Luminar
Level 3 autonomous driving appears poised to debut in the US as soon as next year.
At the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show yesterday, Volvo announced that it intends to offer its Ride Pilot feature to customers in California, pending regulatory approval. The automaker has been testing the system in Sweden, and it will begin testing in California later this year. It plans to ship the feature with its forthcoming all-electric SUV, due in 2023.
Volvo chose California because “the climate, traffic conditions, and regulatory framework provide a favorable environment for the introduction of autonomous driving,” the company said.
The system will enable drivers to direct their attention to tasks other than driving, though they’ll still need to be prepared to take over when the vehicle requests intervention. What kind of tasks? Volvo mentions reading, writing, and working in its press release, but napping appears to be out of the question for now.
“We’re still being very purposely non-distinct in the wake-up time that we require,” Henrik Green, Volvo’s chief technology officer, told The Verge. “Taking a nap requires a wake-up time, so let’s see how far and when we can get there. You need to be able to assume control in a certain time and take back the driving responsibility.”
It’s unclear how Volvo will distinguish between a driver who is napping and one who is reading. Eye-tracking cameras are the most likely solution since nagging the driver periodically would defeat the purpose of Level 3 autonomy. We’ve reached out to Volvo for clarification.
Challenges ahead
Level 3 presents a challenging middle ground on the spectrum of autonomous driving. By definition, it will handle most circumstances, but it requires the driver to take over on relatively short notice. The system must identify handoff points early enough so the driver has time to reengage with the road. That can be difficult at high speeds, which is probably why Mercedes-Benz is limiting its Level 3 Drive Pilot system to 37 mph (60 km/h) and only enabling it on geofenced portions of highways.
Other companies like Cruise and Waymo are skipping Level 3 entirely and going for Level 4. With those systems, the vehicle must be able to drive itself and monitor its surroundings—there’s no expectation for the human driver to take control in favorable circumstances. In unfavorable conditions, like blizzards, humans may still have to drive. Only with Level 5 are human drivers never required.
Many cars today offer Level 2 autonomy. These advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, handle functions like automated cruise control and lane-keeping, but drivers typically have to keep their hands on the wheel. Even more sophisticated systems like GM’s Super Cruise and Ford’s Blue Cruise still require drivers to keep their eyes on the road.
Sensor suite
To enable Level 3 autonomy, Volvo’s forthcoming EV will be outfitted with one lidar scanner, five radar units, eight cameras, and 16 ultrasonic sensors. Inside the vehicle, software from Zenseact, a Volvo spinoff, will fuse data from the various sensors to provide a view of the road.
The lidar sensor will be Luminar’s Iris model, which is going into mass production this year. The company claims that its lasers can reliably spot objects at 250 meters. They operate at 1550 nm, a significantly longer wavelength than most others, which typically use 905 nm lasers. Luminar chose the longer wavelength because it’s less likely to be dangerous to people’s eyes, allowing them to use higher-power lasers, though how safe 1550 nm lasers are appears to be an open question.
Volvo plans to offer Ride Pilot as a subscription rather than a one-time purchase. That model will give the company access to recurring revenue—something many other automakers are chasing, too—but Green, the CTO, claims it will also allow more people access to the feature. “Not everybody sits on a big amount of cash available,” he told The Verge. “Subscription is a very low hurdle you can try out.”
