Stronger Internet-connected car tech will not only make way for autonomous cars, it will also be required for data management. A self-driving car could generate 100 gigabytes of data per second.
Over the past century, innovation in the automotive industry has revolved around making cars faster, safer, more comfortable, easier to handle, or smoother to operate. Today, the evolution of technology in the automotive sector is augmented by the Internet of Things for connected everything and 5G as the connectivity backbone. IoT and 5G applications are being used in everything from sensors to artificial intelligence to big-data analysis, which makes everything not just connected but also smart. With such constant innovations, autonomous mobility has become a reality. And both industry insiders and everyday drivers will soon see a fundamentally different world of mobility. Very soon, 5G will be the universal network speed used by all IoT-enabled devices for sophisticated information transmission and processing.
The Five Levels of Automated Driving
The NHTSA has adopted specifications to help manufacturers and consumers understand the different types of autonomous driving that are being developed. These specifications, outlined in the Society of Automotive Engineers' SAE International J3016 document, are referred to as The Five Levels of Automated Driving.
With autonomous vehicle innovations coming along quickly, the NHTSA has adopted specifications to help manufacturers and consumers understand the different types of autonomous driving that are being developed. These specifications, outlined in the Society of Automotive Engineers' SAE International J3016 document, are referred to as The Five Levels of Automated Driving.
Level 0: No Automation - The full-time performance by a human driver of all aspects of the dynamic
driving task, even when enhanced by warning or intervention systems.
Level 1: Driver Assistance - A system that will assist with some basic functions, but still depends on the driver to control speed, steer, and monitor the surrounding environment.
Level 2: Partial Automation - The automobile has the ability to assist the driver with steering and speed control functions, but still requires the driver to control safety-critical functions and monitor the environment.
Level 2: Partial Automation - The automobile has the ability to assist the driver with steering and speed control functions, but still requires the driver to control safety-critical functions and monitor the environment.
Level 3: Conditional Automation - The automobile uses sensors to monitor its environment and can control all aspects of driving, but still requires the driver to intervene in most conditions.
Level 4: High Automation - The vehicle is capable of steering, braking, accelerating, monitoring the roadway, and taking actions to navigate without the necessary intervention of the driver, but may rely on the driver in less safe conditions.
Level 5: Full Automation - The full-time performance by an automated driving system of all aspects of the dynamic driving task under all roadway and environmental conditions.
5G and IoT to Transform Vehicles into Autonomous Vehicles
In the realm of telematics, 5G is expected to play a huge role in the development of autonomous vehicles. Almost all car models and heavy vehicles will be equipped with features like advanced driver assistance system, automatic braking, collision avoidance, lane departure warning, etc.
These new features will be supported by Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications capabilities. Vehicles will utilize the 5G network to communicate with other cars on the road, as well as traffic lights and road management systems to deliver a range of data to the driver: the number of cars on the road ahead, the level of traffic congestion, hazards such as construction or accidents, and estimated drive time to a given destination.
This sophisticated level of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication will be critical to autonomous vehicle operations. In cars with Level 1 or Level 2 automation, IoT functions will take the form of notifying the driver to slow down, issuing alerts from Department of Transportation infrastructure systems. With Level 3 automation and above, the car will be able to decelerate, operate turn signals, change lanes, and take any other action it deems necessary to steer clear of danger. With this technology, costs from accidents are expected to plummet steadily as automated vehicles help to compensate for human error.
Autonomous driving or a smart car is expected to generate a huge amount of data that needs to be responded with quick turn-around-time. According to Barclays, an autonomous car could generate 100 gigabytes of data per second, and with a response time of less than a millisecond and output of 1Gigabit, 5G will be the new definition for speed and connectivity for autonomous vehicles. To bring the rich experience of connected mobility through IoT for vehicle owners, Aeris and Volkswagen entered into joint venture earlier this year for the development and operations of connected vehicle platform technologies. The IoT based platform expands beyond remote services, vehicle safety, and security. This platform has inherent flexibility, which enables new business models through third-party integration and is foundational for V2X communications.
For business, smart mobility means connected supply chain and connected fleets which can be tracked and monitored anytime and from anywhere. As supply chains get disrupted and demand patterns change Amidst the Covid19 lockdown, real-time supply chain visibility is proving to be extremely important. Thus, technologies enabling remote asset access, digital twins, live tracking & tracing tools, workforce collaboration platforms and smart cities data platforms are now mission critical.
To me, the time has arrived when automotive industry is going to get totally disrupted with IoT & 5G across the value chain and not just the manufacturing units. It will propel the advanced automation across departments, breaking silos across functions, transforming manufacturing shop floors to supply chain to asset and fleet management, but also redefining business and commercial models for vehicle sales, aftersales, financing, leasing and insurance sectors.