You may be surprised to learn how many 'driverless' features many cars on our roads already have. Watch and find out.
There are varying levels of vehicle automation so our cars will gradually incorporate more and more driverless features.
Automation in vehicles will happen in stages and is already happening now – the new Mazda6 is a Level 2 autonomous vehicle.
Automation in vehicles will happen in stages and is already happening now – the new Mazda6 is a Level 2 autonomous vehicle.
On the top-of-the-range Mazda6, its electronic eye watches the lane markings and the car applies torque to the steering wheel to help the driver stay in a lane. But, it does require the driver to be in control of the vehicle at all times.
The Tesla Model S, with its optional Tech Pack and Autopilot software, is a Level 3 autonomous vehicle. It uses one camera, one radar and 12 ultrasonic sensors to stay in a lane and can even change lanes for you.A range of luxury cars offer varying degrees of driverless functionality. But, if conditions are not ideal, such as when you can’t see the road markings, you will need to take over control of the vehicle.
The RAC Intellibus™ is a Level 4 autonomous vehicle. It uses LIDAR, cameras, GPS and odometry in all but a few environments.
Autonomous vehicle technology is already with us and will only get more sophisticated, more affordable and more common in the cars we drive every day.
| 0. | No automation - The driver is in complete and sole control of the vehicle. |
| 1. | Driver assistance - The vehicle has one or more control functions e.g. cruise control. |
| 2. | Partial automation - The vehicle has at least two primary control functions e.g. adaptive cruise control, lane centring. |
| 3. | Conditional automation - The driver is only required for occasional control as the vehicle can perform all safety-critical functions under certain conditions e.g. the Google car. |
| 4. | High automation - The vehicle can perform all safety-critical driving functions in all but a few environments. RAC Intellibus™ is a level 4 automated vehicle. |
| 5. | Full automation - The vehicle can perform all safety-critical functions and other than setting the destination, no driver intervention is required. |
If you want to know more...
Our groundbreaking RAC Intellibus™ trial is helping us understand how driverless technology might work on WA roads in the future.
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