Shift Magazine - February 2020 - 6

TOMORROW, AI CAN DRIVE;
TODAY, IT CONTROLS THE AC
BY PETE BIGELOW

here may come a day when artificial intelligence brings forth the promised transportation revolution, allowing computers to
replace human drivers behind the wheel in
millions of vehicles.
For now, AI can be used to keep human drivers
more comfortable.
IAV Automotive Engineering Inc., a global engineering
services company, has developed an AI-infused climate control
system that learns the temperature preferences of vehicle occupants and tailors conditions for maximum interior comfort. In the
short term, the system allows automakers to wring more features from the hardware already inside their vehicles.
"We're not adding anything," said Mike Kenhard, president of
IAV. "We're thinking about how we can give the customer value
with what we have in a smart way."

IAV showcased the feature this year at CES, along
with a complementary next-generation voice-control
system called Smart Speech, which can recognize
individual passengers based on voices and tailor cabin
preferences to them. The broad goals: Infuse intuitive
smarts into the vehicle, and minimize the number of
physical interactions an occupant needs with the car.
Eventually, the profiles created and stored by these
systems will hold the capability to follow occupants from one
vehicle to another. That'll be ideal for ride-hailing services, where
preset climate and music preferences can await riders before
they clamber aboard. For now, it's geared toward car owners.
"This isn't a huge step forward, but it's enabling a smarter
way of how you interact with your car," Kenhard said. "It can be
very easy to overcomplicate things. The smart way forward is to
simplify them." n

GOING MY WAY

Hyundai cruise control system mimics driver behavior

any drivers' first experience
with an advanced driverassistance system is adaptive
cruise control, which started
gaining popularity in the early 2000s.
Along with lane-keeping assist and automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise
has helped people realize that someday,
cars might just drive themselves.
The technology has become so pervasive that, according to AAA, it's marketed
under at least 20 unique names.
With adaptive cruise control, the driver
sets the desired cruising speed, and a
radar or camera system automatically
adjusts that speed so that the car stays
a safe distance from the vehicle ahead.
Now, Hyundai has found a way to
incorporate even more intelligence.
In October, the automaker said it had
developed a version of its Smart Cruise
Control system that uses machine learning to factor in individual driving patterns
and habits. "Through machine learning,
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shift * february 2020

Smart Cruise Control autonomously
drives in an identical pattern as that of the
driver," Hyundai said in a news release.
Sensors constantly accumulate driving
information, enabling the car to learn, for
instance, if the driver tends to stay farther
away from the vehicle ahead when in the
fast lane but maintain a shorter distance

in slow city driving. It will also learn how a
driver may accelerate differently depending on the circumstances.
But the system also knows where to
draw the line. It is programmed "specifically to avoid learning unsafe driving patterns, increasing its reliability and safety,"
Hyundai says. n

Smart Cruise Control's machine learning factors in habits such as acceleration and distance.

Shift Magazine - February 2020

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