Emma Bernholt, U4 Aesc Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous Vehicles

By Helena Loan, U6 AHS

Autonomous vehicles are modes of transport that run completely independently of human input, able to move around by sensing the environment and reacting appropriately. There are different stages of automation ranging from complete human control to an autonomous system having full control. There are many cars currently on the market, such as the Skoda X to the Mercedes C Class Saloon, that have autonomous features, ranging from lane guidance and automatic breaking to

self-parking. However, none of these vehicles are truly autonomous, only partially automated.

Now companies are developing algorithms to make the car fully autonomous, however they also need to work out how the vehicle will deal with the ethical choices it has to make. The ‘trolley problem’ is a thought experiment which represents this issue. It is the idea that were a trolley to roll down a track and be unstoppable, would it be more ethical to let fate take its course and allow five people to die or to intervene and sacrifice the life of one person. With human drivers this problem doesn’t occur but with autonomous vehicles they need to be programmed to drive and so the decision is actually planned out. This means that the companies manufacturing the cars are actually being given the responsibility of judging who should live or die. Autonomous cars are a clever idea because they take away the responsibility of driving from a human, which relieves us from “human error” accidents that occur, for example when the driver is tired or distracted. A report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2008 showed that 85% of all crashes were due to human error, while the faster processing speed of a computer over a person could

reduce reaction time and therefore reduce stopping distance, which could help to prevent serious injuries. Numerous sensors are needed to make sure that the car can properly assess the environment and avoid any collisions, and this explains why ‘many autonomous car developers use multiple sensors in their test cars—optical sensors, radars, LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors’ (Tweedt, 2017). Many cars already have GPS (used in the Satnav to help drivers to get to their destination), ultrasonic sensors (which are used in self

parking) and a few even have radar (where radio waves are sent out and then reflected off objects so the car can pinpoint its location, used for cruise control in some vehicles) and optical sensors (to keep the cars within their lane). Two types of sensors commonly only used in prototypes could greatly help autonomous cars navigate their surroundings. Firstly an advanced version of an optical sensor could enable the car to see traffic lights, so it could actually stop at a red light. LiDAR would also be useful because it is much more accurate than other sensors: it has a higher resolution than other sensors, such as radar, and so it creates a clearer picture of the world around it, meaning it can distinguish between different objects. However LiDAR does have its problems too because it at the moment it cannot recognize

cyclists very well which means that there is a high risk of an automated car just driving into a cyclist. More testing is required to work out the best combination of sensors for automated cars and to develop the sensors so that they can work well.

A report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2008 showed that 85% of all crashes were due to human error.

Ultimately I think that autonomous cars have the potential to greatly benefit society and the environment because they allow time to be spent more wisely, by reducing

congestion which would also decrease CO 2 emissions and for people who can’t drive cars they would be able to travel independently. However their success doesn’t just rely upon the creation of technology but also relies upon being considered safe, not only to physically drive but also from being hacked, which could have serious consequences ranging from drivers having their data stolen to cyber terrorism. Although it is unlikely any manufacturer would give a guarantee that a car was totally safe, the risk must be seen as negligible or at least significantly less than a human driver. It is hard to trust an autonomous vehicle, simply because a passenger has to give up all sense of control which is something everyone resents. The

expectation is that autonomous vehicles will be prevalent in our world by 2035, providing they overcome these challenges, so we’ll just have to wait and see.