Autonomous Vehicles – The Present Future of Driverless Cars

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Autonomous Vehicles

The automotive segment for the semiconductor industry has been kept on limelight for quite a time now. With advancements the automobile sector at large is undergoing, the demand of next-gen chips, sensors and ICs are at a spree. ADAS, connected cars, Electric Vehicles (EVs) and yes, Autonomous vehicles or cars are the emerging sectors where semiconductor companies are bidding big. The System on Chip (SoC) designers has a vital opportunity waiting as Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips become more ubiquitous. Leading tech companies including, Google, Apple and social media giant Facebook are mulling to make the Autonomous Vehicles or cars to the roads.  Testing and also ahead research for Autonomous Vehicles are in process, how will the next driverless cars look, there is still a skeptic but yes the reports states it’s going to be in near future.

The History of Autonomous Connected With Leonardo da Vinci

da Vinci’s Self-Propelled Cart—c. 1500  Centuries before the invention of the automobile, Leonardo da Vinci designed a cart that could move without being pushed or pulled. Springs under high tension provided the power to the cart, and steering could be set in advance so the cart could move along a predetermined path. A distant precursor to the car, the device is sometimes considered the world’s first robot.

Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering—1977  As groundbreaking as the Stanford Cart was, it was still just a four-wheeled cart that looks more at home in the kitchen than on a roadway. Japan-based Tsukuba Mechanical produced an autonomous passenger vehicle that could recognize street markings while traveling at nearly 20 miles per hour, thanks to two vehicle-mounted cameras.

Tesla Autopilot—2015  The most significant aspect of Tesla’s semi-autonomous “Autopilot” feature, introduced in late 2015—which enabled hands-free control for highway and freeway driving— is that it was delivered in the form of a single software update to Model S owners overnight.

Semiconductor Genius for Autonomous Vehicles

Semiconductor Sector Scorecard reports that autonomous vehicles are one of the top 10 themes that will impact the semiconductor sector over the next two years. Other semiconductor companies given the highest thematic score for autonomous vehicles are STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Baidu, Analog Devices, Rohm, Aixtron, Renesas, NXP, Infineon, Tesla, Melexis, On Semiconductor, Skyworks, and Silicon Labs. Intel, Google, and Nvidia are among the leading chip companies in the autonomous vehicles which are well positioned to disrupt the automotive industry, according to GlobalData’s thematic scorecard for the semiconductor sector.

Leading chip companies in autonomous vehicles segment

Key Drivers for Semiconductor Industry in the Autonomous Vehicle Segment

Semiconductors have enabled most of the recent innovations in automotive technology, including vision-based, enhanced graphics processing units (GPUs) and application processors, sensors, and DRAM and NAND flash. As cars become even more complex, demand for automotive semiconductors will continue to rise steadily and provide a major new long-term growth engine.

With many semiconductor companies aggressively pursuing automotive opportunities and forming partnerships along the value chain, players that move more slowly might be left behind. This article discusses three topics that all semiconductor companies must consider as they prepare for the future: trends shaping the automotive landscape, factors that affect demand for automotive semiconductors, and major strategic issues that players must address as they adapt to the evolving market. 40nm technology has been widely used to produce automatic level 2 autonomous vehicle chips. In order to meet the high-speed demand for level 2 and above, mainstream autonomous vehicle chips are also moving below 7nm which will also bring improvements both in cost and performance. The number of units per system is expected to increase with autonomy level because of the requirement for system redundancy and higher performance.

Autonomous/Driverless Car Market

The autonomous/driverless car market was valued at USD 24.10 billion in 2019 and is expected to project a CAGR of 18.06%, during the forecast period, 2020-2025.

Autonomous cars use technologies, like RADAR, LIDAR, GPS, and computer vision, in order to sense their environment. Advanced control systems that are integrated into the car can interpret the sensory inputs to detect the signboards or to avoid the collision.

Although, Level 4 and Level 5 (as scaled by SAE) autonomous cars are unlikely to reach wide acceptance, by 2030, there would be rapid growth for Level 2 and Level 3 autonomous cars, which have advanced driver assistance systems, like collision detection, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. Fully autonomous cars are not going to reach a wide customer base unless they are secure from cyber-attacks. If such concerns are addressed, the autonomous car market is estimated to reach USD 60 billion by 2030.

Major automaker companies, technology giants and specialist start-ups have invested more than USD 50 billion over the past five years, in order to develop autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, with 70% of the money coming from other than the automotive industry. At the same time, public authorities see that AVs offer huge potential economic and social benefits.

Future of Autonomous Vehicles

Creative hotel sales teams are already turning to parking lots adjacent to their property as additional space for outdoor events. If you own it you can sell it, the difference is that you’ll soon want to think of a more permanent solution. For example, converting parking spaces into mini parks or additional outdoor space that complements your indoor function rooms.Self-driving cars are going to have a major impact on domestic airlines. Imagine jumping into a self-driving car at midnight, going right to sleep in a comfortable lounge seat, and waking up the next morning just in time for coffee and bagels at a breakfast reception.