Self-driving cars seem like a thing of the future & well, to be honest, they are exactly that, at least for now. That’s because no significant progress has been seen in this field during the past few years.
Although major companies such as Alphabet, Tesla, Baidu, GM & Ford have invested billions of euros into this segment, the results are far from desirous.
What Are The Problems Being Faced By Such Companies?
This leads us to the question that if so much investment has been made into this field by such major players, why are they still biting the dust? Here are a few reasons:
Complexities Of Urban Driving
The complexity of the system itself is a major hurdle. While these service providers have been able to operate in certain confined locations, the overall use in the open world out there still haunts them.
No Laws Regarding Self-Driving Cars
Another reason why the progress is very slow is the lack of clarity when it comes to legal action that might be taken in case of an accident.
The biggest question in this regard that who is responsible in case a self-driving car undergoes an accident. Will the car be responsible for the accident or will the company running this service be blamed?
This is a major problem because thousands of road accidents take place every day so how can self-driving cars be an exception.
Expensive Vehicles
The third reason which is keeping these cars from being popular is their price tags. These are advanced machines and thus require a heavy investment of over €93,500 (£79,500) on average.
A Perplex Driving Model
Experts say that teaching self-driving car the rules of the road, block by block for each city is a highly perplexing task. This is one of the major reasons hampering the progress of self-driving cars.
Argo Trial In Cities
A ray of hope for the segment of self-driving cars was recently seen due to Argo AI’s recent announcement.
The company claims that it has already started driverless testing in two US cities which are Austin and Miami. However, it is to be kept in mind that the service is currently available only to the company’s employees.
Argo AI is developing its system to be used in a total of eight different cities spread across the US and Germany.
Argo AI is backed by Ford and VW. Fans of self-driving cars have high hopes for the company and it has the capital and the resolve to do something big in this segment.
You can check out this video if you want to take a look at how the Argo self-driving vehicle runs.
Which Other Companies Are Working In This Field?
Waymo is the only company that is presently offering its self-driving car services to customers. It offers its services within an 80 km radius in the US area of Phoenix. The services can be used through the company’s smartphone app.
Cruise is another company that is working on self-driving cars in the US. It is unique in that to give potential customers a taste of how it feels to be onboard a self-driving car, the company is providing free rides for now during the overnight time.
Motional is another AV company from the United States. However, it is based in Las Vegas. This company has been offering an autonomous driving option for the past several years now. However, the presence of a driver behind the wheel is still a must.
The company however seems confident about offering a completely autonomous driving option by 2023 for Las Vegas.
Lack Of Infrastructure
Lack of infrastructure is a major problem for the development of self-driving vehicles.
Not much attention is being given to this segment at the government level even in first world countries which is why the field hasn’t seen much progress.
Role Of Cavnue
A startup dubbed Cavnue is however an exception in this regard. The company is working hard to establish a network of connected roads and corridors to be used by self-driving cars.
This company has started its project in Michigan, thanks to the €121.6 million (£103.31 million) raised by Series A financing.
What Kinds Of Corridors Will These Be?
Only time will tell how things end up but for now, the company is planning to have specialized corridors which will have roadside sensors. These sensors will constantly communicate with the modems fitted into the automated vehicles.
The sensors will keep guiding the AVs about the road condition ahead. This data can include but might not be limited to information about congestion, construction work, potholes or any other obstruction.
This data will not just make AVs safer but also more viable for being used on a day to day basis.
Final Verdict
We expect that more companies like Canvue will soon pop up to help the struggling AV segment.
Proper attention at the government level is also required, without which the billions of euros invested by tech giants will go down the drain.
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