Autonomous driving is one of the main challenges facing the automotive sector in the coming years. If the term has been democratized with the advent of technology and digital technology, autonomous driving is not entirely new. That’s why we haven’t talked about autonomy yet in 1958, Chrysler introduced cruise control for the first time in the world ? The system stabilized the speed by intelligently changing acceleration and braking.

Democratized on Imperialequipped with “Autopilot”. all Cadillacs since 1960. Since then, it has become a staple of our modern cars. The first hasmeans of keeping in the traffic lane, emergency braking or automatic parking have since made them smarter than before. They contribute to the advancement of research in the direction of fully autonomous driving.

Several levels of automation

But what exactly are we talking about? Autonomous driving is divided into five levels. From the zero stage where all aspects of driving are entrusted to the driveruntil stage 5, where the presence of a person on board is not required. The car can drive itself from one point to another, on all types of roads and under any circumstances.

Integration of radars, cameras and other sensors have brought us closer (in theory) to full automation in recent years. Among car manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have developed Level 3 systems for their EQS and A8 large sedans. They allow you (in theory) to go about your business while the car remains the master. The driver only needs to intervene when faced with an impossible scenario.

Limited to level 3 in Europe

If we speak theoretically, that’s why these systems comply with legal restrictionsand are not allowed to work on open roads in France or Europe. Only level 3 autonomous driving is allowed on the Old Continent. This means that the driver can take his hands off the wheel, but must “retain control of his car”. In other words, he cannot spend time on other activities and must be attentive to the road and its obstacles. Alone the United States allowed fully autonomous driving in some states, starting with California. Thus, Google, General Motors and even Uber have deployed test cars in this area. They move without a driver and are the most modern examples of fully autonomous driving.

Infrastructure limitations

In addition to the development of embedded systems, there is another serious problem, road infrastructure. Ideally, this would be necessary to hope for the democratization of autonomous driving to harmonize sidewalks, markings on the terrain, as well as signs, a new common language that will be analyzed and understood by all autonomous models on the market. A challenge that now seems very difficult to implement in Europe. Both from the point of view of costs, and from the point of view of harmonization of national policies of each member state. Therefore, the presence of a person on board has not yet become a thing of the past…

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