Advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, have become standard in many vehicles on the market today. Features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot alarms have given rise to the next generation of safe driving experiences. Consumers are embracing the technology--58% want to see high-performing ADAS features in their vehicles. But people are far from convinced that even with current ADAS technology, safe, autonomous driving is a reality. According to Forbes, 86% of people interviewed in a AAA survey said they would be afraid to ride in a self-driving vehicle (54%) or are unsure about it (32%).

Ford will invest $29 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025, more than double the $11.5 billion it promised through 2022 less than a year ago, the automaker announced. Of that, it will spend $7 billion on self-driving tech and $22 billion on EVs, including the $7 billion it has already paid over the last five years. Some of the new vehicles will be plug-in hybrids (PHEV), but most will be all-electric, including products like the Mustang Mach-E and upcoming electrified versions of the F-150 pickup and E-Transit commercial van. Ford also noted that EVs will be "fundamental" to the Lincoln luxury brand. "We are accelerating all our plans... increasing battery capacity, improving costs and getting more electric vehicles into our product cycle plan," CEO Jim Farley said in an earnings release.

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This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, examines how driverless cars, trucks, semis, delivery vehicles, drones, and other UAVs are poised to unleash a new level of automation in the enterprise. Few technologies have been more anticipated heading into the 2020s than autonomous vehicles. Tantalizingly close and yet still perhaps decades from market adoption in some use cases, the technology is as promising as it is misunderstood. You've heard the consumer hype, but what gets less ink are the transformative changes that autonomous vehicles will bring -- in some cases already are bringing -- to the enterprise. Affecting sectors as disparate as shipping and logistics, energy, agriculture, transportation, construction, and infrastructure -- to name just a few -- it's hard to overstate the impact of the diverse and versatile set of technologies lumped into the decidedly broad category of'autonomous vehicles'. This guide will help you sort the hype from the business reality and tell you all you need to know about the autonomous vehicle revolution on the ground, in the air, and even at sea. In 1939, General Motors predicted we'd have an autonomous vehicle highway system up and running by the dawn of the 1960s. As with a lot of autonomous vehicle hype, that prediction was a tad premature, but it demonstrates the long history of autonomous vehicle development.

There is a difference between autonomous and automated vehicles. The main differentiator is the degree of human intervention. A fully Autonomous Vehicle (AV) is classified as either level 4 or 5 according to SAE classification. Such a vehicle completely depends on the machine for driving tasks. An automated vehicle employs technologies that fall into levels 3 and below, where the driver is responsible for the final vehicle's controls.

Autonomous vehicles will move closer to becoming a reality, but public scrutiny over safety concerns will not let up, according to Clyde & Co partner Mark Hemsted. Making his prediction for insurance in 2019 as part of a series of articles on the key trends in the next year, Hemsted pinpointed the introduction of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act, which legislates for how these vehicles should be insured, and who is liable in the event of a collision involving an autonomous vehicle, as a key step toward driverless cars. Further consultations on their regulation are due in 2019, and manufacturers have promised to continue to invest in autonomous vehicles and engage in on-road testing. But, according to Hemsted, any negative side effects of this testing will "be subject to significant news reporting, as has been seen this year, particularly in relation to incidents involving fatalities in the US". "We anticipate further incidents will attract enhanced scrutiny concerning the safety of vehicles on the road, with already falling consumer confidence in autonomous vehicles in the US as an example of the impact this can have."

Elon Musk is reportedly launching an investigation into an employee who sabotaged the company. Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, speaks on the final day of the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, on Sept. 29, 2017. Elon Musk has called lidar a crutch. The Tesla CEO believes he can build self-driving and semi-autonomous cars without relying on the technology, which uses lasers to help the cars map and navigate their surroundings. Instead, Tesla has looked to cameras and radar -- without lidar -- to do much of the work needed for its Autopilot driver assistance system.

Developing an autonomous vehicle requires a massive amount of data. Before any AV can safely navigate on the road, engineers must first train the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that enable the car to drive itself. Deep learning, a form of AI, is used to perceive the environment surrounding the car and to make driving decisions with superhuman levels of performance and precision. This is an enormous big data challenge. A single test vehicle can generate petabytes of data a year.

This is one in a series of periodic guest columns by industry thought leaders. Autonomous technology is set to transform the motor industry, but there are no clear paths for manufacturers. As the autonomous mobility industry takes shape, artificial intelligence could play a much bigger role. The Society of Automotive Engineers uses a classification system of 5 levels of vehicle autonomy based on the amount of necessary driver intervention. Level 1, for example, requires a driver to be in control at all times but allows for automated acceleration and braking.

Abstract: "This presentation will highlight the history of autonomous vehicle development at Ford Motor Company and elsewhere within the industry, with an emphasis on discussing some of the difficult remaining challenges to be solved. Additionally, examples illustrating the broader range of potential applications for AI and Robotics within the transportation industry will be touched upon."