Current advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS) rely on high-definition (HD) maps to enable a range of features and functions. These maps can be viewed as an additional sensor from an ADAS or ADS perspective as they impact overall system confidence, reduce system computational resource needs, help improve comfort and convenience, and ultimately contribute to system safety. However, HD mapping technology presents multiple challenges to the automotive industry. Unsettled Issues on HD Mapping Technology for Autonomous Driving and ADAS identifies the current unsettled issues that need to be addressed to reach the full potential of HD maps for ADAS and ADS technology and suggests some possible solutions for initial map creation, map change detection and updates, and map safety levels.

Current advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS) rely on high-definition (HD) maps to enable a range of features and functions. These maps can be viewed as an additional sensor from an ADAS or ADS perspective as they impact overall system confidence, reduce system computational resource needs, help improve comfort and convenience, and ultimately contribute to system safety. However, HD mapping technology presents multiple challenges to the automotive industry. Unsettled Issues on HD Mapping Technology for Autonomous Driving and ADAS identifies the current unsettled issues that need to be addressed to reach the full potential of HD maps for ADAS and ADS technology and suggests some possible solutions for initial map creation, map change detection and updates, and map safety levels. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2021013

Automated Driving Systems (ADS) represent an area of considerable investment and activity within the transportation sphere. The potential impact of ADS on safety, efficiency, and user experience are extremely significant. To get the most from the technology, it is important to ensure that policies are developed to support the balance between achieving public sector objectives and supporting private sector innovation. This report explores the policy aspects related to ADS, explains the key stakeholders, identifies unsettled issues, and proposes a number of steps to move forward and improve the current situation. It is hoped that the report will provide a valuable resource to those involved in the definition of ADS policy from both public and private perspectives. It is also intended to serve as a resource for those involved in ADS planning and development and public sector staff involved in other aspects beyond ADS policy.

Over the last 100 years, the automobile has become integrated in a fundamental way into the broader economy. A broad and deep ecosystem has emerged, and critical components of this ecosystem include insurance, after-market services, automobile retail sales, automobile lending, energy suppliers (e.g., gas stations), medical services, advertising, lawyers, banking, public planners, and law enforcement. These components - which together represent almost $2 trillion of the U.S. economy - are in equilibrium based on the current capabilities of automotive technology. However, the advent of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and technologies like electrification have the potential to significantly disrupt the automotive ecosystem. The critical cog governing the rate and pace of this shift is the management of the test and verification of AVs. In this SAE EDGE(TM) report, six senior industry leaders in the impacted ecosystems essay articles which describe sectors of the current automotive ecosystem and the manner in which AV technology can potentially reshape them - providing a mosaic of the massive infrastructure shifts which will be required to absorb AV technologies. NOTE: SAE EDGE(TM) Research Reports are intended to identify and illuminate key issues in emerging, but still unsettled, technologies of interest to the mobility industry. The goal of SAE EDGE(TM) Research Reports is to stimulate discussion and work in the hope of promoting and speeding resolution of identified issues. SAE EDGE(TM) Research Reports are not intended to resolve the issues they identify or close any topic to further scrutiny.

Thousands die or are injured each year in automobile crashes. Reducing the number of these tragedies requires reframing our approach to vehicle- and human-based transportation mobility and depends on whether the mobility industry and individual human drivers take a more aggressive approach to saving lives and preventing injuries. Bringing automated driving systems technologies into the advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) and connected vehicle space will help humans drive more safely and better prepare us for automated vehicles (AVs). Reducing Human Driver Error and Setting Realistic Expectations with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems discusses the recent Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety report which shows that ADAS can indeed work. The path forward requires combining ADAS and ADS implementation with infrastructure engineering, law enforcement, education, emergency response, and public policy, with the goal of reaching zero deaths and serious injuries. It also requires fully embracing the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s Safe System approach, backed by the addition of public policies that incorporate and expand ADAS’s role in achieving that safe system. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio. https://doi.org/10.4271/EPR2023016