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The Path to Autonomous Vehicle

When people say "self-driving vehicles" does images of KITT, the AI autonomous vehicle from the TV show Knight Rider come to mind? Humanity is slowly turning science fiction scenarios into reality. Researchers forecast that by 2025 we'll see approximately 8 million autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles on the road. Before merging onto roadways, self-driving cars will first have to progress through 6 levels of driver assistance technology advancements.


What are the 6 Levels of Autonomous Vehicles (AV)?

  • Level 0 (No Driving Automation)


    Driver must be in control of the vehicle all times.

  • Level 1 (Driver Assistance)


    Features cruise control but requires driver to be in control of the vehicle at all times.

  • Level 2 (Partial Driving Automation)


    Features advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), but the driver must be aware at all times.
    • Tesla and most car manufacturers' ADAS systems qualify as Level 2.

  • Level 3 (Conditional Driving Automation)


    Features ADAS and environment detection but the driver must be aware all times.
    • BMW and Mercedes Benz have already announced that Level 3 will be offered on the 7 Series in Germany, and the new Polestar 4 coupe-SUV has been developed to deliver this functionality, too

  • Level 4 (High Driving Automation)


    Self-driving vehicle within a designated geographic area and conditions, driver must be aware at all times.
    • NAVYA, a French company, is already building and selling Level 4 shuttles and cabs in the U.S. that run fully on electric power and can reach a top speed of 55 mph.
    • Alphabet's Waymo recently unveiled a Level 4 self-driving taxi service in Arizona, where they had been testing driverless cars―without a safety driver in the seat―for more than a year and have already accumulated over 10 million miles.

  • Level 5 (Full Driving Automation)


    The autonomous vehicle is in full control, driver not required.

Auto-drive Capability

The different levels of automation are varying degrees of vehicle autonomy. From mass transportation buses, cleaning vehicles, inspections vehicles, etc., there is a degree of automation technology applicable for different needs. In addition to the technology, the environment it operates in plays an important factor as well. For example, if the environmental conditions are controlled, an autonomous vehicle may move around freely without a driver under controlled limitations (eg. speed, travel route, within a designated area); if the environment consists of roadside unit computers that form a wide area network communication with autonomous vehicles notifying situations before they occur, the vehicle's operating environment can be greatly expanded and much of the environmental limitations can be lifted as the ahead-of-time conditions can be warned to on-road vehicles to achieve high or full automation.

Where are We Now?
Most vehicles on the road are coupled with Level 2 technology with a few companies developing Level 4 highly automated vehicles …



As a collaborating hardware vendor of Apollo, an open-source autonomous platform with world-renowned car manufacturers such as BMW Group, Mercedes Benz (Daimler), Volvo, VW (VAG Group), etc., Neousys GPU computers feature unparalleled thermal efficiency to ensure CPU and GPU can always operate at full throttle. Available from edge AI HPC to edge AI PC, to arm-based architecture, Neousys has a platform to complement auto-drive levels from level 2 to level 4.