Self Driving Vehicles – Ready for the Street?
By Doug Whyte, CEO Imagine Research and Technology Inc.
With almost every major auto manufacturer developing autonomous vehicle systems, it looks like the self-driving dream is going to become a reality. But is the technology ready for the street?
The environment on the street
The street is probably one of the most challenging environments one could imagine in which to implement an autonomous control system. Random, unexpected external conditions and potentially hazardous situations are continuously occurring, and virtually unending in their variety.
What will an aging self-driving vehicle be like when it’s 10, 15, 20 years old and still on the street? With road conditions, weather conditions, traffic conditions, and vehicle conditions changing continually, and even potential problems in the self-driving technology itself, we need to expose this technology to extreme environmental boundary conditions beyond its capability, including random electronic failures. Make it break over and over again until it is bullet proof.
The public cannot adopt a system that isn’t as solid as absolutely possible.
And the regulator has to demand that there be one universal standard autonomous system. This isn’t beta versus VHS. The street is not the place to pass or fail competing systems.
Otherwise we are all asleep at the wheel, and innocent lives are at stake.Radio Interview on the Price of Business with Kevin Price
