Emergence of the Autonomous Car Technology

Question: Describe about the Emergence of the Autonomous Car Technology. Answer: Historical issues: The background of the study explains the emergence of the autonomous car technology. The first successful autonomous car was introduced in the market during the 1980 (Geiger et al., 2012). Since that time, several research organizations as well as corporations have worked relentlessly towards the development of the prototype autonomous cars. The advancement in the technologies in the automobile industry has led to the development of the autonomous car technology that can offer greater reliability as well as safety than the cars in earlier period. As per reports, the inattention of the driver can be considered as one of the most important factors that can lead to 25% of the road accidents. The use of the autonomous cars however can increase the level of safety and help in relieving stress by using the automatics. The driver of an autonomous car can pay less attention to different situations related to the road traffic and thereafter identify the signs of an approaching accident. Howev er, from the perspective of safety both the autonomous cars and the manual cars have no decisive benefit over one another. However, the emergence of the autonomous car technology is also free from criticism as it is believed that the refined system of engineering can also not be associated to the level of complexity of the human brain (Ota et al., 2012). Figure 1: Consumer Preference towards the autonomous car technology Source: (Operations Research and Financial Engineering, 2016). Several surveys conducted on the autonomous car technology reveal the fact that the more number of consumers trust driverless automated vehicles. Facts and figures on the matter indicate that more than half of the global population that is around 57% of the consumers worldwide prefer the automated cars (Advisory, Assurance, Tax, Transaction Services, 2016). The above figures indicate the country wise preference towards the driverless cars and want their kids to ride the same. Figure 2: Trend Indicators Source: (Operations Research and Financial Engineering, 2016) In addition to this, surveys and researches conducted by UN World Urbanization Prospects, Navigant Research and many others reflects the fact that the introduction of the autonomous vehicles has brought about a paradigm shift to the entire mobility ecosystem. The researchers conducted by different agencies worldwide reveals the fact 95% of the road accidents are primarily caused due to the different human errors. Furthermore, there are several other reasons that have initiated the need and the preference for the Autonomous Car Technology (Inventivio - Innovative Software Products, 2016). Timeline of the driverless shows that the introduction of the automated cars was first introduced in the market during 1939 at the time when General Motors first presented the concept. Thereafter the concept further evolved with emergence with more advanced technologies. The diagram below explains the gradual evolution of the autonomous car technology with time. Figure 3: Timeline of the evolution of the driverless car technology Source: (Inventivio - Innovative Software Products, 2016). Impact of the environment Political As rightly put forward by Beiker (2012), the political factors affecting the car industry concentrates on the primary rules and regulations, laws, measures of security and at the same time different restrictions that can be implemented to the industry as a whole. The government interventions depend on several situations and encompasses around lowering levels of taxes, rates of interest and the economic devaluation. The government in United States upholds the technological advancements to improve overall economic circumstances. For instance, Ford uses government incentives for supporting environment friendly products as well as sustainability. The developing nations also require political intervention for the development of the infrastructure especially the transportation infrastructure for increasing the demand for these technologically advanced vehicles (Jo et al., 2015). The governing units of United States normally do not prohibit the introduction of the automated vehicles. Howeve r, the District of Columbia has enforced laws that adequately address the operations of the autonomous vehicles. Again, the Nevada Legislature passed different laws in order to authorize the process of utilizing the autonomous cars. In accordance to the law, the governing units such as the laid down by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles is responsible for setting safety and performance standards and the agency is responsible for designating areas where autonomous cars may be tested (Floreano Wood, 2015). Economic The economic factors that affect the autonomous car industry include the growth rate of the US economy, high rate of growth of different developing markets and the strengthened value of dollar (Anderson et al., 2014). The economic factors are dissimilar and are associated to different rate of exchange, global economical growth and different business settings that in turn affect the industry. The high rate of cars manufactured at a particular period of time can lead to an increase in the revenue and development of new and advanced products. The automobile industry in the country faced a surplus of approximately 80% capacity during the year 2004 that again froze to 1.4 billion euro of the automobile sector (Anderson et al., 2014). Again, the prices of the automobile industry have not decreased much owing to the fall in the rate of inflation. A crucial factor that affects the external price elasticity is reliance on oil. In addition to this, the high prices of petrol do not lead to a decrease in demand of automobiles as more number of cars is fuelefficient. The autonomous cars are nowadays more fuel efficient than the older products and offers the consumers an opportunity to save money. Furthermore, the currency alterations have an immense impact on the overall competitiveness as well as supplies of the selected products and services in this increasingly developing global m arket. Social The social factors that affect the autonomous car industry include the alterations in the culture, tastes and preferences, demographics, pattern of purchasing and capacity among many others. The social factors that affect the autonomous car industry include: Outlook of the consumer towards the label of the autonomous car Demographics of the consumers. For instance, a person having a big family can prefer a big and spacious car to suit the entire family (Kritayakirana Gerdes, 2012). Changes in the purchasing pattern of the consumers are also affected by the economic recessions. The economic recessions affect the entire market and at the same time affect the purchasing power of the consumers. Technological The technological factors that are associated to the autonomous car industry include the following: technology involved in the process of reduction of the emissions of the CO2 and the reduction of the overall speed of the loss of the battery The autonomous cars that can successfully detect surroundings can make use of the advanced techniques that include the radar, GPS, computer vision, lidar as well as GPS among many others The autonomous cars that maintain self control can appropriately interpret different sensory information for the purpose of identification of the navigation paths, barriers as well as applicable signage. Environmental The technological innovations associated to the autonomous cars can lead to improvement of the lives of people in the society. However, the autonomous cars or else the driverless vehicles can affect the entire environment of the society (Geiger et al., 2012). The autonomous cars can be represented as the scene as well as the possible solution to different climate alteration. However, the developed nations were ultimately successful in curbing the rate of carbon emissions and penetrate into an innovative paradigm of eco-friendly path technology. Moral and ethical issues In case of the autonomous cars, the drivers are compelled to arrive at moral as well as ethical decisions that can influence both the safety of their own and that of the others. The drivers also need to operate faster than the speed limit to remain consistent with the traffic flow. The practical factors and moral elements in the process of decision making make use of combination of different sensors as well as pre-programmed judgment in order to evaluate and at the same time react to diverse situations. The different situations include sharing paths with different other cars or vehicles, pedestrians and many others. Therefore, drivers in the autonomous cars can take into consideration the concerns among different technologists as well as ethicists (Beiker, 2012). Cultural Implications The autonomous car technology has brought about a change in the society form of mobility. The driverless cars have radically altered the cities and have introduced new forms of business as well self employment opportunities. Nowadays, the driverless cars can be used for saving the gas as well as electricity by carrying a package on the roads, advertiser sponsored trips and many others. The self driving cars have also generated a new car culture as these cars have become a place to live in and not merely a device that can carry people from one place to another. Consumers can use the high quality music systems, speakers; enjoy the benefit of teleconferencing, gain the advantage of wireless plans based on cars provided by different carriers as well as Wi-Fi providers. The technologically advanced cars have changed the entire trips of the cars. The families have also become more furnished to take pleasurable trips and sit in silence and stay connected to different devices. Again, the sel f-driving car owners can subscribe to different specially made tours generated by others. The earlier generations utilized cars for different make-out sessions at drive-in theatres; however, the next generations can possibly hook up at the time people are driving. Conclusion and Recommendation In conclusion it can be said that the autonomous car industry is immensely affected by different components of the environment that include the political, social and cultural, economic, technological as well as environmental. At the beginning, the present study elucidates in detail the background or else the historical issues associated to the emergence of the autonomous cars in the market. Consequently, the present study illustrates different factors of the environment that exerts immense impact on the overall industry of autonomous cars. Different facets of the business environment therefore help in understanding that the autonomous car industry can help in creation of revolution of the transportation industry both economically as well as culturally. References Advisory, Assurance, Tax, Transaction Services. (2016).Ey.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://www.ey.com Anderson, J. M., Nidhi, K., Stanley, K. D., Sorensen, P., Samaras, C., Oluwatola, O. A. (2014).Autonomous vehicle technology: A guide for policymakers. Rand Corporation. Beiker, S. A. (2012). Legal aspects of autonomous driving.Santa Clara L. Rev.,52, 1145. Floreano, D., Wood, R. J. (2015). Science, technology and the future of small autonomous drones.Nature,521(7553), 460-466. Geiger, A., Lenz, P., Urtasun, R. (2012). Are we ready for autonomous driving? the kitti vision benchmark suite. 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