AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES When will they get here? Copper Strategy Success Seminar The Future of Work 29th September 2016 MARK BORLACE Senior Manager Mobility & Automotive Policy
Driverless cars AKA Self driving or autonomous cars
Some of the terms Autonomous Cars Connected Cars Can drive itself from Point A to Point B with no manual input from the driver. It has all the technologies on board to do this and does not need to communicate with other road users or the infrastructure to achieve this A connected car is equipped with internet access and often also Wi-Fi capability to talk to other cars and the road side infrastructure such as traffic light and highway traffic monitoring systems. This allows the car to share internet access to other devices both inside (smartphones) and outside the vehicle such as emergency services in the event of an accident with automatic notification of crashes A combination of both cooperating is optimal
Some other terms Vehicle to Vehicle = V2V Vehicle to Infrastructure = V2I (traffic management systems) Vehicle to everyone else = V2X (V2X = pedestrians, cyclist etc)
Examples of early V2I Automatic notification of accident
Examples of V2I Green wave technology Cars send speed and direction data to traffic management. Traffic system send information on optimum speed to get the next green light ahead.
The evolution path to today
What are the levels of self-driving vehicle and when will they get here?
Dumb and smart cars Managing the traffic mix of smart and dumb cars while they also interact with other roads users will be the challenge. The quicker the transition, the safer and better it will be for all. Incentives for retro-fitting some basic ITS technologies to dumb vehicles, especially trucks which have a longer in-service life than cars, may be necessary.
Timeline for introduction Phase 2 The driver is still the primary operator of the vehicle under all conditions although he can give up some duties to the vehicle. This also includes limited external self park capability and cruising on some controlled roads Phase 1 Passive Autonomous driving Phase 2 Limited Driver substitution Phase 3 Complete Autonomous capability Phase 4 Google Car world Phase 4 All cars have V2V and V2X capability and they can drive themselves with no human intervention Full connectivity V2V V2X V2I available Phase 1 - Passive Autonomous capability assists the driver with systems such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), lane keeping assistance and adaptive cruiser control but does not have absolute control of the vehicle. Phase 3 - The car can accelerate, brake and steer by itself under most driving conditions but the driver should remain in the driver s seat ready to take over in the event of an emergency or system failure.
Will autonomous vehicles be everywhere? Probably not. They will complement integrated public transport in the cities Be part of a hub and spoke inter regional town or city autonomous highway network Autonomous vehicle nodes Autonomous vehicle corridors
Mandating vehicle connectivity In the next year the US is likely to mandate vehicle connectivity to the internet mainly for safety reasons. Eventually they will want speed and direction data to be transmitted to other road users, probably by Wi-Fi.
Hacking / Terrorism Hacking and being used for attacks are a real possibility. Many autonomous vehicle technologies have been developed by the US military over the years.
Jeep take control software Last year control of a Jeep was taken over remotely. It wasn t easy, but it was done.
Privacy BROAD PRINCIPLES NEED TO; cover a wide variety of vehicular data and address privacy concerns raised by new in-car technologies; cover geolocation information, driver biometrics, and other driver behavioral data like seatbelt use or hard-braking; requires opt-in consent before any of these sensitive data can be used for marketing purposes or shared with independent third parties; also include a warrant requirement for geolocation information;
Cars will also need to be taught to sometimes break the law
Car making ethical decisions?
Public acceptance There is a lot of resistance to the idea of not being in control of the vehicle or that driverless cars might hit your car. Demonstration programs and controlled low speed use of driverless (shuttles) are needed to help gain acceptance of the technology
Autonomous trucks in open cut mines Australian mines have had autonomous trucks in open cut mines for a couple of years
Autonomous trucks in mining underground Volvo s fully autonomous truck is being tested in operations deep underground. It is part of a development project aimed at improving the transport flow and safety in the mine. The truck will cover a distance of 7 kilometres, reaching 1,320 metres underground in the narrow mine tunnels.
How is Australia preparing for this technology? By getting interested and affected partners together to prepare for the future and exploit any unique advantages that Australia may have in this area
RACWA TRIAL The RACWA have purchased and launched an 11seater French Navya autonomous shuttle bus in Perth. It will spend the next three months covering a 2.7km stretch of the South Perth foreshore along the Swan River, operating at speeds of up to 25km/h.
PELETON - Truck platooning
Smaller self driving pods RDM is a British driverless vehicle manufacturer making selfdriving pods aimed at airports, theme parks and other pedestrianonly areas. The RAA may work with the aged care industry to trial them here.
RAA is partner in the ARRB driverless cars initiative
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES When will they get here? Copper Strategy Success Seminar The Future of Work 29th September 2016 MARK BORLACE Senior Manager Mobility & Automotive Policy