For autonomous vehicle to safely use public roads together with other road users, it is necessary to standardise communication from self-driving cars. This states car manufacturer Ford, which expects that such standardisation can help pedestrians, motorists and other road users gain more confidence in autonomous vehicles.
Self-driving vehicles make autonomous decisions in traffic and can, for example, decide to change lanes, turn around, accelerate or slow down. The judgements such vehicles make are based on, among other things, data collected from sensors and analysis of this data using algorithms. In doing so, autonomous vehicles can draw different conclusions from humans, which can make the behaviour of self-driving cars unpredictable.
Gaining road users' trust
Ford has long been working on an interface to help autonomous vehicles safely use the road together with other road users. Such a system should communicate the intentions of self-driving cars to other road users so that they can better anticipate the vehicles' behaviour. Such a system, according to Ford, can not only improve road safety but also help gain the trust of other road users.
"In the journey towards the development and roll-out of self-driving vehicles, the focus is quickly turning to the customers who will drive these vehicles. At Ford, we want to gain the trust of all stakeholders, including other road users and communities in which these vehicles will operate. For this technology to be a success, it is critical that it is integrated into society in a way that gives everyone confidence," writes John Shutko, Human Factors Technical Specialist on self-driving vehicles at Ford.
Develop industry standard
Ford is calling on developers, automakers and technology companies working on Level 4 self-driving vehicles to collaborate and share ideas for an industry standard for communicating the intentions of self-driving vehicles. A Level 4 autonomous vehicle, according to knowledge centre CROW's definition, takes over all operational tasks and part of both tactical and strategic driving tasks. At this level, the driver can focus his attention on other matters and no longer needs to be able to take over control of the vehicle at any time.
Ford calls it critical to introduce a single standard for such communications globally. This is necessary to ensure that every person regardless of country or age can understand the signals. To enable the development of such a standard, the company plans to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with other parties involved in the development of self-driving cars.
Light bar experiment
The carmaker previously conducted an experiment in which a Ford Transit Connect was fitted with a light bar at the top of the front. Through this light bar, the vehicle's intentions were communicated to road users. During this experiment, incidentally, the vehicle used did not actually drive autonomously, but was driven by a human driver who had been rendered invisible.
Mitsubishi Electric is also working on such a system: the Safe and Secure Lighting system. This system projects signals both on the road and on built-in screens in the car. If the vehicle starts reversing, for example, other road users are warned of this movement using arrows on the road. According to Mitsubishi Electric, the system can communicate not only the intentions of self-driving cars to other road users, but also those of human drivers.
Finally, Mercedes-Benz Vans last month presented an autonomous and electrically powered concept vehicle called Vision URBANETIC. This vehicle can be fitted with interchangeable bodywork, allowing the Vision URBANETIC to be configured to transport people or just goods. Mounted on the front of the concept vehicle is a large screen that signals to pedestrians that the vehicle has registered their presence. In addition, hundreds of small light units are placed on the side that are deployed to create a kind of shadow of people who are in close proximity to the vehicle.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Ford
