Foresights
Intelligent vehicles
What is it?
The notion of an ‘intelligent’ vehicle capable of navigating itself automatically has been widely popularized in entertainment and the media. Although we are still a long way from seeing highways full of vehicles that navigate themselves entirely autonomously, road transport is becoming increasingly automated.
Integrated sensors and communications technologies allow vehicles to communicate with each other, and with the road infrastructure on which they travel, and vehicle functions are increasingly controlled directly by automated computer systems.
Well over 50% of the value in a modern production car is now in the wiring and electronic infrastructure. While many innovative features in cars are concerned with ‘infotainment’ (such as satellite navigation and in-vehicle TV/DVD) and the detection, reporting, and sometimes correction of faults, these applications do not constitute intelligence.
Intelligent vehicle applications directly influence and control the driving experience by exploiting data gained through internal and external sensors:
- Collision warning: advise or warn the driver of potential danger. Can include blind spot coverage, lane departure, intersection collision, pedestrian detection, rear impact, driver drowsiness, and rollover warning.
- Driver assistance: systems that assist the driver as required, for example lane discipline, precision parking and manoeuvring, and adaptive cruise control.
- Full vehicle automation: enables fully automated driving – an autopilot for cars! Systems can be autonomous with all instrumentation and intelligence onboard, or co-operative where additional input comes from the highway, other vehicles, or both. Functions include low-speed automation, or LSA (the vehicle drives itself in low speed/congested conditions), autonomous driving (vehicle chooses its own route based on available information), and close-headway platooning (creating a chain of linked vehicles following one another at close distance).
The principal aim of adding intelligence to vehicles is to reduce the worldwide highway death toll through the implementation of safety features and driver warning systems. Improving traffic flow and driver comfort are also important considerations.
 To learn more about Intelligent vehicles, download our full Foresight PDF file ( 275Kb; opens in a new window).
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