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27 "is to be 'fail operational' for those occasions when a chip, sensor or other item goes down. That especially applies to the steering and braking actuators." In other scenarios, it won't be possible to be completely fail operational, but it still will be necessary to put the vehicle in a safe state. "You need to have enough redundancies and safeguards built in for the vehicle to operate long enough that it can pull over safely after taking control. And," says Loh, "with all of the health monitoring that is being talked about for future vehicles, I can see a situation in which the vehicle would take control if the driver was incapacitated, pull safely to the side of the road, and call out for help." One thing he doesn't expect is for the car to become a lounge or ofce on wheels where passengers face each other or otherwise are out of position. "In 10 to 15 years, if you had a vehicle so automated that it allowed the driver to take his focus of of driving, there would be a higher chance that he would be out of position in a crash. Because the seatbelt and airbags are designed to keep the passengers safe when they are in a specifc position," cautions Loh, "it is going to take a diferent type of seatbelt, airbag and more to meet these requirements, which is going to require innovation to meet these new demands." Until then, you can expect automated safety systems to proliferate based on the level of complexity required to implement them safely. "Most highways," says Loh, "are a relatively low complexity environment with a range of speeds. There shouldn't be too many surprises. Under those conditions, we would allow the vehicle to be in control." However, in cities, parking lots, trafc jams in an urban setting, etc., these functions will not have complete control at frst. Not only will the driver be in the loop, he will be in control with the safety systems acting to warn or, in extreme circumstances, act. Not everyone likes this idea. "There are some people who believe that the industry should skip Level 3, where self-driving is limited and control can be put back in the driver's hands, to Level 4—full automation—because the intermediate stage is just too risky." It is by no means the consensus view of the industry at this point, and it doesn't take into account another potential concern. "Think about how difcult it has been for OEMs to teach people about the features on their vehicle infotainment systems," says Loh. "That's a huge challenge, but at least it's something you can demonstrate while sitting in a dealership parking lot." In that case, maybe the next big safety innovation will be driving simulators. The Nintendo generation will love it. n Easily Machined n Large sheet sizes n Custom step tools n Large blocks n 4 lb. to 75 lb. densities CREATIVITY HAS NO LIMITS WITH PRECISION BOARD PLUS, Polyurethane Tooling Board n Non Toxic n No Outgassing n Non Abrasive n Made in the USA (800) 845-0745 www.precisionboard.com