Any change to normal brings debate for and against the change. ADAS and AD technology are no different. Automotive purists are hell-bent against it whereas many want it thanks to the sheer number of advantages it provides. In this article, we try to list down some of the myths that concern ADAS and AD vehicles and understand how those do not hold the truth.
1. Cars with ADAS and AD will work but make traffic and emission worse
This is one of the common myths, it is believed cars lot of time to understand the surrounding and existing traffic signs and light and make a precise decision accordingly. However, this is far from practice as many cars are already equipped with a state-of-the-art camera-based traffic sign and light recognition system, coupled with object detection utilizing either radar or lidar or camera. With powerful ECUs these sensors are making the best use of the machine learning algorithms and can make split-second decisions faster than a human being can even comprehend. Read more on this in the following blog that explains traffic sign recognition and also numerous challenges associated with it in brief.
2. They will work but anytime soon/ They won’t work until cars are as smart as humans
Ever since the first working demo of autonomous driving was seen by the public everyone had issues with the timeline of this technology adoption in mainstream cars and other vehicles. Semiconductor technology and machine vision that is driving ADAS and AD are growing exponentially which is never seen in the automotive industry. With the current pace of development and testing are done by OEMs as well as regulation keeping pace one can easily predict near-complete AD at least towards the end of this decade.
However, the current prevailing issue of the global pandemic has thrown the automotive semiconductor supply issue into chaos. With demand for personal computers and hand-held devices, the automotive sector is thrown to the back seat thanks to the low demand for passenger cars and also the smaller volume of semiconductor products used in each car.
3.They won’t work because one can’t prove they are safe
Accidents are a direct result of human errors, as any process or activity bringing in technology to reduce human interference improves efficiency. This is no different in the activity of driving, there are numerous doubts on extreme conditions concerning priority the computer gives/assigns (similar to the classic case of trolley dilemma). However, with continuous testing by OEMs for many years and also the data that is made public by these ADAS and AD companies it is safe to say the accidents or mishaps that these testing vehicles have gone under is far minimal compared to normal driver behavior.
4. They won’t work as transportation service
One of the first groups of vehicles that are all set to be automized are public transport and fleet, this can be mainly attributed to the fact that many government agencies are approving robot-taxis to ply on road. One of the concerns here is the trust the user has in the car driving itself, as in any new tech earlier adopters are already part of programs. Companies are already seeing the public signing up for the trial and be a part of this autonomous journey
5. They won’t work because they’ll get hacked
This concern saw all the press thanks to one incident involving an American OEM. However, numerous steps are already being taken by governments as well as OEMs to make sure the cars are protected against cyber-attacks. Some of them are:
- Shutting off GPS when it is not in use
- Regular OTA and OBD updates
- Using unique password to access cars GPS
Conclusion
As with any new technology, there are early adoption issues with ADAS and AD, however with government bodies as well as safety regulatory bodies such as Euro NCAP making certain ADAS features mandatory users need to give importance to such myth that slows development and use to technology to make driving safer.
Further reading
- Understanding Traffic Sign Recognition system used in ADAS (Advance driver assistance system)
- Automotive Industry: The Road Ahead
- Design Considerations for Porting Real-Time ADAS Applications to Embedded Platforms
