BMW may be synonymous with luxury, quality and innovation but there is one new feature that they haven’t started adopting yet — self-driving capabilities.
As of the time of this writing, there are no self-driving BMWs but new updates to their existing models could change that. So, how is BMW approaching the idea of autonomous vehicles and what can we expect from the luxury brand in the future?
Improving Their In-Car Software
BMW’s iDrive software and infotainment system has been the core of the driver and passenger experience for nearly two decades. It’s been updated over the years, but the biggest upgrade is yet to come. iDrive 8 will feature a curved display that will begin behind the steering wheel and stretch across the dash. Instead of providing two different displays — one for the driver and one for the passengers — the newest incarnation of iDrive will work toward creating a single “floating” infotainment system that will be primarily angled toward the driver.
The biggest difference between this version of iDrive and the previous incarnations is in the processing power of the system’s brain. According to the brand’s specifications, the upgraded onboard computer will be between 20 and 30 times more powerful than the previous versions. In addition to offering new features and functionality, this will lay the foundation for BMW’s automation and give it the ability to support both Level 2 and Level 3 autonomous driving.
Introducing Level 3 Automation
There are five levels of automation when it comes to self-driving cars. Unless you’re driving an Audi or a Tesla, your car is probably Level 0 or 1, with zero being no automation, and level 1 including things like cruise control and parking assistance. Level 2 automation includes anything where the vehicle can take control, including lane-keeping assistance, emergency braking for accident prevention and Tesla’s self-driving features. They can handle limited situations, but require the driver to be ready to take over at any moment.
Level 3 automation is where things start to get really interesting. Your car will be able to take over more responsibility when it comes to helping you reach your destination. Level 4 automation will handle almost everything, though your car will likely still have a steering wheel if you need or want to take over. Level 5 is full automation, and when we reach this point, your car probably won’t even have a steering wheel anymore. BMW’s new iDrive update will likely be one of the first Level 3 autonomous vehicles on the road.
Benefits of Autonomous Vehicles
Why is the industry so fixated on bringing autonomous vehicles to the public? These self-driving cars have several benefits beyond the convenience of being able to climb in the car and tell it where you need to go while you take a nap in the backseat. Automating the act of driving removes the problem of human error. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 94% of accidents are caused by human error.
Self-driving cars could also potentially eliminate the fatalities caused by driving under the influence. Around one-third of all traffic fatalities are the fault of a drunk driver behind the wheel. This takes nearly 30 lives every day. Mainstream self-driving cars give people the ability to travel and commute safely even while under the influence. We don’t want to encourage people to get behind the wheel, even of a self-driving car, while under the influence. Self-driving cars would instead give people the option to get in the backseat and trust that their car could get them safely home.
AI vs. Rigid Programming
The biggest challenge that programmers face when creating autonomous vehicles is the fact that we’ve been trying to build them around strict programming and figuring out how to apply ethics to programs. Instead of sticking to these strict lines of code, BMW is taking a different approach, focusing on an artificial intelligence that can learn as it drives, taking traffic patterns, road conditions, and even driver habits into account as it figures out the best way to safely navigate the highways and byways of the country and the globe.
We’re still a long way from AI-powered self-driving cars, but the potential is there and it gives researchers another way to look at this problem. Instead of looking at it as strict lines of code, we need to look at our self-driving cars as digital entities that can learn and evolve as they explore the world.
The Future of Self-Driving BMWs
We’re still a ways off from self-driving cars representing the majority of vehicles on the road, but BMW’s iDrive upgrade is the first step toward something new. Eventually, self-driving cars will replace manually driven ones, but in the meantime we can use this technology to make our roads safer.
