The reality of autonomous vehicles isn’t as far away as consumers think. That was the key message at the SMMT International Automotive Summit technology stream this afternoon.
Graeme Smith, Chief Engineer, Electronics and Control Systems, Ricardo UK, outlined the technology that exists in current vehicles which is already blurring the lines between the driver and the capability of the vehicle. Adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking and pedestrian collision avoidance are just a few examples Smith outlined. “The overall directional technology itself is pretty simple – it’s just acceleration, braking and steering. The difficult bit is the way it interacts together with its environment, the needs of other vehicles and the road infrastructure, he said.”
Ricardo’s road train testing shows a 15% improvement in fuel efficiency and fuel costs by vehicles in an automated road convoy. Smith added, “There’s a clear business case for fleets considering testing this technology.”
Toscan Bennett, Vice President Product Planning, Volvo Car Corporation, outlined how automated technologies are in the Volvo cars of today. Volvo is committed to a mission that states that no-one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by 2020. “We want to design cars that will not crash,” he explained.
“Autonomous driving will change the world in ways in which we can’t begin to imagine. But in some regards, it’s already here; in planes, boats and cars. We also need to modify the Geneva convention to allow the technology to develop further.”
Chairing the session, Ken Gibson, Editor of The Sun’s Motors section, highlighted the different shift needed by consumers. “I’ve been in an autonomous car – sitting in the ‘drivers seat’ while reading the paper is a most bizarre experience. But it’s here, and it’s here now. The challenge now is how to break that big psychological barrier that exists among the world’s drivers.”
For all the latest SMMT Summit news click here. You can follow the debate on Twitter using the #SMMTsummit hashtag.
