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Yes, will the future of driving be fully autonomous? Will one day, all driving will become AI driven, and human driving become illegal? With more technologies build into newer cars, it seem to me that that day maybe getting closer and closer. "Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist" in my last and current cars had saved me from a few accidents, "Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist" has also been activated so many times in the MSCPs. What are the advantages and disadvantages? Well, I think that traffic will be alot smoother, since every car will be travelling at the speed limit and gap distances. Eliminate speeding, road hogging, tailgating, play jam brake, behind car in the next lane speed up when you signal to change lane. Maybe also reduce the chances of highway accidents and jams so that we are on time most of the time. Then, speed cameras and traffic light cams will become useless, ERP will no longer be required. No need traffic police to hide on the overhead bridges, lesser road accidents also means reduce workload for medical and health care workers, etc etc etc. But but but, it also means no summons and no thank you for the nation building fund, and the Monies must come from somewhere else. Will i live to see it happen, maybe not. so can you accept it?

There's something strange in the neighbourhood... Well, I've discovered something interesting during my baby fetching duties... Near a childcare, I noticed that there was this place called "Motional", which was shuttered most of the time. When it's open, there are a lot of people who don't seem to let others see what's inside. I just assumed it was a warehouse and I didn't pay much attention or google the name until one day, when I did a very late pick up on a Saturday and I noticed the cars inside.. It's none other than the car that will be our local flagship in due time... and my interested was piqued.. I then google the company and they are a company which does testing of driver-less cars all over the world and now they are in Singapore! https://motional.com/news/motional-opens-new-singapore-operations-facility-expands-international-testing So we might be one of the places to try this out .. And I am also keen on the Ioniq here, and it does look much better than some of the earlier EVs available..

(File photo: AFP/Daniel Roland) SINGAPORE: A set of provisional national standards to guide the safe deployment of fully autonomous vehicles in Singapore has been enhanced following a review, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Standards Council (SSC) announced on Friday (Sep 3). These standards - in the form of technical reference (TR) 68 - will now include new guidelines on the application of machine learning, software updates management, cybersecurity principles and testing framework. This will enable the autonomous vehicles to keep pace with recent technology advancements, and further smoothen the transition from development to operationalisation of the autonomous vehicles, said LTA and SSC in a joint media release. “It also provides updated safety guidelines for the test-bedding of AV (autonomous vehicle) solutions on Singapore roads. To facilitate the co-creation of smart mobility solutions and enhance AV interoperability among different service providers, the revised standards feature updates to data types and formats,” both parties added. This follows a review conducted from March 2020 and July this year by four working groups appointed by the SSC, and overseen by Enterprise Singapore. The review was led by the industry and supported by the LTA, said the SSC and LTA. TR 68 was first published in 2019 and since then, more than 200 enterprises have accessed the TR 68, said LTA and SSC. “The TR provides guidance to industry players in their deployment and deployment of AV solutions and helps to build up Singapore’s AV ecosystems which includes start-ups, SMEs, and testing inspection and certification service providers.” The Singapore Manufacturing Federation - Standards Development Organisation will be scheduling a workshop in October to help companies understand and implement TR 68 effectively. Source - CNA: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/autonomous-vehicles-tr68-enhanced-national-standards-safe-2153946 -------------------- Does this mean that we will be seeing more AVs on sg roads in the near future? What are your thoughts on driverless cars/vehicles on high traffic roads i.e expressways and major road junctions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh67v56iqQALast year Mercedes-Benz showed off a futuristic truck concept fitted with an autonomous system dubbed the Highway Pilot that enabled it to drive itself along stretches of highway, safely and efficiently. And this year the automaker showed an updated version of the concept, one that more closely resembled a production truck, and demonstrated its self-driving capabilities on some Nevada roads. Now Mercedes is showing a production-ready truck equipped with the Highway Pilot, both to the media and German government officials. The truck is one of Mercedes’ Actros models, and it’s the first production-ready truck to drive autonomously on a highway. The special drive took place this week on a stretch of German Autobahn between Denkendorf and Stuttgart Airport. Behind the wheel was Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler’s head of trucks and buses, and in the passenger seat was Winfried Kretschmann, the Prime Minister of the German state Baden-Württemberg. Right now the truck is only allowed to travel autonomously in a test phase but according to Mercedes the technology is ready for production. For its initial test, Bernhard drove the truck from a service station out onto the Autobahn. As soon as the truck entered the flowing traffic in the right-hand lane, its Highway Pilot switched on and was able to take over full vehicle operation. During the test, the truck meticulously kept to its lane and maintained the optimum distance to the vehicle in front of it. When the truck finally reached the exit for Stuttgart Airport, it asked Bernhard to take control. The test was then repeated in the opposite direction. Along the way there were road works to deal with. At this point, the truck in advance asked Bernhard to take control. Once the truck cleared the road works, however, Bernhard was able to reengage the Highway Pilot system. Crucially, if there was no reaction from Bernhard, the truck would bring itself to a standstill independently and safely, Mercedes says. Making this all possible are complex computer processing and multi-sensor fusiontechnology. The sensors include radar and stereo camera monitoring systems capable of reading the road up to 820 feet ahead. As for when we might see something like the Highway Pilot system available in showrooms is still up in the air. The current hurdle is a familiar one: legislation. Mercedes says it is maintaining dialogue with all possible stakeholders in autonomous vehicles, from government officials to business owners, and suggests that some form of fully autonomous driving may be available by 2020.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJmTZ-TcMc Cool stuff. But i would like to drift myself thank you lol!

Many would have heard or read about Google's self-driving vehicles and they were the first to get a permit from the state of Nevada to test autonomous vehicles on public roads. Now it is Audi's turn to be granted a licence by the state of Nevada. The licence allows Audi to operate an autonomous vehicle on public roads. This is the third such licence issued out to companies that wishes to test autonomous vehicles on public roads. The second licence was issued out to tyre manufacturer, Continental late last year. This makes Audi, the first auto manufacturer to be issued out with such licence. Many might not know this but Audi has dabbled in autonomous vehicle technology before this. Audi teamed up with Stanford University and Volkswagen Group

Late last year, rumours of Lexus testing an autonomous car circulated on the internet and many thought that the Japanese luxury automaker will come up with a self-driving car just like what Google did. But, that is not actually true. Lexus actually unveiled an integrated safety research vehicle at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The unveiling is Toyota's ongoing development on new safety technologies. According to Toyota North America's corporate manager of business strategy, Jim Pisz, "The company will never have a truly autonomous car." He also mentioned that much of the technology in the research car is already in the 2013 Lexus LS. Jim Pisz further explained on one of the features in the integrated safety research vehicle which is the active cruise control which can slow a car down to a stop and then accelerate back to the speed set on the cruise control. The company also pointed out that a similar feature in a rival German automaker's car isn't as 'smart' when compared to their unit. Lexus affirms that the company would not fully devote its resources in a self driving vehicle. A driver-less car is just a part of the research. What they are focusing on is a vehicle fitted with advanced automated technologies and paired with an intelligent, always attentive driver whose skills would contribute to safer driving. The research vehicle (which is a Lexus LS) shown at the show is fitted with a 360 degree LIDAR (light detection and ranging) on top of the car's roof. It detects objects up to 70 metres away and it reads stop lights and also detects pedestrians. The research car's computers manage three core functions; recognition of images through its cameras and sensors, judgment based in real time, and operations that send the decision to the car. Each of these core functions help to make the driver safer and more skilled during driving.