Shift Magazine - July 22, 2019 - 20

Audi's Traffic Jam Pilot allows the driver to let the vehicle take control during stop-and-go situations, left. Dashboard messages, right,
alert the driver when the feature is available. The Audi A8 has the Traffic Jam Pilot components, but the feature is not activated in the
U.S. because of regulatory and other complications.

LEVEL 3 continued from p. 19
company that spun off from supplier
Autoliv and focuses on driver-assist and
automated-driving systems.
Determining how to measure the cognitive readiness of humans to retake responsibility has been the subject of new research.
But there is neither consensus nor regulation on how long drivers should be given to
accept a handoff. For Traffic Jam Pilot, Audi
had estimated drivers would be ready in 10
seconds. Others believe the time needed
is considerably longer.
"The driver shouldn't need to be reactivated faster than a couple of minutes,"
Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said in
November. "Otherwise, it's a very dangerous system. If you cannot do that, you
have a pilot-assist system like you have
today, which requires total supervision at
all times by the driver."
If driver-monitoring systems have
become necessary to enable Level 3,
20

shift * july 2019

they also represent something automakers prefer to avoid - cost.
Because automakers accept liability
when their systems are in charge, testing
and validation costs will be more expensive, as will be additional hardware on
vehicles in the form of computing power
and redundancy of actuators. Audi added
front-facing lidar as part of its Traffic Jam
Pilot package; it remains unclear whether
others will follow. Further, it remains
unclear whether motorists will value
these systems enough to bear the costs.

'EXPENSIVE AND LIMITED'

"That's a ton of stuff that's extremely
expensive, and when you think about it,
you still need to be aware of what's going
on as an end consumer in this system,"
Marnat says. "It's expensive and limited
in terms of usage. Maybe you see some
consumer benefit, but there's a trade-off
between how much you are willing to pay
for it, knowing you are still in the loop."

Some consumers might be prohibited
from using such features. In New York,
for example, state law requires drivers
to keep their hands on the wheel at all
times, a factor in Audi's decision to delay
the release of Traffic Jam Pilot.
As these issues are sorted out, automakers are rolling out more and more
advanced driver-assist features. Many in
the industry have latched onto the unofficial term "Level 2 Plus," which conveys
the idea that functionality of driver-assist
systems is improving. At the same time,
automakers are stopping short of accepting liability associated with Level 3.
"You feel the industry moving toward
this Level 2 Plus or 2 Plus Plus or 2 Plus
Plus Plus," Marnat laughs. "What is the
point where you stop being Level 2 Plus?"
Combine consumer acceptance with
cost, uncertain regulatory landscapes with
the thorny nature of control exchanges
and driver monitoring, and Level 3 remains
an elusive goal. n

Shift Magazine - July 22, 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - July 22, 2019