Autonomous Trust

The self-styled entertainment capital of the world is a curious choice of venue for the very serious business of autonomous driving. Yet here we are in Las Vegas to sample a self-driving Volkswagen Passat.

The opening move involves the driver removing hands from the customary 10 to 2 position and allowing the car to take total control and make the driving decisions.

We're not at a safe test track. We're surrounded by heavy Las Vegas traffic that's moving quickly when the driver gives the car autonomous control. The car with assistance from sensors and radar is now driving and deciding to accelerate and brake and make fine steering inputs.

Faith in the machine is not natural, at least not since man has held control either by reins or wheel. Technology is about to enforce huge changes in how we drive. Autonomous driving will be a helluva lot safer, claim those companies which are quickly developing the technology intended to replace humans behind the steering wheel on our city streets and motorways. It seems machines will make better decisions and have far fewer crashes. We'll see in a few years because today the autonomous system driving this Volkswagen sedan is remarkable, but it is a work in progress.

The human driver remains very close at hand, quickly grabbing control when the bundle of computers and sensors struggles to identify the faded white lane markers. French component manufacturer Valeo and partner IAV are at the crest of development but even they admit we're a long way away from complete autonomous control capable of hands-free and fear-free driving.

In the push toward autonomy, several key technologies have become common and very affordable: Lane Departure Control, Blind Spot Cameras, Adaptive Cruise Control, Emergency Braking and Stop.

However, taking the step to a system capable of complete autonomous driving depends on sensors and software that can see, identify and decide. Lidar is laser radar able to 'see' objects and pedestrians as far as 150 meters away and through a wide 140 degree field of view. If you've seen Google's autonomous Prius, Lidar is the thing spinning above the car. In the VW we're driving, the Lidar is contained within the sedan's standard silhouette. There isn't a clue to this VW being an autonomous car.

The driver activates autonomous control through a switch on the steering wheel, the same as you would cruise control. A centre console screen confirms the system has identified the lane markings, and the driver gently releases his grip on the steering wheel. The moment of trust comes when the car in front begins to brake for a red light. The VW automatically brakes and we stop about 3 metres behind the car.

The light turns green, the car in front accelerates to 40mph and we follow along at the perfect distance. Faster cars overtake us, and all seems very normal for Las Vegas.  

Lidar and narrow-focused ultrasonic radar are the eyes of an autonomous system. Cameras, as well, see lane markers.

From the rear seat, we watch a screen with light and dark blue triangles, black dots and yellow warnings. They represent targets identified by Lidar, radar and cameras which feed into a computer to decide quickly whether to steer, brake or accelerate. It identifies pedestrians, cyclists, slower vehicles and can even distinguish a smaller sedan from a larger SUV or pickup.

What it doesn't yet recognise are red lights, stop signs and often has troubles in the fading evening light to recognise lane markings. Valeo and IAV demonstrate the potential of autonomous driving and prove a self-driving car is soon to arrive in showrooms. The question is: will we be ready to trust technology and give driving control to a computer?

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