Realising the full potential of autonomous vehicles

ONE hundred years ago, standardisation radically transformed how cars were made and consumed. Today, the automotive industry stands on the brink of another revolution. In the age of cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT), the automotive industry must prepare for the next great leap: connected autonomous vehicles (AVs).

THE FUTURE OF AUTONOMOUS AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Analysts see Baidu's foray into AVs as a future growth driver in the automotive sector. The company has been testing robotaxis in a number of major cities across China, and has recently partnered BAIC Group for a mass-market roll-out of the service. Locally, AVs have been tested on the roads since 2015, with plans to leverage the technology to alleviate the labour shortage in the transport sector.

Singapore is making progress in its driverless vehicle ambitions, ranking first on KPMG's 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index, up from a strong second showing in 2019. Looking to the future of autonomous automotive technology, as well as overall vehicle safety, much of what's possible for the development of next-generation vehicles will rely on the strategic application of data, the bulk of which will be generated while the vehicle is in motion. Whether it's in-vehicle Internet access, gesture-controlled entertainment systems, or high-tech cameras designed to recognise the vehicle's surroundings, we are witnessing the power of data-driven connected car services unfolding right before our eyes.

As the country seeks to bolster its Smart Nation reputation, investing heavily in tech and innovation to support autonomous vehicles, it must address the following roadblocks on its path to becoming truly "smart".

CREATING AN INTELLIGENT VEHICLE

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To build a truly intelligent AV, we need a data-driven automotive ecosystem. A cloud-connected software platform will allow vehicle makers to provide a consistent and secure way to read vehicle sensor data, normalise it, and create actionable insights from that data - both locally in the vehicle and in the cloud. This information can also be used to create responsive in-vehicle services that enhance driver and passenger experiences.

The automotive industry has created countless vehicle models, using a wide variety of vehicle sensors, each producing a unique format of data. Specialised vehicle software is therefore needed to access and interact with vehicle data, especially data contained in vehicle safety-critical subsystems. A truly intelligent AV needs to have an embedded operating system which can support multiple operating systems and multi-cloud deployments in order to access all sensor data outputs, process that data with code, and enable a smarter driving experience.

DELIVERING A FRICTIONLESS DRIVING EXPERIENCE

For vehicle makers to create and deliver a "frictionless" consumer experience in the connected vehicle - one that replicates the seamless nature of a smartphone - they will need permission from the vehicle owner or driver to collect and use data relating to individual vehicular and user behaviour. For those of us in the industry, it's safe to say the challenge of consumer trust in this process is one of the biggest hurdles we need to overcome in order to spur mass acceptance and adoption. We need to take the steps to build and maintain consumer trust in the technology, while prioritising privacy, security, and transparency.

UNTANGLING THE CHAOS

Modern cars and trucks are built with thousands of parts from many different suppliers, with each vehicle model having a unique set of proprietary hardware and software components. These components, including an increasing variety of vehicle sensors, produce data in unique and specialised formats. The highly specific skills required to interact with this data, as well as the challenges of accessing it from within contained vehicle subsystems, limit developers' abilities to innovate quickly and bring new solutions to market.

The value of organising this chaos and incompatibility cannot be over-emphasised enough. What is most exciting is that the technology to address these issues already exists, and without having to take every existing car off the road for a redesign.

INTEGRATION INTO EXISTING MASS TRANSIT NETWORKS

If we merely deploy AVs as upgraded versions of human-driven vehicles, we may not derive the optimal benefits of the new technology, especially in large metropolitan areas with high population densities and limited road resources. Just like how a driver navigates roadways and intersections by applying the information located on roadside signs and signals, and live news sources, AVs require the same stream of data to institute a proper protocol for roadway events.

This can be achieved with a vast network of smart sensors and connected vehicles across the city to transmit and process information in real time to benefit end users.

Fully autonomous vehicles, guided by wireless networks, will probably remain a distant dream for some time to come, because of the complex task of developing the technology but also due to the necessary public policies.

Despite ranking fourth in the world for connectivity, there is still room for improvement before Singapore's infrastructure can fully accommodate the demands of a truly smart nation.

REALISING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF AVs

When AVs become more widely available, they may offer an opportunity to address many organisational and technological challenges in the current system, such as reducing labour cost, improving compliance with planning and operation control, expanding service hours, and delivering a truly frictionless driving experience.

The connected vehicle market is evolving at a tremendous rate of innovation, and as the local government expands the trial areas, it is exciting to see the advancements of AVs becoming commonplace in the next 10 years.

• The writer is acting managing director, APAC, at BlackBerry