valued at $215.23 billion by 2027. That
would involve a growth of 14.56% from
2020 to 2027.1
Some of the touted advantages of selfdriving vehicles include reduced accidents, reduced traffic congestion, reduced
CO2 emissions, increased lane capacity,
lower fuel consumption, transportation
accessibility, as well as reduced travel
time and travel costs.
There could be other hidden silver
linings associated with the use of selfdriving vehicles. For some, vehicles might
have increased longevity, when not subjected to the cruelties inflicted by manic
driving habits: excessive acceleration,
sudden braking, taking risks like passing

EVALUATION ENGINEERING OCTOBER 2020

due to emotional frustration, and more.
When I was at a Walmart grocery store
recently, I was shopping almost by myself during a torrential rainstorm, when
a driverless floor buffer hummed slowly
toward me like a Zamboni, appropriately
near the frozen foods section. Of course,
curiosity got the better of me. When it
came close by, I began edging my shopping cart slowly into its path. At first, it
began edging away from me until my
cart completely shut off its path. Then it
stopped. It hurled no insults, made no obscene gestures, and waited for me to move
out of the way. Maybe autonomous vehicles might become an antidote for road
rage, making city driving more peaceful.
Here are a few news briefs relating to
autonomous vehicles:

Automakers Chisel Away
at Hands-Free Driving
Tesla is accelerating its intended rollout of 100 percent self-driving vehicles
by the end of this year by augmenting
the software to the Tesla Autopilot system. The system will enable vehicles to
recognize speed signs and adjust speed
accordingly. In another announcement,
General Motors is planning to load its
hands-free driving Super Cruise feature to
22 vehicles by 2023. Also, Mercedes Benz
has announced that, pending government

approval, it plans to include Level 3 autonomous driving technology in its new
2021 S class.2

Michigan Plans Highway
for Self-Driving Cars
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
announced in August plans for a 40-mile
Connected and Autonomous Vehicle
Corridor between Detroit and Ann Arbor,
created through a partnership between
mobility company Cavnue as the Master
Developer, and the Michigan Department
of Transportation, the Michigan Office
of Future Mobility and Electrification,
the Michigan Economic Development
Cor porat ion , a nd t he M ich iga n
Department of Labor and Economic
Opportunity. Phase 1, which will explore
the project's feasibility, is expected to take
place over the next two years. The corridor
would connect a number of smaller towns
as well as major drop off points between
the two southern Michigan cities. 3

Study: Autonomous Vehicles
Won't Eliminate Accidents
According to auto safety experts, humans cause approximately 49% of vehicle
crashes in the U.S. A new study by the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
says that computer-controlled vehicles
will be able to prevent only one-third of
them. "We're still going to see some issues
even if autonomous vehicles might react
more quickly than humans do. They're not
going to always be able to react instantaneously," said Jessica Cicchino, institute
vice president of research and co-author
of the study. Some of the problematic situations cited by the study included judging
how fast another vehicle is moving, road
conditions, evasive maneuvers, and errors
in vehicle control.4
REFERENCES

1. PR Newswire, "Connected Car Market Worth
$215.23 billion, Globally, by 2027 at 14.56%
CAGR: Verified Market Research," Sept. 15, 2020
2. Research and Markets, "Self Driving Cars on
Road by Next Year," Sept. 3, 2020
3. The Architect's Newspaper, "Michigan Will
Build a City-Connecting Highway for Self-Driving
Cars," Aug. 18, 2020
4. Detroit Free Press, "Study: Autonomous vehicles
won't make roads completely safe," June 4, 2020

Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020

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