Emerging Tech Trends: What’s Next
Heinz-Peter Beckemeyer, a director at Texas Instruments, discusses the trends powering innovations in the automotive world.
In our lifetimes, it’s likely we’ll experience driving or riding in a self-driving car, which will probably be an electric vehicle (EV). While the exact timeline for these cars becoming mainstream is still up for debate, auto manufacturers and tech companies are dedicated to making self-driving EVs a reality.
Self-driving electric cars bring together two rapidly advancing technologies: autonomous driving and affordable electric cars with quick charging and long ranges. By incorporating advanced electronics, these cars will also become safer, more comfortable, and better connected, leading to a transportation revolution in just a few design cycles.
This revolution aims to reduce vehicle weight, improve performance, boost energy efficiency, and enhance safety, comfort, and convenience.
The journey toward automated driving and vehicle electrification occurs in multiple stages. The SAE J3016 standard describes five levels of autonomous driving, from no automation (level 0) to full self-driving capability (level 5). Some features of the lower levels are already in production cars, like dynamic stability control (level 1), adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping (level 2), and limited self-driving features for specific scenarios like parking or emergency driver incapacitation (level 3).
These features, along with advanced information and warning systems collectively known as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), enhance safety and convenience. For example, ADAS features like rear or surround-view cameras help drivers see blind spots, and machine vision-based systems use sensors to detect objects and potential hazards, alerting drivers through visual, haptic, or acoustic signals.
Some ADAS systems can even perform basic maneuvers, like steering back into the lane’s center or stopping the car if a pedestrian walks in front. For higher levels of automation, many sensors and subsystems need to work together in real-time, a process known as sensor fusion.
Vehicle electrification is also progressing in stages, offering various levels of electric operation to help consumers get used to the technology. Each EV category builds on the features of the one before it, increasingly reducing fuel consumption.
The development of automated driving and vehicle electrification complement each other because both rely heavily on advanced electronics. In many cases, systems for acceleration and stopping might be shared, and sensing, computing, and communication resources might overlap for both functions. Additionally, ADAS-driven automation often supports energy efficiency, one of the main goals of electrification. For instance, adaptive cruise control can help maintain steady fuel consumption, avoiding the inefficiency of frequent acceleration and braking.
To pave the way for vehicle automation, ADAS technology relies on extensive sensing and imaging from cameras, ultrasound, radar, and lidar. As the number of ADAS technologies increases, so does the need for high-bandwidth communications, powerful image and signal processing, and smart control. This information needs to be processed instantly to ensure effective vehicle operation.
