The pace of development in artificial intelligence is accelerating faster than we expect. In the following article, we will review the future of artificial intelligence in cars and what it adds.
The automotive industry has become extremely mature after NVIDIA announced the world's first AI computer-supporting fully autonomous vehicles in October 2017. This date saw the spread of AI and brought a wave of seismic changes to the automotive industry. In the following article, we will review the future of artificial intelligence in cars.
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| The future of artificial intelligence in cars |
What is artificial intelligence in autonomous driving?
- Existing drivers already admit they will spend an additional $500 to $2,500 per vehicle on several advanced driver-assistance features, with researchers projecting that about 50 percent of passenger cars sold in 2030 will be highly autonomous and nearly 15 percent Cent will take full control and execution from the drivers. It's hard to imagine that within a decade, nearly every seventh car will be expected to operate on its own in a driverless state thanks to artificial intelligence.
- In simple terms, AI is the ability of a machine to think logically, learn, and make decisions. To distinguish signals from pedestrians, or perform any action on the road without the drivers' intervention, self-driving vehicles use a complex set of artificial intelligence processing units that rely primarily on deep neural networks. By feeding large amounts of data to computers, we rely on them to analyze, process, and perform actions just like humans. We call them electronic brains and expect them to act like our brains and eventually surpass our intelligence.
- In the automotive context, AI is an umbrella term that integrates a vehicle's computer vision, deep learning, and decision-making capabilities. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has created a five-tier standard for cars, where Level 4 and Level 5 are seen as fully autonomous vehicles. Level 4 allows drivers to operate the vehicle with their minds. In cars of this type, autonomous driving is only possible in geographically large areas or under a limited set of circumstances. In contrast, Level 5 requires neither a steering wheel nor driver input, as it completely cedes control and control to the vehicle. To achieve this, manufacturers implement a myriad of hardware and software components that enable a robotic vehicle to safely navigate the streets on its own without any threat to the environment.
- AI-based systems are fundamental to the automotive industry because they form the core of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and contribute to the human-machine infotainment interface. 2018 was a successful reset season for car game creators, particularly in these categories. AI is already helping in-car infotainment systems with speech and gesture recognition, eye tracking, and virtual assistance. Cars can now learn from shared experiences and provide accurate predictions and suggestions.
Artificial intelligence to enable cars to mimic human cognition
But self-driving vehicles will have to learn to deal with all the other factors. Despite this, the main challenge for autonomous vehicle manufacturers is to process the data collected from numerous sources, such as cameras, LIDARs, GPS, ultrasonic sensors, and many others. The turning point will be to provide autonomous transportation with cognitive and intuitive capabilities and to ensure that new-generation vehicles can think and make decisions as drivers normally do.
Manufacturers must test the environment to ensure that their cars react to ambiguous situations and consider all scenarios that may affect the driving path. As this goal seemed unfeasible in terms of time, location, and resources, automakers began looking for a better way to build solutions - creating a connected fleet of cars that could learn from each other - in a fast-paced learning environment, cars could reach their highest level of Autonomy where drivers will be able to take their hands, eyes, and minds off when on the road.
Artificial intelligence replaces steering wheels
- Although many manufacturers have begun their journeys to wheeled computers, there are only a few companies in the world at the forefront that have blazed a path to a fully driverless driving experience. Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, has been developing the industry since 2009 and today it demonstrates the highest level of autonomy among cars that handle driving.
- While you might spot a Waymo car with a steering wheel and pedals, the car prototypes Google introduced in 2014 were designed as devoid of those, but hand controls fitted to meet street legal requirements. Waymo's ambitions are high, with 8 million miles logged on public roads and more than 5 billion miles in simulation, and the company is striving to outpace the competition.
- However, the former Google auto is not alone on top of the mountain. General Motors' 2018 Self-Driving Safety Report just introduced a new Tier 4 zero-emission self-driving vehicle—the Cruise AV with its highest level of automation. in perception, planning, and control in the world—the experience also paved the way for General Motors' Level 5 car in 2019, the company says.
Artificial intelligence to navigate uncharted territories
There are some missing pieces of the puzzle that leading manufacturers have to consider to make fully autonomous cars. In May 2018, MIT researchers made a major leap forward in the field of self-driving cars by presenting an autonomous vehicle that can navigate unplanned routes. Called MapLite, the upgraded system does not require 3D mapping, as it relies on simple GPS data combined with multiple sensors that monitor road conditions. The system can be of great help to communities living in rural areas.