ILMA Compoundings - February 2020 - 36

WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE

U.S. Government Lays
Out Plan 4.0 for AV
Leadership
By Matthew Levetown
of users and communities, promotion
of efficient markets and facilitation of
coordinated efforts. AV 4.0 highlights a
number of current and future projects to
build out these core interests, subdivided
into a number of different subcategories
- including AV agricultural equipment
and supply-chain integration.

A

t the recent 2020 Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas,
U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Elaine Chao announced the publication
of the fourth government report on
autonomous vehicle policy, "Ensuring
American Leadership in Automated
Vehicle Technologies" (AV 4.0).1 Her
presentation outlined an updated set
of guidelines and objectives the federal
government will use to push innovation
in the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector,
including research in related industries,
such as advanced manufacturing.
AV 4.0 reiterates the federal government's stance on the importance
of safety, while expanding objectives
related to industry consensus standards
and modernizing regulations to handle
the rapidly changing technological
landscape surrounding AVs.
The U.S. Department of Transportation worked with the National Science
& Technology Council to identify three
core foci in the field of AV: protection

36

FEBRUARY 2020

| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG

PROTECT USERS AND
COMMUNITIES
While safety concerns such as the
physical structure of AVs are of interest
(especially if people lean back to catch
some extra winks on their way to
the office), the complex networking
requirements of autonomous vehicles
pose safety concerns for consumers and
government alike. After all, we could
be approaching a future where "hackers
stole my car!" joins sleeping through
one's alarm as an excuse for tardiness. AV
4.0 sets out commitments to develop
regulations and research on the safety of
autonomous systems for mixed non-AV
and AV transportation infrastructure, in
order to effectively regulate the gradual
implementation of automation.
The health and safety implications of
automation, both vehicular and otherwise, are also a prime area of research,
especially if workers are needed to rapidly respond to an emergency situation
on the road or in factory.
One topic I found interesting in AV
4.0 is the implications of AV technology for mobility, expanding the

market for handicapped individuals
not otherwise able to make effective
use of existing transportation. Autonomous systems at home and work
can also increase the productivity and
freedom for such individuals, which
could be beneficial in keeping older
employees with important institutional knowledge around longer once
such systems are available.
PROMOTION OF EFFICIENT
MARKETS
The report espouses a commitment to
neutral technology development -
government support of any technology
from any sector that advances AV technology. While the exact details of how
grants will be apportioned in the future
remains to be seen, AV 4.0 did highlight
several existing projects. It notes the
overall increased benefits of automation,
including in specialized operational
design domains, such as AV tractor
sensors that detect weeds and spray herbicide sprays. Autonomous applications
in other specialized domains reflect other
areas of potential economic benefits, as
they do not need to accommodate every
potential issue faced by something like
an autonomous freight truck.
AV 4.0 identifies "fundamental
research" programs currently being
conducted via grants from nearly forty
government agencies in autonomous
and complementary fields. Existing research includes supply-chain
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