Autonomous Drive - A Perfect Use Case for Modern Technologies

Is Autonomous Drive a perfect use case for modern technologies? 

My answer is an emphatic YES!

INTRODUCTION

It appears to me that the Autonomous Drive (AD) might be a perfect use case for many modern technologies. For autonomous car to work as expected and in a socially acceptable manner, several modern technologies such as Cloud, IoT, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Voice Command have to work well and seamlessly with each other.

What is Autonomous Drive?

Autonomous Drive is what the name suggests, a capability of a vehicle to drive itself from point A to point B without any (or much) intervention by the driver of the vehicle. Most of the recognized auto makers are working on their own version of autonomous a.k.a. driverless car. Autonomous car capabilities are released in several phases starting from AD 1 through AD 5, where AD 1 is advance cruise control and AD 5 is autonomous drive through busy downtown. Car manufacturers are at various stages of their AD journey.

For car to be driving itself, it has to be equipped with a number of devices that are not present in today's car, e.g. sensors, LiDARs, cameras, high performance compute, network connectivity, security infrastructure and the likes. AD appears to be a perfect use case for Modern Technologies

Big Data - AD is a perfect use case for Big Data because:

AD is expected to generate tremendous amount of data. By some estimates, an autonomous car would generate in excess of 30 GB of data per hour of driving in the future. This data is combination of mission critical, infotainment, and entertainment (Netflix in the car anyone?).

Most of these data is likely to be unstructured. Big data technologies are well suited to ingest this large volume of unstructured data at a rapid pace, transform this data, analyze it, and learn the insights from it.

AD use case requires access to Big Data platform as well as its vast echo system of open source and licensed software tools to quickly, efficiently, and accurately analyze such data and make the decision about the next turn. In other words, a well architected Big Data platform is essential for the function of an autonomous car.

Cloud - AD is a perfect use case for the Cloud because:

Autonomous car is required to be securely connected to the Cloud in order to store, process, and evaluate enormous amount of data being generated by dozens of connected devices inside autonomous car.

Cloud is also essential for AD in order to co-relate the massive amount of data coming from a given autonomous vehicle with other vehicles, traffic light infrastructure, maps, and smart city infrastructure. Such a processing power is impractical to have it in a moving vehicle and therefore the Cloud is essential for it.

IoT - AD is a perfect use case for Internet of Things because:

Autonomous Car is a nested IOT device, where car itself is an IoT device with cellular connectivity over 4G/5G network nested by a number of other IoT sensors, LiDARs, and connected cameras. Managing streaming data from so many IoT devices, messaging, queuing, protocol conversion, and passing the data to other platforms such as Big Data and Machine Learning require a strong IoT platform in place for the success of AD.

Machine Learning - AD is a perfect use case for Machine Learning because:

Autonomous Car must recognize objects on the road based on images, videos, sensor, LiDAR, and similar means in order to make the best driving decision. Sometimes, such an identification does not result in a positive match. Machine Learning (ML) can improve such prediction based on its self learning algorithms.

ML can help AD identify who the driver is as soon as the car is backed out of the garage and thus present auto manufacturers with a great opportunity to enhance driver's experience by setting the seat, temparature, music, suggestions for shopping, and many other parameters.

Voice Command - AD is a perfect use case the Voice Command because:

There is an ongoing dialog between an autonomous car and the potential backup driver of the car. Until auto OEMs deliver AD 5 (autonomous driving in the downtown), it will be required for the driver to keep eyes on the road and be ready to take control back from the vehicle. It is infinitely quicker and convenient to speak to the car than type or operate instrumentation by hand. Voice Command using Amazon Alexa or Microsoft Cortana is essential for safe and seamless operation of autonomous vehicle.

CONCLUSION

Autonomous Drive (AD) is promising to change the world of automobile as we know it today! For such a breakthrough to occur, several modern technologies such as Cloud, IoT, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Voice Commands have to work flawlessly and seamlessly together as described above. In my opinion, AD is a perfect use case for these modern technologies! 

By

Kasey Shah

Technology Strategist, Architect, and Leader

Attorney at Law

http://www.attorneykshah.com