Mercedes’s self-driving vehicle ambitions got a boost and prominent news coverage as news came on June 8th about the Level-3 approval of the company’s self-driving system, ‘DRIVE-PILOT’. California State has allowed the system to operate up to 40 mph in daylight conditions.
No self-driving vehicle is currently fully autonomous (SAE Level-5 automation), and a common misconception that Tesla’s Autopilot is fully autonomous is far from the truth. In fact, Tesla and General Motors systems are only Level-2 qualified. Therefore, the current development is significant as it indicates that DRIVE-PILOT has improved environmental monitoring and alert systems.
Level-2 Automation allows vehicles to perform steering and throttle functions autonomously; however, the driver must not take off his eyes. Therefore, continuous monitoring is required so that the driver can intervene and take control at any time.
Therefore, DRIVE-PILOT may have robust monitoring and not require continuous monitoring as long as the driver can override the system when required. It means that drivers can now legally check their phones given that their faces are visible to the camera; otherwise, autopilot will deactivate.
