The rapid advancement of driving automation seems to have caused a lot of misunderstanding on what really makes an autonomous vehicle.
For this reason, the engineering group SAE International in collaboration with ISO standards have updated the “SAE Levels of Driving Automation,” the industry’s most-cited reference for AV capabilities.
SAE’s taxonomy provides definitions for six levels of driving automation, ranging from no driving automation (Level 0) to full driving automation (Level 5).
The 2021 graph displaying the taxonomy hasn’t changed since the last update of 2019, but new terminology has been introduced to clarify misinterpreted concepts.
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Credit:SAE International
What’s new
Things to keep in mind
Automated functions such as steering, lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, and automatic emergency brakingaren’tconsidered to be driving automation. As the only offer momentary support, they don’tchange or eliminate the role of thedriverin performing part or all of the driving duties.
Even at Levels 3 and 4, the automated driving features are engaged under limited conditions and won’t operate unless all conditions are met.
As we’re still at Level 2, it’s important to remember that the fully autonomous experience of Level 5 is still a long way off.
In the meantime, we should beware of the dangers ofautonowashing.
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Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili(show all)Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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