No driver needed: six levels of car autonomy

Manufacturers are introducing new technologies into cars, bringing us closer to the day when we switch to drones. How machines are becoming smarter and how their level of automation is changing – in the material of Trends

It’s been more than three decades since the AI-enabled smart car appeared in the TV series Knight Rider. And if you watched it, then you know what the fifth level of car autonomy is. True, in 1982 no one operated on such a concept as the “level of unmanned aerial vehicles”. Back then, autopilots were considered science fiction, and the only device that helped the driver was a simple cruise control.

Today, the production of “smart” cars – at least in the United States – is put on stream. However, there are still no autopilots (smart cars of the fifth level of autonomy) that could carry people – only cars of the fourth level can do this, and even then only in a few cities in the world. What are these cars capable of and what is it all about – the level of autonomy? Let’s figure it out.

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If you were born in the 1980s, chances are your first car was driverless zero. No bells and whistles, just a notification system (sounds, etc.) – for example, a 2004 Ford Focus.

Cars of the first level of autonomy have adaptive cruise control (supports variable speed and provides a safe distance from the vehicle in front), parking assistance systems and a lane departure warning system. Most vehicles have these technologies, such as the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2015 Chevrolet Malibu, and 2018 Toyota Corolla.

Level 3 automation includes driver assistance systems for steering, vehicle speed, and lane keeping assistance. At the same time, the driver must constantly keep his hands on the steering wheel so that in case of unforeseen circumstances (for example, another car cuts off), he can take control of the car. The Tesla Model S, X, and XNUMX are examples of Level XNUMX self-driving cars.

Tesla Model S (Photo: Tesla)

At the third level, the line between existing technologies and technologies that we used to think of as science fiction is blurred. It is assumed that the car does not require constant human attention – the driver may not hold the steering wheel all the time. True, at the third level, the autopilot operates only in ideal road conditions, and manufacturers expect that a person will be able to intervene at any time – for example, if there is a threat of an accident.

Audi planned to release the A8 model with the Traffic Jam Pilot function, which, on multi-lane roads with a dividing bumper at speeds up to 60 km / h, was supposed to give the driver the opportunity to go about their business. But due to complex legal regulation in the US, the company had to delay the launch. For Audi, as well as for other car manufacturers, the future of the third level of self-driving is still uncertain and depends on regulatory, technical, behavioral, legal, business aspects and the difficulties associated with them.

A Level 2026 car can drive itself to its destination, but only under ideal conditions. If it starts to rain or snow, the driver will have to take control of the car. Honda has announced that it will develop a Level XNUMX car by XNUMX. Lyft, Uber and Google have also been working on this technology for a long time, but in practice their cars are somewhere between the second and third levels. The exception is Google subsidiary Waymo, which launched a self-driving taxi of the fourth level of autonomy in the city of Chandler, Arizona. These machines do not require a driver to operate, but the weather conditions are almost ideal.

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The fourth level differs from the fifth level of autonomy in that cars need 3D maps of the area to refer to it while driving. If the terrain is not on the map, then the autopilot will switch to the third level mode or turn off.

If the zero level of autonomy is a car that you drive, then the fifth level is a car that does not need a driver at all. There are already Level XNUMX vehicles, but they do not carry people, but goods. The American company Nuro is testing cars that deliver groceries from supermarkets to customers’ homes. No one drives the car, not even a steering wheel. True, they drive at low speed. But when there will be cars of the fifth level of autonomy, capable of transporting people at high speed, is still unknown.

In June 2021, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sber showed a prototype of a fully unmanned vehicle, the FLIP electric taxi. According to the company, after the tests it will be possible to talk about reaching the fifth level of autonomy:

Why we still haven’t switched to autonomous vehicles, how smart cars work, how safe the autopilot is, and what it’s like to drive a drone along Moscow roads, we tell on our YouTube channel.