Unit 2: Vocabulary from Readings 3

Coelingh, Volvo's head of safety and driver assist technologies, was in a simulator, iPad in hand, swiping this way and that as the “car” drove itself, when he heard an alert telling him to take the wheel. He found the timing less than opportune.

Coelingh, Volvo's head of safety and driver assist technologies, was in a simulator, iPad in hand, swiping this way and that as the “car” drove itself, when he heard an alert telling him to take the wheel. He found the timing less than opportune.

Automakers also saw only incremental improvements in safety, convenience, and value by advancing from Level 2 autonomy—cars that can keep their lane and handle rush-hour gridlock—to more sophisticated systems that still require human intervention.

Level 3 seems like a natural evolution of the tech you find in Tesla’s Autopilot, which demands vigilance even if not everybody obeys.

More work for the robot, less for the human. But it’s a Herculean challenge for engineers and designers.

Google’s engineers soon realized those humans were lulled into paying zero attention, and that they were all but useless in such circumstances.

Self-driving cars promise to transform roadways. There'd be fewer traffic accidents and jams, say proponents, and greater mobility for people who can't operate a vehicle.

Leonard is working with Toyota to help cars respond safely in variable environments, while others are using data from cars’ onboard cameras to create up-to-date maps. “Modern algorithms run on data,” he says. “It’s their fuel.”

For the technology to catch on, decisions will have to incorporate moral judgments while still enticing consumers to embrace automation.

The demonstration proved that even conventional vehicles have vulnerabilities that, if exploited, could lead to accidents.

The demonstration proved that even conventional vehicles have vulnerabilities that, if exploited, could lead to accidents.

“The more computing permeates into everyday objects, the harder it is going to be to keep track of the vulnerabilities,” says Sean Smith, a computer scientist at Dartmouth College.

And while terrorists might want to crash cars, Smith can imagine other nefarious acts: For instance, hackers could disable someone’s car and hold it for ransom until receiving a digital payment.