The State of Autonomous Vehicle Safety

The Importance of Automotive Safety and Performance

Automotive vehicle safety features have come a long way since the invention of the seat belt and the manual emergency brake.

Current advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in more recent vehicle models, such as lane-keeping assist and automatic emergency braking, help prevent collisions on the road and further protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

The improvement of automotive safety and performance has been positive for reducing road fatalities. However, as new safety and performance technologies are being developed, the regulations and consumer education around them are not progressing at the same rate. This leaves owners of vehicles with ADAS systems feeling confused and distrustful of the safety and performance features in their cars.

A 2021 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey found that 80% of drivers wanted current vehicle safety systems, like automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance, to work better, noting the lack of confidence consumers feel around current offerings.

Safety Standards and Regulations for Current AV Technology

Government regulations and safety standards are slowly being implemented, but not at the pace at which AV technology is advancing. This is a challenge because new technologies exist today that have the potential to significantly improve the driving experience.

Consumers are left feeling anxious behind the wheel when their ADAS features activate, or they simply turn those capabilities off due to a lack of trust in the safety and accuracy of their systems.

Governmental organizations, like NHTSA, nonprofits and legislators are taking steps to improve consumer trust in vehicle safety, such as the proposed updates to the 5-Star Safety Ratings Program. These include developing a ratings system for ADAS technologies and strengthening current AV testing procedures.

These legislative strides play an important role in improving road safety and enabling the widespread adoption of new, life-saving automotive technologies. However, it is also the responsibility of automakers and manufacturers to utilize the latest technologies available in the market to enhance the safety and performance of their vehicles.

Automakers across the globe are realizing that GPR’s Ground Positioning RadarTM bridges the most important safety gaps in current ADAS systems that utilize combinations of camera, radar and lidar technologies.

Keep reading to learn about what differentiates GPR’s Ground Positioning RadarTM from other AV safety systems:

The New Age of ADAS Technology

Today’s ADAS Sensors

Camera

Cameras can see what humans see (e.g. color, sign shapes) to help avoid collisions.

Reliant on ambient light like humans, cameras cannot see in poor weather conditions or when the lens is dirty.

Most lane-keeping assist systems today rely on cameras looking at lane markings which can be worn, obscured, unreliable, or absent.

Forward Radar

Radar is not affected by sunlight conditions, and less affected by weather, but ice or snow buildup on the sensor takes it offline.

Sensing capabilities are at a lower resolution, and less accurate, than other sensors for telling an object’s shape correctly.

Radar is often more affordable than other sensors.

Lidar

Lidar can detect small objects far away in great detail for accurate and precise ADAS systems.

Proper functionality is impacted by poor weather conditions and changing visual environments, and when visual landmarks are unavailable or obscured. It is very expensive relative to other sensors.

Lidar accurately detects the shape of objects and emits its own light.

 

The benefits of current ADAS sensors, although critical for safety, are also limited to analyzing the visible conditions in front of and surrounding a vehicle. These visible conditions can be disrupted by weather and sunlight, as well as landmark changes. Current ADAS sensors also have common points of failure so there isn’t sufficient backup or uncorrelated data for functional safety.

For level 2+ automated vehicles to be reliable from city roads to highways to parking garages, their safety systems need to be able to perform in all conditions. This is why GPR created Ground Positioning RadarTM to sense below the road’s surface – so ADAS and AV systems can take safety to a deeper level.

Interested in a demo of GPR’s technology?

Ground Positioning RadarTM: Improving AV Technology Safety

GPR’s Ground Positioning RadarTM is a new sensing technology that performs well when today’s standard technologies, such as camera, radar and lidar systems, fall short. With GPR, automakers are ensuring the safe navigation of passenger vehicles on any road, in any condition, by using subterranean maps created with ground-penetrating radar.

GPR is the first company to use subsurface data for automated driving applications.

GPR maps are durable

Real-time scanning to create a detailed, long-lasting map of the road’s subsurface, even in tough weather conditions such as rain or snow.

GPR is accurate

Vehicle positioning based on matching subterranean data with GPR, enhancing safety without needing to depend on lane markings or changing surface environments.

GPR is reliable

GPR feeds a vehicle’s position directly into the navigation system for ADAS safety features that are always on.

 

For consumers to feel safe behind the wheel, automakers should utilize the best technologies available. Ground Positioning RadarTM helps automakers achieve the safety and performance needed as we head toward an autonomous driving future, no matter what environmental conditions or obstacles a vehicle encounters.

Contact us today to learn more about GPR and take your automated vehicle programs to the next level.