Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Instead of trying to design fully automated vehicles from scratch, the way forward might be to adapt limited technologies that have already proven themselves in specific settings, and gradually add capability.
Why it matters: Adapting new technology from successful use-cases where safety is paramount, like in mining, could assuage public concerns about AVs, and accelerate AV development and production.
How it works: AV development and production could be rooted in successful deployment in constrained environments and then scaled up from there.
- For example, AVs are already used in limited defense applications, in mines, and in factories.
- Next they could be scaled up for closed circuits in retirement community and long haul trucking circuits.
- Eventually they could be highway-ready, and finally, there could be self-driving passenger vehicles suitable for all roads.
What's happening: Some of the first milestones of autonomy have already been achieved, like geo-fenced, low-speed autonomous driving, automatic emergency braking, and repetitive tasks in mining.
- In the heavy equipment industries, such as mining and construction, it's common to use AVs for repetitive tasks like moving material from one destination to another.
- Autonomous drones used to monitor construction projects, handle land surveys, and watch over resource management have crossover applications in business services such as delivery, agriculture, and security.
- May mobility is currently looking at use cases and testing in controlled environments, like a shuttle service in Rhode Island.
Flashback: Public expectations for passenger-ready, fully autonomous vehicles don't have a strong historical analogy.
- While smartphones come with fewer safety concerns, they followed a common pattern. The first smartphones did enough advanced tasks well enough to gain popularity. Then, as updates to software and hardware improved performance, gradually became "the hub of everything [people] do online."
The bottom line: The best way to ensure that autonomous vehicle technology is passenger-ready before it goes into production may be to continue improving incrementally.
Bibhrajit Halder is the CEO of SafeAI, an AV technology startup focused on industrial AVs. He is also a member of GLG, a platform connecting businesses with industry experts.