German OEMs want Blackbox technology for self-driving cars – AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION

06.23.2014, 15:22 clock

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-> German manufacturers want to combine the black-box technology from the aircraft with the self-driving car. The ultimate goal was in the process to ensure the safety of the occupants.

BMW works – like other German manufacturers – to self-driving cars. Image: BMW Group

Google has already made great progress with his self-driving car. The German carmaker already developing their own systems around autonomous driving.

The data collection and the reliability of the system will play a crucial role in implementing the goal of “self-driving car”. When looking at the NSA affair, however, raises the question of what happens to the collected data. The issue will be discussed at the ‘Roundtable for autonomous driving. ” Representatives of the Federal Government, car manufacturers, representatives of the insurance industry and lawyers will sit at this table. It is the legal framework are discussed in which the self-driving car to move.

Still calls the collection of data indicate most consumers, in the case motorists skepticism. But when once roll self-propelled cars in large numbers on the streets, collecting data is simply a necessity. Because the cars are no longer controlled by humans, but by computers that rely on the data from cameras and sensors to communicate with each other.

The idea of ​​using a black box, as known from the aircraft in some countries is already accepted. So insurance companies offer more favorable terms in the UK on when a black box records the driving style of the car owner. The idea behind this is that a cautious style of driving will be rewarded with cheaper insurance policies.

Whether the self-driving car in the future will actually be accepted you have to wait, however. It is still uncertain how the drivers react when they should relinquish control of their vehicle to a computer.

Gabriel Pankow / IHS