How self-driving is that car? Levels of driving automation

[lpetrich]

CICV, Marmara University and BigTRI Join the International Alliance for Mobility Testing & Standardization - SAE International Releases Updated Visual Chart for Its “Levels of Driving Automation” Standard for Self-Driving Vehicles with chart as PDF: SAE J3016 Levels of Driving Automation

The Society for Automotive Engineering has defined six levels of vehicle automation, from 0 to 5. Text taken from the SAE's graphic:

What does the human in the driver's seat have to do?

• 0, 1, 2: You are driving whenever these driver support features are engaged - even if your feet are off the pedals and you are not steering.
• 3, 4, 5: You are not driving when these automated driving features are engaged – even if you are seated in “the driver ’s seat”.

• 0, 1, 2: You must constantly supervise these support features; you must steer, brake or accelerate as needed to maintain safety.
• 3: When the feature requests, you must drive.
• 4, 5: These automated driving features will not require you to take over driving.

What do these features do?

• 0: These features are limited to providing warnings and momentary assistance.
• 1: These features provide steering OR brake/acceleration support to the driver.
• 2: These features provide steering AND brake/acceleration support to the driver.
• 3, 4: These features can drive the vehicle under limited conditions and will not operate unless all required conditions are met.
• 5: This feature can drive the vehicle under all conditions.

Example Features:

• 0: automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, lane departure warning.
• 1: lane centering OR adaptive cruise control.
• 2: lane centering AND adaptive cruise control at the same time.
• 3: traffic jam chauffeur.
• 4: local driverless taxi, pedals/steering wheel may or may not be installed.
• 5: same as level 4, but feature can drive everywhere in all conditions.

The levels differ in how much control of the vehicle that the automation features have, from completely manual at level 0 to completely automated at level 5. At level 0, the features are mostly for providing advisory information to the driver, like warning about getting too close to the vehicle in front, and they have very little control over the vehicle.

Levels 1 and 2 differ in how much driver-assistance automation that they have.

 

[lpetrich]

Levels of Autonomous Driving, Explained

It is worth repeating and emphasizing the following: As of May 2021, no vehicles sold in the U.S. market have a Level 3, Level 4, or Level 5 automated driving system. All of them require an alert driver sitting in the driver’s seat, ready to take control at any time. If you believe otherwise, you are mistaken, and it could cost you your life, the life of someone you love, or the life of an innocent bystander.

The article explains the lowest level of automation as

Level 0 (zero) refers to a vehicle that has no driving automation technology. In this case, the driver is entirely in charge of operating the vehicle’s movement, including steering, accelerating, braking, parking, and any other necessary maneuver to move the car in any direction.

However, at Level 0, driver support systems that may temporarily intervene during driving may be present. Examples include stability control, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot warning, and lane-keeping assistance. These technologies are considered Level 0 because they do not drive the vehicle but offer alerts or momentary action in specific situations.

In Level 0, the automation features typically take over the vehicle for only a few seconds. In Levels 1 and 2, the automation features are in continuous control, though with equally continuous driver input.

Level 3 is known as conditional driving automation. It uses various driver assistance systems and artificial intelligence to make decisions based on changing driving situations around the vehicle. People inside the vehicle do not need to supervise the technology, which means they can engage in other activities. However, a human driver must be present, alert, and able to take control of the vehicle at any time, especially in the case of an emergency due to system failure.

No, you still cannot take a nap while sitting in the driver’s seat of a Level 3 conditionally autonomous vehicle.

...
Referred to as high-driving automation, Level 4 autonomy does not require any human interaction in the vehicle’s operation because it is programmed to stop itself in the event of system failure. Since a human driver is never needed, a Level 4 vehicle may not have a steering wheel and pedals.

And yes, at Level 4, you can take a nap while riding in the vehicle.

Level 4 driving automation technology is for use in driverless taxis and public transportation services. Such vehicles will be programmed to travel between Point A and Point B and restricted to specific geographic boundaries by geofencing technology. Certain conditions may limit or cancel Level 4 autonomous vehicle operation, such as severe weather.

Level 5 is like Level 4, but not limited by geofencing or bad weather, with its only human involvement being to set a destination. But spots like construction sites will likely be implemented by the vehicle requesting instructions from its users. So they will have to be backseat drivers.

Geofencing is marking out virtual boundaries for some location service like GPS.

 

[lpetrich]

The 6 Levels of Vehicle Autonomy Explained | Synopsys Automotive
Explanation of the 6 Levels of Driving Automation

Away from flat roads, there are plenty of automated vehicles.  Autopilot

Urban-rail systems are sometimes at Level 3 or Level 4. The completely-automated systems have tracks that are isolated from all other traffic, systems like airport light-rail systems. Some systems, like BART, are almost there. The train's driver has to check to see that nobody is stuck in the doors, but that's pretty much it.

Ships and airliners are often at Level 5 most of the time, and spacecraft are at Level 5 essentially all the time.

 

[Jayjay]

A rule of thumb explanation for autonomous driving levels that I saw somewhere:

1-2 - assisted driving

3 - no hands
4 - no driver
5 - no steering wheel

 

[Ford]

Oh look. Something I can speak upon with some authority (limited by my contract).

I like to look at it from the perspective of "how much time is the vehicle in autonomous mode?" The goal is (of course) 100 percent, but we're getting closer every day. The last time I was doing a road test (as opposed to training new testers which is my primary focus) we hit about 78 percent for the day. That's including driving to and from the test area. When I started with the company back in April, the best we could do was in the high 30s.

Granted, we're still in the testing phase here, and our focus is in a different area. In San Francisco (where the company is based), it's in the 90s, and driver-less taxi service is just starting.

The technology is frankly amazing. The car can "see" things that humans can't, react faster than a human, and when everything is working properly, it's the safest car on the road.