- Autonomous Vehicles - Home
- Autonomous Vehicles - Introduction
- Autonomous Vehicles - Types
- Autonomous Vehicles - Needs
- Autonomous Vehicles - Advantages
- Autonomous Vehicles - Possible Impact
- Autonomous Vehicles - Levels of Autonomy
- Autonomous Vehicles - Technology
- Autonomous Vehicles - Risks
- Autonomous Vehicles - Applications
Why Do We Need Autonomous Vehicles?
Autonomous vehicles are playing a vital role in the transportation industry, road safety, and traffic control. In this technology age, the need for autonomous vehicles (driver-less cars) is being increasing because of the various factors including social, environmental, economic, etc. The primary aim of developing and deploying autonomous vehicles in transportation industries is to overcome inefficiencies, safety issues, accessibility related problems, etc.
In this chapter, we will learn about various factors, making the autonomous vehicle technology an essential component of the modern mobility and transportation.
Why Autonomous Vehicles are Needed?
In this section, we have highlighted some of the major that encourage the development and deployment of autonomous vehicles in mobility −
Safety Enhancement
Safety Enhancement is one of the most significant need that drives the development of autonomous vehicles. It is well known that human errors while driving are the main causes of road accidents. The key reasons behind these human errors include poor judgement, distractions, intoxication, and fatigue. Autonomous vehicles use advanced technologies like AI and tools like smart sensors and cameras to monitor the surrounding environment and detect the obstacles faster than human drivers. Hence, autonomous vehicles significantly reduce the human driving errors and hence the road accidents.
Also, autonomous vehicles are equipped with a technology called ACAS (Advanced Collision Avoidance System) that makes the combined use of smart sensors like LiDAR, RADAR, cameras, etc. to detect possible collisions in advance and avoid them by controlling the speed and applying brakes autonomously. This system is meant for maintaining a safe distance between the vehicle and the vehicle in front of it.
These two practices significantly reduce both frequency and severity of road accidents and enhance the road safety.
Increased Mobility and Accessibility
Autonomous vehicles make the driving available for physically challenged and aged people who cannot drive otherwise. Therefore, mobility and accessibility are another major needs for development of autonomous vehicles.
Persons who cannot drive due to age or any physical disability can take the benefit from autonomous vehicles. Autonomous vehicles increase their mobility and independence in terms of transportation by providing door-to-door transportation facility without need for any assistance. Therefore, autonomous vehicles allow these people to involve in social activities and access services like healthcare, shopping, etc.
In rural and non-developed areas, where public transportation facilities are not available, autonomous vehicles can become a reliable and affordable option. In these areas, shared autonomous vehicles like robotaxi, autonomous cabs or buses can be used to provide transportation services either regular or on-demand basis. This facility can address the barriers in access to education, jobs, healthcare, etc. in areas where transportation is not readily available.
Traffic Congestion Reduction
In modern days, one of the biggest issues in transportation is traffic congestion, which results in significant wastage of time, fuel, and productivity. Autonomous vehicles are equipped with smart sensors that allow them to communicate with other vehicles and with the traffic control infrastructure to optimize the traffic flow on roads. This makes the commutes faster and reduces the problem of traffic jams.
Autonomous vehicles are also designed in a way that they strictly follow the traffic rules and avoid inefficient operations like unnecessary lane change, unsafe overtakes, over speeding, etc. This further helps reducing the traffic congestion.
Therefore, autonomous vehicles are also developed and deployed into the transportation infrastructure to reduce the traffic congestion.
Environmental Sustainability
Traditional and driver-operated vehicles produce emissions and pollutants, and they also have limited energy efficiency due to manual operation. This is another reason that arises needs for autonomous vehicles.
Autonomous vehicles give higher energy efficiency and reduces the carbon footprint of transportation. This is possible because autonomous vehicles are capable in maintaining optimal speeds, reducing idle time, and providing smooth acceleration. All these activities cause higher energy efficiency as compared to a human operated vehicle.
Some autonomous vehicles are battery-operated electric vehicles and hence they provide additional environmental benefits as compared to engine operated vehicles.
Autonomous vehicles further reduce the emissions caused due to traffic congestion by reducing stop-and-go traffic conditions, which is a major cause of pollution in urban areas.
Economic Benefits
Autonomous vehicles help in significant cost savings for consumers. As these vehicles optimize the fuel consumption, they reduce the fuel cost for vehicle owners. Additionally, autonomous vehicles improve the road safety and make the accidents less frequent and severe. Hence, they also reduce various costs like insurance premiums, repair costs, healthcare costs, etc.
In freight and logistics industries, autonomous vehicles can operate 24×7 without any break unlike human drivers need. This reduces the transportation time and increases the delivery speeds. Thus, it helps building a cost-effective and high-speed supply chain.
Real-Time Traffic Management
Autonomous vehicles are capable in collecting and processing large amount of traffic data in real-time. Hence, they can help managing the traffic by controlling the traffic signals dynamically. Autonomous vehicles also identify optimized routes to the destination, and prevent the traffic related bottlenecks.
Predictive Maintenance
Autonomous vehicles also reduce downtimes due to breakdowns through predictive maintenance. Autonomous vehicles use advanced diagnostics systems and smart sensors for continuous monitoring of engine health, tyre pressure, and other important components. If there are any potential issues in the vehicle that may cause any serious problems, the diagnostics system sends warnings to the vehicle operator in advance.
Conclusion
To conclude, autonomous vehicles help reduce potential issues in transportation industry and improve safety and mobility. These vehicles also reduce the fuel consumption and impacts on the environment. However, a complete deployment of autonomous vehicles in the transportation sector is subjected to several technical, regulatory, ethical, and reliability concerns.
Read the next chapter to get a good understanding of the advantages of using autonomous vehicles.