Understanding Automotive Electronics 8th - Chapter 12

Autonomous vehicles, also known as “self-driving vehicles,” represent an extreme application of electronics to vehicles. Such vehicles are controlled during motion by a computer along with various electronic subsystems and components rather than by a human driver. At the time of this writing, they are in a research and development stage. There are multiple levels of autonomy as classified by government agencies (e.g., USDOT) and by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The primary inputs to a vehicle by a human driver include steering, braking, throttle, and transmission mode select. However, to drive a vehicle, the driver must continuously monitor the environment visually and react to the conditions. This means maintaining the vehicle in an appropriate lane on a road for a given trip and reacting correctly to all road signs and signals along a given trip. It is vitally important that he/she react to changes in the pathway that require decision-making such as traffic, pedestrians, and any objects in the path. Typically, the driver must decide whether it is necessary to stop or possibly steer around other objects in the pathway. In addition, the driver should also attempt to make a prediction about an object or a pedestrian that is moving such that in the short time ahead, it is probable that the object/pedestrian will require action by the driver. For an autonomous vehicle to operate safely, it must have the same type of decision-making capability described above (and other decisions not discussed).