Cyber Security
SAE International’s J3016 “International’s Levels of Driving Automation for On-Road Vehicles” Six Levels of Driving Automation Photo Credit: SAE International and J3016
From driverless cabs to commerical trucks, from tests in closed environments to trialling in public roads, Singapore has demonstrated that automated driving is coming; yet, many of us are still convinced that we are no closer to experiencing driverless cars in our everyday lives. How do we make sense of what is really possible in this brave new world of self-driving vehicles? One way: standardise the definitions and expectations of what we mean by “self-driving”. SAE International’s J3016 (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers) “International’s Levels of Driving Automation for On-Road Vehicles” (issued January 2014) sets out a common taxonomy and definitions, for six levels of driving automation that spans from no automation to full automation. • The first three levels rely on humans to perform the dynamic driving task. This task includes the operational (steering, braking, accelerating, monitoring the vehicle and roadway) and tactical (responding to events, determining when to change lanes, turn, use signals) * • The next three levels delegate the entire dynamic driving task to the automated driving system with varying degrees of human back-up intervention under increasingly complex environments. The idea is that we can be totally free to read a book or finish up an article while the software worries about the driving. • The last 6th level is the fully automated car. In likelihood, level six is what we have in mind when we think of a driverless car. While most believe that is probably
32 | Australian Security Magazine
decades away, we humans simply have poor track record when it comes to forecasting technological breakthroughs. That within half a century of Thomas Watson’s prediction that "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," – whose company IBM went onto develop Watson famed for its Jeopardy matches against human players and in whose home country witnessed the proliferation of PC in nearly every home – proves that the potential of bleeding edge technology does sometimes surpass our capacity to imagine the impossible.