Vehicular automation
Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle such as a car, lorries, aircraft, or watercraft. A vehicle using automation for tasks such as navigation to ease but not replace human control, qualify as semi-autonomous, whereas a fully self-operated vehicle is termed autonomous.
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Automated vehicles may include self-driving cars, unmanned surface vehicles, autonomous trains, advanced airliner autopilots, drone aircraft, and planetary rovers, as well as guided rockets and missiles.
Automated vehicles in the European Union legislation are also more specifically motor vehicles (car, truck or bus). That is a road traffic vehicles. For those vehicles, a specific difference is legally defined between advanced driver-assistance system and (more advanced) autonomous/automated vehicles due to differences of liability for the driver and/or the entity driving the vehicle.
The technology involved in implementing autonomous vehicles ranges from changes to the vehicle to providing support in the driving environment.
Automated vehicles present safety concerns, especially in land transport, and in road traffic, given the complexity of driving, geographical/cultural differences, and road conditions. Various technological challenges need to be overcome to make autonomous vehicles robust and scalable.
Vehicular automation topic is notable for road traffic due to the number of vehicles and drivers but present specific concerns in an environment subject to traffic collisions due to the need to share the road with other road users.
Autonomy implies that the vehicle is responsible for all perceptual, monitoring and control functions. Automated systems may not be capable of operating under all conditions, leaving the rest for a human operator. A further subtlety is that while a vehicle may attempt to operate under all circumstances, the vehicle may require a human to assume control in unanticipated circumstance arises or when the vehicle misbehaves.