Technological progress over the last twenty years, powered in part by the increased power of computers has seen huge advancements in safety, efficiency and ease of use. Automotive technology has progressed at an incredible rate. Fully autonomous vehicles are almost here and will transform the way we travel. We are likely to see changes within the next few years that are as dramatic as the difference between a Model T and a modern Porsche 911.
Autonomous or driverless cars will present society with future transport systems that will remove the need for constant human interaction, monitoring and control. Now, if you live in London and want to visit your parents in Cornwall, you will need to drive for a minimum of 5 hours. The route is plagued with traffic issues and presents little interest. A journey like this in a driverless car would allow a family the time to enjoy each other’s company rather than needing to concentrate on driving. There would be time to watch films, play games, interact or even sleep, letting the vehicle and its on-board systems take the strain.
Of course, there are those that enjoy driving, but there is no escaping the fact that roads will become safer. Over 90% of accidents are caused by human error. Introduce a qualified and certified autonomous driving system and the human factor is removed from the equation, allowing an infallible digital system to control the vehicle within defined parameters. In the future, such vehicles will be further enhanced by city networks and sensors, not only will accidents be a rarity, speeding and parking fines will be a thing of the past too. Not to mention the fact that alcohol will no longer present an issue for the driver or other road users.
The need for vehicle ownership may even become redundant. Rather than individuals or families owning vehicles that are only used for relatively short and or inefficient journeys, cars could be in-use and available 24/7. This would make them more economical and lower their environmental impact. Automated driving systems managed by complex software and high-powered computers will potentially also result a significant reduction in energy consumption by optimising driving efficiency. In addition, electric vehicles are lowering reliance upon fossil fuels with renewable energy and battery technology seeing rapid advances. Reliable solar powered cars with a decent range are even on the horizon.
The replacement of people in vehicles by machines has the potential to cause massive workforce realignment. The insurance industry will have to adapt its stance as the driver is removed from the responsibility equation. There is also the cultural impact to consider, similar impacts were seen with the introduction of electronically captured biometrics with people initially perceiving the technology as highly suspicious and not to be trusted. Culturally, another result could be that cars will likely become less of a personal, aspirational commodity and much more of a functional one, a fact that could have sizeable effects on the automotive industry impacting sales figures, turnover and profits.
Not that long ago, a future of driverless cars was pure science-fiction rather than the “almost here tech” that we see in 2019. In fact, the introduction of “driverless tech” is happening right now in every new car we see, ABS, Traction Control, Self-Parking, Night Vision, Lane Assist Control and Radar are all essentially the slow introduction of technologies that we will take for granted in the driverless cars of the future!
Driverless vehicles are undoubtedly the future for land-based travel. Safety will be of the utmost importance and the need for ever greater efficiency, driven by environmental concerns may be one of the key drivers.
Before we reach that point, the millions of lines of code required for vehicle autonomy, not to mention the potential for city grids and interaction with Smart Cities, will require immense software testing at the very highest levels of integrity and safety criticality.