In the United States, accidents involving the Tesla autopilot occur again and again. Developer Andreas Lauringer calls in conversation with the star Reasons for this and explains the decisive factors for the success of autonomous driving. He admits that he still believes in traffic accidents in the future.
With the expansion of electromobility, autonomous driving is also slowly progressing. It should determine the traffic in the future. Level 3, highly automated driving, has been permitted in Germany since June 2021. Vehicles of this level can carry out certain driving tasks such as accelerating, braking and overtaking independently. The driver may temporarily take his or her hands off the steering wheel, but must be able to take control of the vehicle again at short notice. The Mercedes S-Class and the electric version EQS are the first production vehicle to offer a motorway traffic jam pilot, which allows the driver to focus on other tasks.
The development is complex and extremely demanding. Because a faulty driving system can have devastating effects. Tesla already offers an autopilot and a function for autonomous driving in its cars in the USA, but accidents occur time and again during use – including fatalities.
Andreas Lauringer, CEO and co-founder of Kontrol, a technology company from Austria that develops autonomous driving systems and works with Bosch, TÜV and, according to its own statements, with all German car manufacturers, among others, talks in an interview about the difficult development process.
Mr Lauringer, what are the challenges in developing autonomous driving?
I have to bring the legal language into a vehicle and it has to be designed in such a way that there is leeway – for the lawyer or for the driver and then ultimately also for the judge. That’s the first challenge for us: How can I do that precisely enough? It is clear that there can only be one legislation. One law for autonomous cars and one for humans will not work. It must apply equally to both. The second will be legal, because there will be accidents. It doesn’t have to be someone’s primary fault. But there can simply be a broken cable, a material defect, etc. How do I deal with it then? Because the human component is missing in the driving function. The third will be crucial, the social component. We humans have to accept the system. We need to learn as a society how to deal with it when you pass a car on the freeway and someone is sleeping in it.
What research are you currently doing in practice?
We carried out tests in Saarland to show that we complied with the road traffic regulations. Here, for example, we work very intensively with Deloitte – verifying the translation is complex – and with Berylls in the areas of scaling and globalization.
Test vehicles from TÜV Rheinland in cooperation with Kontrol at the IAMTS Symposium on the Hungarian test site ZalaZone in mid-June
© Control Ltd
How should communication between autonomous vehicles, pedestrians and other road users be guaranteed in the future?
I think this will happen gradually. The Level 3 system is also currently restricted to the Autobahn and there is a reason for that. It’s simple compared to an urban solution. The reason why there are also certain Level 4 systems is basically the same.
Which technologies – also outside the automotive industry – help to advance autonomous driving?
Developing drones faces the same challenge. I think what helps is the mutual inspiration between drone and autonomous driving technology. ‘How do I deal with it?’ Basically, the regulations in aviation are much simpler, but the emotional situation is much more difficult. Because everyone is far more afraid of falling on their head or falling than of being in a car accident. Even if that is statistically unlikely. There you have, for example, in comparison to the SAE level [Automatisierungsstufen des autonomen Fahrens] paying more attention to topics where you say, ‘How can I replace the driver more gradually?'”
The Mercedes S-Class and the EQS are the first series vehicles to offer a level 3 motorway traffic jam pilot. How do you want to contribute to having the system homologated?
It has already been approved in Germany. What we can contribute is a very scalable system; a database and also that we learned a lot about the translation in the requirements. We have technology to transfer the system from one country to another very quickly. It is a platform so that efforts can be shared.
In the USA, highly automated cars are already driving on the roads.
Full Self-Driving was officially approved in California, but the naming wasn’t the most helpful for consumers. Because an expectation is awakened that is not there. You also have to learn how to use the systems. It’s a learning process. For me, full self-driving is first given with level 3 and for me there is currently only the Mercedes EQS, which can and is allowed to do that.
Why can’t Tesla get the autopilot and autonomous driving feature to work flawlessly in its cars?
It’s something very, very complex. For example, I don’t think a camera will do. A second, redundant system or an additional system is certainly not a mistake. Whatever that is is up to the manufacturer. But saying ‘I have eyes so I don’t need my ears’ won’t help us. There is a discussion that every car needs a lidar. I can not say that. It is important to have the right information, to make a decision and that the quality of the information is correct. Nobody should look over it to see if that’s really the case.
How do you intend to make autonomous driving safer?
In the first step, we have to comply with the rules that we humans also have. We want to create the basis ‘What applies to you also applies to the machine. And you can count on it’.
Can autonomous driving technology be updated in vehicles? If yes how?
That depends on the function. I cannot use hardware that is not installed. For example, I can update a computer unit over time via software that evolves. Likewise, case law changes at certain intervals. There are approximately 128 to 150 Highway Code court judgments per country per year. Then of course I have to take that into account. There are various components in a vehicle that I can update – and I even have to. This is also a new way of building cars.
When will autonomous cars prevail on the market?
That’s a very difficult forecast. Many predictions have already been made. And the forecasts – including those of Elon Musk – are in the past. It will still take some time. The relative thing is that we’re doing the right thing, that we’re going to get there and achieve safety. Whether that’s 2030, 2040 or 2050, automation shouldn’t be limited to cars. We also need overall traffic concepts.
Thank you for the interview.
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