Self-driving cars are quickly becoming a reality and soon they will change many industries in the world. Autonomous vehicles are virtually identical to the modern vehicles on the road today but with a few differences. These cars are built with no steering wheels or pedals to make the car stop or go. The outside of the self-driving car is equipped with sensors that detect surrounding vehicles and other obstacles such as road conditions, cyclists, and pedestrians. The software in the car uses the data to make decisions the speed driving down the road.
A form of autopilot helps drive these cars to their destinations safely and efficiently. One of the biggest innovative car companies, Tesla Inc., has made progress in their development of autopilot technology in their cars. The company is updating the existing autonomous software in their current Model S and Model X vehicles. the update allows the car to change lanes on its own just by using the turn signal. Other advanced capabilities include driving at 80 mph and passing slower vehicles on the road. CEO Elon Musk believes that one day he can give all his cars full autonomy. Many industries will be affected by the adoption of the driverless car.
The following video explains Ford's attempt into making a self-driving car, and the future they envision for the state of Michigan. CEO Bill Ford Jr. talks about the way these cars will affect other industries int he economy.
The auto industry is affected heavily by the disruptive introduction of driverless cars. Trends have shown that consumers, while still skeptical about the nature of driverless cars, are interested in the concept overall. a survey conducted by Business Insider Intelligence reports that 64% of people are interested in being in a car with Self-driving features. The same survey showed that 20% of those surveyed are on the fence about the concept. Lastly, 17% of those surveyed showed no interest in being in an autonomous vehicle. People are showing that they are ready to get into a car and not be behind a wheel. This takes away all liability when accidents on the road happen. however, in the event that one does happen the liability has to go somewhere.
Auto insurance cost will start to plummet when humans are taken out of the vehicular accident equation. it is reported by the National Highway Traffic safety Administration that 94% of all crashes in America are caused be human error. By eliminating the humans from the equation, crashes will reduce thus reducing insurance rates. USA Today reports that car accidents will drop by 80% by 2040. When an accident does occur, the fault then will shift to the car manufacturers, hardware and software developers. By reducing the fault on car owners, car insurance will be purchased in much leaner packages. The dangers of the outside world will be gone due to the technology, but compromising the internal functions becomes a new threat.
Imagine your driverless car is coasting along the road going eighty on the I-10 when suddenly your car pulls over to the side without the owner giving the order. Once it pulls over a message pops up saying you need to pay "X" amount of money to us to regain control of your vehicle. Congratulations, you have just been a victim of ransomware, a software where payment must go to the hacker to access the device that was hijacked. In the past, cars have been taken over by similar attacks and have been caused to either crash or become disabled. The sophistication of autonomous vehicles gives incentives to hackers to try and seize control of owners' cars. Car manufacturers are not going to many lengths in terms of cyber security on these cars. This means when self-driving cars enter the mass market, its open season for black hat hackers to gain control over these cars. manufacturers cannot allow such a big vulnerability to slip into the open market. I believe that cyber security should be the main focus after the technology is in place.
The future is speeding towards us in the form of these autonomous cars. Companies are trying their best to come up with the best designs whether they be aesthetical, technical, and reliable. The autopilot will help riders reach their destination safely and be able to make tough road decisions with ease. Consumers are eager to climb into these cars and experience low-risk, high-speed driving with virtually no risk of crashing. Customers are also awaiting a future where auto insurance prices will be greatly reduced. One needs to take the good with the bad and hopefully manufacturers solve the cyber security problems so that car owners can sit back and possibly relax with a beverage that currently cannot be consumed in a vehicle.
Sources:
Wired (2017). Tesla Finally Makes Its New Autopilot A Good One, 3/29/17.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-fully-autonomous-car-update-2017-2
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/13/autonomous-cars-self-driving-hack-mikko-hypponen-sxsw
Popular topic! Most interesting part by far is how many industries autonomous cars could potentially eliminate. From auto insurance, to taxi/truck drivers, to general auto manufacturers themselves! This might be one of the points of general resistance to this technology (similar to any sort of advanced technology). General Americans are always worried about their jobs being taken away but it's just a shift of culture and the times...remember when everyone was a coal miner (me neither).
ReplyDeleteThis article highlights one of the scariest parts of owning a self-driving car. In a rush to get these systems released, companies will inevitably leave security flaws in the system. If your car is hacked, and you're forced to pull over, or worse, forced to injure someone while locked in your car, it could be potentially life changing. Companies need to be sure these flaws are ironed out before the products hit the market.
ReplyDeleteAutonomous cars has always been an interest of mine! While it has its benefits, there are a lot of questions dealing with safety and security concerns. Will there be flaws within the system? Will it be reliable? Autonomous cars are still in the developing/testing stages and it makes sense that there are a lot of issues. Car companies can do an assessment and reduce the threats and vulnerabilities it may have.
ReplyDeleteI did my tech briefing on this topic too! I am excited to see what the future holds in the autonomous transportation field. In my presentation I focused mostly on positive and negative arguments on autonomous vehicles. However, I never considered the potential threat of security breaches in the computer systems. That is a HUGE component of safety in autonomous cars that companies need to asses. Technology in vehicles can make driving much safer but it does create different safety hazards.
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