Introduction


1.    SAE classifications

level 0: No Driving Automation at all. The driver performs the entire dynamic driving task (DDT), even if there are warnings that pop up such as a Check Engine light.

level 1: Driver Assistance. The vehicle can assist with steering or speed in certain circumstances, but the human is still fully in charge of driving.

level 2: Partial Driving Automation. The vehicle can take over steering and speed altogether in certain circumstances, but the human is still fully in charge of driving.

level 3: Conditional Driving Automation. The vehicle steers, takes care of speed and monitors the road. The human is still required to take over when the system needs help.

level 4: High Driving Automation. The vehicle can pretty much do everything, even if the human driver does not respond to the request.

level 5: Full Driving Automation. The vehicle does absolutely everything a human driver could do without operational design domain(ODD).


2.    Present autonomous vehicles

1.    Waymo is an autonomous car developed by Google's parent company, Alpahbet Inc.. Waymo is able to drive autonomously without any human assistance. In June 2015, the team announced that their vehicles have now driven over 1,000,000 mi (1,600,000 km), stating that this was "the equivalent of 75 years of typical U.S. adult driving", and that in the process they had encountered 200,000 stop signs, 600,000 traffic lights, and 180 million other vehicles.
2.    Otto is an autonomous truck from an American self-driving technology company Otto. The truck drivers will be able to take lunch breaks and naps in the cab while the Otto fully steers itself down the highway, requiring him or her to take control only on regular roads. Otto has been put into road test for 6 months and it has completed a delivery of 50,000 cans of beers in one test. 

3. Classifications of present autonomous vehicles
         
           1.Waymo can be rated as level 4 in the SAE classifications. Waymo can drive autonomously without any human supervision. It can also respond to the road users and other objects on the road. When system failure occurs, Waymo can automatically find the safest solution without turning to the driver for help. However, Waymo is not able to work under extreme conditions yet which means ODD for it is limitted.
            2. Otto can be rated as level 4. The truck can take control of the steer and speed with the ability to recognize objects and events on the road. However, it can only drive itself on the highway. 


4. Possible applications
           
            1. Delivery. With the application of autonomous vehicles, the time wasted on the road can be reduced a lot since autonomous vehicles are able to drive longer without stopping for a break. In this case, the average cost on transportation can be reduced.
            2. Sightseeing buses. Autonoumous vehicles can be applied in tourist attractions as sightseeing buses which provide tourists an opportunity to experience driverless car. It can also relieve the over-crowd problems during holidays.
            3. Picking up children. Parents with full-time jobs can focus on their work without worries about driving their children to and from school. Of course, safety of autonomous vehicles should be stressed here.

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