THE ROCKY ROAD TO AUTONOMOUS DRIVING

ADVANCED ADAS FEATURES NEED A SET OF PARAMETERS TO FUNCTION SMOOTHLY. DUSTY INDIAN STREETS WITH CHAOTIC TRAFFIC OFTEN CAUSE THEM TO STALL OR MALFUNCTION

- YOGENDRA PRATAP

Autonomous driving seems to be the Holy Grail for many of the established players in terms of the future of cars, and comprises a number of ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance System) components that together give a car the ability to drive by itself. The quantum and type of assistance provided has been categorised at various levels, ranging from ADAS Level 0 to 5, depending on the number of assistance subsystems used. Level 5 equates to self-driving cars and has been achieved by many manufacturers, though legal clearance to operate the cars without drivers is another matter entirely. While Google’s erstwhile self-driving car project that was spun off as Waymo got the first official licence to run cars without safety drivers as taxis in Nevada, in most places, the law mandates that there be someone in the driver’s seat and with their hands on the steering wheel even if the car is equipped with all the systems to drive by itself.

While a lot of premium vehicles, including those being assembled in India, have been equipped with ADAS Level 3 and Level 4 for some time now, a number of mass-market manufacturers, including Hyundai Motor, Mahindra, MG Motor and now Tata Motors, have started adding various ADAS technologies to their cars, even in the segments of cars below Rs 20 lakh.