Crash Course to Autonomous Driving (Pt. 2 Classifications)
From our last article, one can easily see that self-driving vehicles have been developing for quite a while. The classifications of such cars, on the other hand, may not be as clear. Right after the boom in interest in autonomous driving, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) sought to develop standards for measuring the levels of autonomy. In so, they defined six categories of autonomous vehicles ranging from Level 0 to Level 6.
As their titular classification suggests, Level 0, 1, and 2 vehicles can execute zero, one, and two autonomous tasks each at the same time. Level 0 cars have absolutely no automated features, while the latter two can complete tasks like driving and steering. Examples of these cars include those that can execute automatic lane keeping (Level 1) or steer and lane-keep (Level 2). For all of these cases, the driver must be in full control of their vehicles.
For Level 3, cars can drive autonomously under some situations but will need immediate human intervention in some cases. That differentiates it from Level 4, in which the vehicle can safely position itself and wait for human control in the circumstances it cannot navigate. As the SAE guidelines state, “even if a human driver does not respond appropriately to a request to intervene,” the car can still drive reliably. At this moment, the Audi A8L has achieved Level 3 automation. It’s fully autonomous when it has the Traffic Jam assistant turned on but still requires drivers to handle certain tasks when in need. There are no Level 4 vehicles on the market as of now.
For the last level, Level 5, the distinction between human drivers and autonomous cars blurs. The driving contraptions may be completely removed, and the driver can essentially become another passenger. This ideal state, however, may not be easily achieved. Even the CEO of the most advanced autonomous driving company, Waymo, has doubts about reaching Level 5 within the next decade.
Mentioning Waymo, we must mention about its leading position in the market. As much as it is interesting, though, we believe that it deserves a whole piece on its own. Stay tuned for more articles on the basics of autonomous driving!
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