Automated Vehicle Essay PDF

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Automated Vehicles Imagine being able to play a game and drive at the same time. While this may seem like a joke, but it may be a reality soon. Driverless cars, which are also known as self-driving or autonomous vehicles are not a new concept, their origin goes back centuries. According to Weber (2014), Leonardo da Vinci wrote an excellent plan for a robotic cart capable of powering itself in the 15th century. Advances in AI and technology enabled a new wave of driverless vehicles, and various car brands from all over the world, spearheaded by Google and Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Alphabet, Google's parent company (Prigg, 2016). The author adds that Google has been working on its self-driving car project since 2009, and was the first company to put a fully driverless car on a public road in Austin, Texas back in October 2015. The cars do not need gas pedals or steering wheels, they are a combination of lasers, radars, and cameras without any human intervention. Although, it looks like a great option in the first place, nonetheless, a survey by Smith, Anderson (2017) showed that over half of Americans (54%) are still skeptical about being on the road with fully self-driving cars. Therefore, this expresses significant concern and shows there are many areas that why should not all the vehicle be automated. The vehicle could become a target for hackers to misuse it. Considering the structure of these kinds of cars, that use sensor, lasers, and technologies which enable them to communicate with each other and even with the infrastructure around them like traffic lights and buildings. Though, some safety experts are concerned that adding numerous points of connectivity and selfdriving technologies into vehicles will make driverless cars extremely vulnerable to hacking and software glitches (Allen, 2017). Hence, the more connections, the more control hackers could have over a vehicle once they gain access to it. Greenberg (2015) wrote, a group of hackers examined this deficiency years ago. They remotely took control of the air-conditioning, radio,

and windshield wipers of a Jeep Cherokee. Even they went further and could "track a targeted Jeep's GPS coordinates, measure its speed, and even drop pins on a map to trace its route" (Greenberg, 2015). After the result, the automaker ‘Jeep' recalled 1.4 million of their cars. Security isn't the only problem with autonomous cars however, their potential impact on jobs is shocking. As more and more driverless cars start to appear on the roads many jobs could be lost. There is a long list of these careers. For instance, truck, taxi, Uber, delivery, and school drivers. Williams (2017) argued that around 688,000 people work in car rental, maintenance, repair and cleaning, road construction and taxi and bus services across the UK, contributing a mass amount of money to the economy each year. Similarly, Farming, manufacturing, and construction workers could be replaced by specific driverless vehicles. Additionally, according to Commonwealth Parliament, Parliament House (2017) "a confluence of technological, socioeconomic and demographic drivers will displace 5.1 million jobs across 15 major economies by 2020." However, there are arguments that driverless cars can be resilient vehicles whose security can be managed throughout their lifetime (Shaikh, Cheah, 2017). One of the great ways to protect automated cars from growing cyber threats is by building a strong security system into the design of the vehicle just like an Antiviruses for computers. This means, for example, they should be checked regularly ensuring that there are no conflicts, errors or viruses in each component. The US Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) published a guideline on vehicle cybersecurity (Cybersecurity Guidebook for Cyber-Physical Vehicle Systems J3061_201601, 2016). They Suggested a comprehensive framework and principle that can be used when designing, verifying, and validating cyber-physical cars systems to keep both the vehicles and passengers safe. In contrast, as much as the technology improved and automakers apply

sophisticated cybersecurity systems on their cars, on the opposite, malware and malicious hackers in parallel will find new ways to gain unauthorized and unlawful access to vehicle systems. Moreover, some believe that automated cars have the opportunity to make significant economic and employment benefits. A study by Australia and New Zealand Driverless Vehicle Initiative(ADVI) on autonomous vehicles employment impact estimated that there would be a net increase of 7,456 new jobs per annum directly employed within the industry and 8,472 indirect jobs per annum as a result of investment in this area. That is a total net jobs increase of 1,991jobs per annum for 2018-2025 (Haratist, Carmichael, Courtney, Fong, n.d.). Conversely, the study also admitted that the key job losses are in transport, postal and warehousing industries with an intensive employment decrease in trucking and freight transport industries. While the driverless car industry is rapidly expanding, however, there are some drawbacks attached to it. Increasing unemployment and security issues are key concerns addressed why should not all the vehicles be automated. As a consequence, we are still in the first step of this technology and for sure much work needs to be done. These vehicles can bring great benefits and intended effects which are difficult to predict. Besides, technology is coming either way, and change is inescapable. But major disruptions and problems should be anticipated and avoided to pave the way for a better future while enabling beneficial technologies.

References

Allen, V. (2017, November 10). Driverless cars are at 'real risk' of being hacked and having their brakes remotely applied when introduced to Britain. Mail Online. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5071359/Driverless-cars-realrisk-

hacked.html

article-4030590/The-blind-man-convinced-Google-launch-self-driving-car-firm-Steve-Mahanrevealed-person-ride-without-Google-engineer-board-says-like-driving-good-driver.html Commonwealth Parliament, & Parliament House. (2017, September 11). 5. Employment. Retrieved from https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House /Industry_Innovation_Science_and_Resources/Driverless_vehicles/Report/section?id=co mmittees/reportrep/024056/24940. Greenberg, A. (2015). After jeep hack, chrysler recalls 1.4M vehicles for bug fix. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2015/07/jeep-hack-chrysler-recalls-1-4mvehicles-bug-fix/ Prigg, M. (2016, December 13). The blind man that convinced Google to launch a self-driving car firm: steve mahan revealed as first person to ride without a google engineer on board (and he says it was 'like driving with a very good driver'). Mail Online. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ J3061: Cybersecurity Guidebook for Cyber-Physical Vehicle Systems - SAE International. (0AD). Retrieved from https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j3061_201601/. Smiths, A & Anderson, M. (2017, October 4). American's attitudes toward driverless vehicles. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewinternet.org/2017/10/04/americans-attitudes-toward-driverless-vehicles/

Weber, M. (2014, May 08). Where to? A history of autonomous vehicles. Computer History Museum. Retrieved from https://computerhistory.org/blog/where-to-a-history-ofautonomous-vehicles/?key=where-to-a-history-of-autonomous-veWilliams, R. (2017, November 10). Driverless cars: The arguments for and against. I News. Retrieved from https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/when-will-we-becomecomfortable- with-driverless-cars-517897...