In my previous article, Autonomous Vehicles are Coming Sooner Than We Think, I discussed how several companies are in a race to be the first to launch autonomous vehicles. Alliances between companies are more complex than ever, with businesses intertwined to debut the new technology. The new era of transportation was thought to be developing at a fast pace, and investments in self-driving vehicles rose to higher than $60 billion in 2018. Despite the advancing technology, self-driving cars may be further away than most analysts originally predicted.
While it’s true that there are already self-driving cars operating in several cities, it is important to note that most of these vehicles are operating with human backup drivers should anything go wrong. Additionally, many of the autonomous vehicles are only operating on simple routes, with slower speeds, and in select cities.
Many of the self-driving cars that are being launched have raised concerns for consumers and lawmakers alike. Concerns arise from several issues surrounding technology failures, legal complications, and the overall perception by consumers. It seems as if many of the businesses launching autonomous vehicles may have misjudged the impending implications of the technology. Just last year, the CEO of Waymo is quoted saying “autonomy always will have constraints.” Similarly, the CFO of GM spoke of self-driving vehicles as “the engineering challenge of our generation.” Analysts also noted the technological implications that Tesla’s driverless cars have faced, including failure to recognize traffic cones and hesitations when changing lanes, among others. Recent consumer reports have also warned of the safety risks of Tesla’s autopilot, noting fatal accidents and interventions from drivers to prevent mistakes.
While machine learning has strong capabilities, it isn’t the human brain and can mistake things that most drivers would naturally pick up on. Technological obstacles involve offsetting the strengths and weaknesses seen through the camera, radar, and lidar sensors. Once the camera sensor and technology align, there is an added challenge of assuring the camera understands what it is seeing.
Safety standards must also be evaluated through legal and federal outlets. Laws and guidelines will need to be universally put into place as many people question who will be liable for car accidents. Last month, Ford, Toyota Motor, and GM got together to put together standards for safety revolved around self-driving cars.
It may be years until we see autonomous vehicles be fully accepted by the public for use. It is more likely that we will see robotaxis operating on fixed routes before self-driving cars infiltrate the consumer marketplace. That being said, many major businesses such as Amazon, Waymo, and GM have announced major advancements from self-driving car factories, manufacturing facilities, and doubling of staff. Driverless vehicles will likely appear first in transport and logistics businesses, where companies can turn investments into profit.
