Driving is exhausting for many people, and you’d be happy if someone could be your driver to take you where you want to go. It would be amazing if cars could drive themselves and take you where you want to go.
At present, all the major car manufacturers are researching autonomous driving technology Generally on autonomous driving is divided into six stages, that is, level 0 to level 5. level 0 belongs to the stage of completely manual without automatic driving, while level 5 belongs to the stage of fully automatic.
Level 0 (no automatic driving)
Most cars nowadays are level 0, which means fully manual control. The entire driving process must be done by a human, although there may be appropriate assistance systems to assist the driver, such as automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, lane shift warning, etc. However, technically speaking, the assistance system does not actively “drive” the vehicle, so it is not considered automated driving.
Level 1 (Driver Assistance)
This is the lowest level of automation. The vehicle has a separate automated driver assistance system, such as steering or acceleration (cruise control). Adaptive cruise control keeps the vehicle at a safe distance from the vehicle in front, and the driver is responsible for monitoring other aspects of driving (such as steering and braking), so it meets the criteria for Level 1.
Level 2 (Partially Automated Driving)
This refers to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS. the vehicle is able to control steering as well as acceleration or deceleration. It can automatically control steering, acceleration, deceleration, or braking at the same time, but still requires the driver to keep his or her hands on the steering wheel at all times to control the car.
However, because the driver is in the car seat and can control the car at any time, this stage of autonomous driving is not considered driverless.
Level 3 (Autonomous driving subject to conditions)
Level 3 driverless cars have the ability to “detect the environment” and make their own decisions based on information, such as accelerating past a slow-moving vehicle. However, this level still requires human control. The driver must remain alert and take control when the system is unable to perform its task. The latest version of Tesla’s Autopilot falls into this level.
Level 4 (Highly Automated Driving)
This level relies heavily on special maps for autonomous driving. This level only requires you to enter your origin and destination, and the rest relies on highly accurate maps and well-developed on-board sensors. All cars in this class are capable of fully autonomous driving without human intervention, and can land you safely, but not everywhere.
In this sense, these cars do not require human intervention in most cases. However, the driver still has the option to maneuver manually.
Level 5 (fully autonomous driving)
Level 5 self-driving cars do not require human attention, thus eliminating the need for “dynamic driving tasks.” Level 5 self-driving cars will not even have a steering wheel or accelerator/brake pedal. They will be geo-fence free, able to go anywhere and perform any maneuver that an experienced human driver can perform. Fully self-driving cars are being tested in several pilot areas around the world, but there are still no vehicles on the market at this level.
