The concept of self-driving cars – once nothing more than a plot twist in the sci-fi novels of H.G Wells – has now become a reality. Actual developments in the field date back to the 1970’s when the US and the UK automobile industry succeeded in giving the world partially automatic automobiles. With time modern technology such as the use of artificial intelligence in self driving cars further improved the automation. While there is still considerable room for improvement, the technology is ready, and out there with a few limitations.
This guide covers all the aspects of self-driving cars, including their usage for public transportation in the Emirates.
Levels of Automation in Self Driving Cars
There are numerous terms used interchangeably for self-driving cars. These include driverless cars, robotic or rob-car, automated and autonomous vehicles. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) prefers the term ‘automated’ over ‘autonomous.’ This is because autonomy implies control beyond the electromechanical in the sense that an autonomous car will be self-aware and make decisions for itself. For instance, if you direct it to drive you home, but the car may decide to take you elsewhere. On the other hand, an automated vehicle will follow orders and move as directed.
Automation Levels
Meanwhile, a self-driving car may drive itself, but a passenger should be there to direct it and take control if required. There are five levels of automation in automated cars ranging from driver assistance to full autonomy. These levels are:
1 – The cars rely on driver assistance for functioning
2 – The car has some automatic functions but many other functions require driver assistance
3 – It means conditional automation i.e 75% automation where the car controls the safety features
4 – equates to high driving automation. This construes that you can subject them to geofencing.
5 – Finally a level 5 car is completely autonomous and can go anywhere it wants.
How do self-driving cars work?
Self-driving cars employ different technologies such as complex algorithms, sensors, machine learning systems, actuators and robust processors for effective software execution.
These cars generate a map of their surroundings and maintain it using various sensors located in different parts of the vehicle. These include a radar to monitor the position of cars in the vicinity. There are video cameras to read road signs, detect traffic lights, look out for pedestrians and track other vehicles. To identify lane markings, detect the edges of roads and measure distances, these cars use Lidar (light detection and ranging). These sensors bounce light pulses off the vehicle’s surroundings. Furthermore, ultrasonic sensors located in the wheels are used to detect other vehicles and curbs when parking,
The sophisticated software processes all the sensory information to plot the correct path and send the required directions to the actuators of the vehicle. These actuators are control braking, acceleration and steering. Meanwhile, the software navigates through the obstacle and follows traffic rules with the help of obstacle avoidance algorithms, hard-coded rules, object recognition and predictive modelling.
The benefits of self-driving cars
There are many pros to self-driving cars. These are discussed below in detail:
1. Better safety on road
Since 90% of road accidents are a result of human error, self-driving cars can help reduce that significantly. Furthermore, driverless cars can alleviate risky driving behaviours such as drunk or drugged driving, speeding, impaired driving, distractions and unbelted occupants.
2. Personal freedom
Self-driving cars offer personal freedom to the users. This feature is especially useful for the blind, seniors and people with disabilities. These highly automated vehicles allow them to be more self-sufficient.
3. Cost-effective
Lesser accidents translate to money saved, as there will be lesser medical bills, insurance costs and other crash costs including vehicle repairs.
4. Fewer Trailbacks
Self-driving cars communicate with each and maintain a certain distance. In addition to obviating crashes, this also ensures better traffic flow. Perfect coordination between braking and acceleration of cars will ensure fewer unnecessary tailbacks.
5. Environmentally-friendly
Highly automated vehicles have the potential to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Platooning allows trucks to follow one another closely and will alleviate the air resistance and its effects. This results in a sufficient reduction in CO2 emissions, in addition to a 5 to 15% lesser fuel consumption.
Self-driving cars and the trolley problem
Trolley problem- deciding which life to save if you can choose only one among the two -is a classic thought experiment that goes back to the early 1900s. One of the most modern applications of the problem is in self-driving cars.
Unlike a human, who is likely to make a random decision when faced with an unknown situation, a driverless car will be pre-programmed to act in a certain way. This situation can be an accident where you can either risk the death of the passenger by hitting the heavy vehicle coming your way or kill a few pedestrians by swerving the car and driving on the sidewalk.
Programming the software of a self-driving car to save someone at the cost of killing or harming another is an ethical dilemma that has opened Pandora’s box of morals and ethics for this latest technology. It is one of the major challenges of self driving cars that has kept such cars from running rampant on the roads.
Moral Machine Experiment
The ethical concern about driverless technology has been a subject under discussion for quite some time now. Many experts have made efforts to address it. One such attempt that made some insightful discoveries is the Moral Machine. Media Lab, a research lab encouraging interdisciplinary research areas launched to find out the public opinion over this particular trolley problem.
The website gives you various scenarios where you can save one person over another. Since its launch in 2016, the website generated a humongous data of 40 million decisions from all over the world. What the survey revealed was astonishing to say the least. The conclusive results of the data showed that people would save women over men, dogs over cats, athletic people over overweight people and dogs over criminals.
These responses were from the public. The experts such as the lawyers and philosophers were shocked over the results and differed tremendously over the decisions. You cannot rely on public opinion when giving an autonomous car the decision to kill someone or not.
The ethical legislation for driverless cars
To date, no country has agreed over a set of rules to govern the decisions of an autonomous car except Germany. The government has taken an egalitarian view of the situation. Therefore, the rules state in no ambiguous terms that if there is a situation of an unavoidable accident, no distinction is to be made on factors such as gender, age, mental or physical construction. No pitting of victims against each other is allowed in any case. Only such programming is permissible that will reduce personal injuries to the passenger.
Such an egalitarian view is justifiable. However, there are cultural norms and personal biases in different regions of the world. Not every country may be unequivocal and uncompromising on such values. What will happen in such scenarios remains to be seen.
Those who are in favour of the technology argue that a self-driving car is less likely to be in an accident in the first place and are hence overall responsible for decreasing the accidents and in turn the resulting deaths. However, the concern is very much there.
If a tricky situation arises, and it will – due to the many parameters to control in the real world, would you allow a driverless car to make a decision depending on which country it is in or not?
Self-driving cars in the UAE
The UAE has been working to improve its digital economy for a long time – efforts that have proved beneficial especially in the current pandemic situation. As the Emirate is almost exclusively renowned for its automobile industry and impeccable traffic laws, it only makes sense to put the latest technology to use and continue their hegemony in the field. Therefore, the Gulf State has decided to lead at the forefront by endorsing the technology of autonomous vehicles.
Here are the steps the UAE has taken to show its approval for the latest technology:
1. Road and Transport RTA self-driving congress
The Dubai World Congress for Self-driving Transport organized by the RTA under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council at the Dubai World Trade Centre in October 2019 was among the first step the UAE made towards accepting the self-driving cars.
It was one of the many efforts of the RTA to support the Dubai Self-Driving Transport Strategy and was possible through the cooperation of Universities and Private and Public sector partners. The purpose was to bring the experts of the Self-Driving Technology under one roof to augment and quicken the adoption of this technology globally. The UAE’s vision for Self-Driving Technology is to make at least 25% of all the trips in Dubai driverless by 2030.
2. Driverless cars at the RTA Congress
The congress witnessed the latest technology as a driverless Jaguar iPace took to the wheels and moved away from the traffic lights at the roads near the Dubai Trade Centre. It was a prototype of the electric model of the Jaguar and was modified to show the world how advanced the technology has come. The congress brought to light some of the main challenges to a future with driverless cars. Guess what? The technology was the last concern on the minds of the experts. Instead, the more challenging perspective of self-driving car technology included public reservations about safety, deployment of the right infrastructure and putting in place a carefully designed legislation plan for this technology. Only after that, the concerned parties will worry about technology.
3. Implementation of Driverless Technology in Transport Industry
RTA is planning to implement this technology beyond private cars. The CEO of their Public Transport Agency, Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan had said last year that they would like to convert other modes of transportation driverless too. This includes public transport as well via land, air and water. However, he did not give any specific period for that since the legislation for an autonomous vehicle of that level was inadequate.
On the other hand, the RTA had been conducting many test runs for self-driving cabs, shuttle buses, flying taxis and even marine transport. The CEO further added that they had studied several safety parameters, including the weather and climate of the UAE. Ever since then, the government has been busy developing a safe and secure infrastructure to make the driverless mode of transportation feasible in Dubai. These developments include the construction of separate lanes for self-driving buses. However, other transports such as taxis must run parallel to regular cars.
4. Dubai legislation for driverless vehicles
Earlier in 2020, Dubai rolled out a body of new legislation to regulate the testing of driverless cars on the emirate roads. The step was taken under the Dubai Smart Mobility Strategy and will ensure safe self-driving vehicles by 2030.
The RTA has given the Public Transport Agency department the task to conduct these tests. The authority is to access and sign off the safety and technical standards of trial. These include the decision of where the tests will take place and what should be the speed limit. Furthermore, driverless Dubai Metro is already functional in the emirate.
Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services and Dubai Police are to ensure public safety during these tests. However, the legislation exempts the RTA in case of any losses and accidents. The sole responsibility for such scenarios rests on the testing entity.
5. UAE endorsement to self-driving cars
As per the 2019 report by KPMG, a global consultancy, the UAE is likely to be the first country to introduce at least Level 4, fully-functional self-driving cars on its roads. The report used such parameters as a country’s favour to the adoption of innovation, technology, legislation, quality of the roads and public acceptance.
The emirate and other countries are hopeful about self-driving vehicles technology. The advent of 5G wireless networking is likely to enhance the real-time responses of sensors in these cars. This will make driving safer and more efficient.
6. Enticing self-driving firms
Another crucial step by the UAE in accepting self-driving technology is their decision to encourage Tesla and other firms designing driverless cars in the Emirate. The plan is to help such companies making self driving cars launch their product in Dubai and other emirates. The UAE will help them collect the data they need to make their product more desirable to the local consumers.
Omar Al Olama, the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, explained how such companies need specific data to start up in any country. Collecting such data requires money and time. However, the government can provide them with this data. He did not comment on the nature of the data. It can be about anything, including public preferences in terms of ethical dilemmas and safety.
Furthermore, the minister also responded to the statement made by Elon Musk who claimed that soon there will be a Tesla self driving car with Level 5 autonomy. He invited Tesla to invest and launch their product in the UAE.
There is already functional driverless public transportation in some areas of different emirates of the UAE. These include driverless buses running on a predetermined course. For now, self-driving cars are in the testing phase in Dubai. They are functioning in controlled conditions. However, this is likely to change in the coming 3 to 5 years.
Driverless cars are likely to be even a bigger part of the automobile industry in the future. However, there is still a long debate over them. If you are not ready for self-driving cars yet, you can always buy used cars in the UAE with a degree of automation you prefer.
Stay tuned to our auto blog, for more updates on the latest technology and advancements in the automotive industry.
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