SmartSol visited The Autonomous Main event 2022 held on the 27th of September in Vienna. Themed ‘Act to Impact’, the event hosted more than 500 leaders and high-level experts from over 200 global companies in the field of autonomous vehicles to respond to the biggest safety challenges facing autonomous mobility.
High-profile panel discussions and keynotes did not only assess the status quo and safety gaps of artificial intelligence, data-driven development and Level 4 systems. Industry decision-makers also discussed the future of autonomous trucks, the regulation of self-driving vehicles and the impact of autonomous vehicles on urban mobility and society.
“We need to set the scene together very clearly. No one can do it alone. What we are doing on autonomous driving is a decade’s job.” — said Markus Heyn, member of the Board of Management and Chairman of Mobility Solutions at Bosch.
The global autonomous vehicle market is expected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2030, with automated ‘eco-driving’ able to reduce fuel consumption by 15% to 20%. Autonomous technology continues to advance and deliver improvements to the daily lives of millions around the world, sometimes in ways, consumers might not even consider when thinking about ‘autonomous’ transport. That is if vehicle safety is guaranteed.
Automation is moving into modern vehicles on different levels. Adaptive cruise control is Level 1, Tesla’s Autopilot Level 2 (excl. FSD), and Mercedes’ Drive Pilot is a Level 3 function for highway use up to 60 km/h. Consumers can reap these benefits every day. But vehicles at SAE Levels 1-3 all share one thing: they require human presence, involvement, and intervention.
This is why many companies are working with vast resources on Level 4 technology to make true autonomous driving a reality in the form of self-driving cars. But barriers still exist.
“The mobility industry is facing a historical chance,” said Ricky Hudi, Chairman of The Autonomous, in his introductory remarks. “Especially the safety of autonomous mobility is not an area to compete or compromise on. Safety is about getting it right!”
“With an aligned approach, it is much easier to convince each country’s standardization, regulation, and legal authorities that they can rely on best-in-class solutions, and last but not least, the consumers who may trust similar safety levels for autonomous driving – everywhere in the world.” He added, “The time to act is now! Let us not wait until harmful accidents force us to collaborate.”
What can we add more? SmartSol is supporting to the full the brave and ambitious vision of Mr Hudi.
This event was all about taking action and identifying concrete steps to work together toward the same goal: overcoming the challenges of the autonomous mobility revolution.
The Autonomous has put in place two strategic streams:
Event Stream – facilitates discussions and networking for leading executives and experts from the autonomous mobility ecosystem.
Innovation Stream – facilitates cooperation across the industry to work on global reference solutions for safety challenges.
These reference solutions conform to relevant standards and will facilitate the adoption of safe autonomous mobility on a global scale. As part of the Innovation Stream, The Autonomous launched and facilitated Working Groups to bring about the co-creation of recommended practices and concrete developments.
“The journey from automation to autonomy is a journey of our generation, and I am very excited because everyone who participates in The Autonomous initiative shows they want to shape this journey.” – Georg Kopetz, Co-founder of TTTech Auto.
It`s been a pleasure to visit and find common approaches in one of the leading European economy domains.