TECHNOLOGY
On the Road Again…but Different HENRY CANADAY
Imagine this: The time wasted while driving to pros- pect sites can be converted into highly productive office time. Reps could communicate by phone, fax, email, or even Web conferences; do research on the Web; prepare presentations; or run busi- ness-case simulations – in the car.
Science fiction, you say? Well, no. It isn’t. Because safer, smarter road time is coming to a salesperson near you. But, wait – there’s more. What if sales managers did not have to worry about star reps who might not have the best driving records? Or, more importantly, what if reps and their families did not have to worry about road mishaps when driving to pros- pects in bad weather on unfamiliar roads – and often in a big hurry? This is all going to happen as sales reps – along with all other drivers
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– move to autonomous vehicles, or AVs for short.
What exactly is an AV? It’s a car with a bunch of sensors: GPS, odometers to refine GPS, ultrasonics for seeing close-in objects, radar to spot other vehicles, video cameras to read traffic signs, and something called LIDAR that monitors surrounding conditions. Data from these sensors is used by a computer (which need be no bigger than a laptop) to drive the car. AVs have five levels of automation: • Level 1: a car with no automation
– the level we’ve been at for more than a century.
• Level 2: automation takes over some functions, such as braking while drivers steer.
• Level 3: drivers monitor systems that do everything, but may need help in an emergency.
• Level 4: AVs drive themselves in most road conditions.
• Level 5: AVs are automatic in all possible conditions.
We’re moving down the road quickly toward Levels 4 and 5. Forty- five U.S. states have some regulations allowing testing of AVs, and the U.S. Congress is debating a law to encour- age their development. The aim is safety. Driver error causes or contrib- utes to 94 percent of U.S. accidents. AVs are not perfect yet, but
results are encouraging. California has licensed more than 50 firms – including famous automakers, IT giants, and little-known start-
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