VIEWPOINT Autonomous vehicles The road to autonomy
As automation becomes the future of ITS, Giles Perkins, the Business Development Director of Mouchel’s Intelligent Transport Business asks what it’ll mean for our networks
millions, if not billions of people. Generally, once a generation, a game-
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changing breakthrough causes a sig- nificant shift in the way in which society behaves and interacts and for each break- through a lifecycle plays out. In the case of intelligent transport, tech-
nology is playing an ever more significant role in people’s lives, however the percep- tion of the general public is that it’s been a case of gradual evolution, rather than revo- lution, in their driving experience. Whilst always seen as ‘years away’ there’s
no denying that with the emergence of driver aids, vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehi- cle to infrastructure (V2I) communica- tions and ultimately vehicle autonomy, highways networks are on the cusp of change.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME For each and every generation technologi- cal changes have occurred that have had a significant impact on the way in which society functions and over time, evolves. For each breakthrough an adoption lifecy- cle plays out;
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ince the industrial revolution there have been regular changes in tech- nology that influence the lives of
the development of a tech- nology or solution which either improves a process or provides society with some- thing completely new. the gradual take up of the technology by early adopters who prove (or disprove) its value with a parallel up- scaling of production by a small number of suppliers. a process of improve- ment of the technology and its market as the manufacturer and user base increases. into the everyday, with the technology firmly integrated into soci- ety with corresponding mass consump- tion. By way of illustration, some simple
examples can help consider how innova- tion has shaped society: the devel- opment of AC technology in the early 20th century meant that electricity could be transmitted over much longer distances spelling the end for gas lighting, revolu- tionising both society and the economy. the development of the ‘Chorleywood’ dough process in the 1960s revolutionised commercial bread production and is now used for 80% of production in the UK, Australia and India.
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when video recording moved from broadcast into the 1970s home a format battle commenced between Betamax, VHS and Philips 2000 revolutionising home entertainment. VHS became the standard despite being physi- cally larger and of a lesser quality. The adoption lifecycle holds true across
most technological advances but mustn’t be underestimated. No amount of ‘crystal ball gazing’ can accurately predict an out- come or indeed society’s ultimate embrace (for example the Sinclair C5 ‘personal car’) and of course, there’s always the risk that an innovation is ultimately replaced through obsolescence, as in the case of VHS. In the case of ITS, technology has played
an ever more significant role over recent decades, but from the public perspective, but it’s been a case of gradual evolution rather than impactful revolution with most experiencing a series of incremental improvements to their vehicles and driv- ing experience (safety, efficiency, informa- tion and comfort).
DOES CHANGE MEAN CHALLENGE? Vehicle manufacturers, working closely with OEM ‘sub-system’ suppliers, have been introducing many ‘technological
Vol 2 No 1 smartHIGHWAYS
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