The Car Sharing Vehicle Should Meet Them
The Car Sharing Vehicle Should Meet Them

Video: The Car Sharing Vehicle Should Meet Them

Video: The Car Sharing Vehicle Should Meet Them
Video: How to promote car-sharing to people who love their cars 2024, March
Anonim

Autonomous driving should become a reality at Daimler in ten years. In an interview, the head of vehicle automation, Ralf G. Herrtwich, talks about the next steps towards self-driving cars and securing the systems.

The car manufacturer Daimler is gradually approaching fully autonomous driving. The Stuttgart-based company and project partner Bosch want to come to autonomous valet parking before the end of this decade. Then a pilot parking garage will start operating, as the head of vehicle automation at Daimler, Ralf G. Herrtwich, said in an interview with Autogazette.

Fully autonomous by 2025 at the latest

As Herrtwich said, he assumes that by 2025 at the latest we will be ready to get a fully autonomous vehicle on the road. Until then, it should also be possible for car sharing vehicles to drive up autonomously. “The biggest obstacle to using a car2go vehicle is that it is too far away from the user. Some users don't bother walking a few hundred meters to the vehicle. We want to change that: The car sharing vehicle should meet them. This would mean that the utility of a car sharing vehicle would be many times higher,”said Herrtwich.

The fact that car sharing vehicles are only used in certain business areas would simplify the work of the developers, as Herrtwich said. Because that would give you control over the areas «in which the car sharing car drives autonomously. This is a design advantage that should not be underestimated and makes our work a little easier than if we wanted to drive autonomously across any city ».

So far our strategy has paid off

Mercedes drives autonomously in California
Mercedes drives autonomously in California

Autogazette: Mr. Herrtwich, a few weeks ago hackers succeeded in taking control of a Jeep Cherokee. Did such manipulation surprise you?

Ralf G. Herrtwich:We are aware that there are gateways into vehicles for hackers. So that didn't surprise me. At Daimler, we have made sure for years that our vehicles are protected against these gates. We are now also handing our vehicles into the hands of white hat hackers who are trying to get into our systems. So far, our strategy has worked and we have retained the upper hand. We are aware, however, that this is a constant fight, but one that has to be fought. Because the functions that we give the customer with the driver assistance systems are worth it.

Autogazette: Can you rule out today that a Mercedes is hackable?

Herrtwich:It would be reckless to say that something like this can be ruled out. But we're doing everything in our power to make it as difficult as possible for hackers. So far we have succeeded.

Autogazette: Did the incidents with the jeep lead you to rethink your safety strategy?

Herrtwich: No, we don't have to rethink it. Rather, we feel confirmed that we have invested so much effort to make our systems secure and to protect them from hackers so far.

Our next E-Class will set standards

Safety is the focus of the Mercedes E-Class
Safety is the focus of the Mercedes E-Class

Autogazette: Are the security technologies developed in-house at a Mercedes or do you get it primarily from suppliers?

Herrtwich: Both and. You shouldn't be too shame to use good solutions, even if they come from outside. At Daimler, we make sure that all of our vehicles are not simply connected to the internet at will, but that they communicate with our backend via VPN. Accordingly, we can control a possible gateway here and modify it accordingly. We have designed the architecture of our systems so that we can react quickly if something should happen anyway.

Autogazette: You and your team are working on the fully autonomous vehicle. When will you see it on the street?

Herrtwich: We believe we will be ready by 2025 at the latest.

Autogazette: You are approaching the fully autonomous vehicle in many small steps. What is the next important step?

Herrtwich: We now want to reap the fruits of our work that we have invested in recent years in order to be able to drive autonomously on the autobahn. It is no longer a secret that our next E-Class will set standards here, of course always within the currently possible legal framework. We are still working here on the level of semi-autonomous functions. We make sure that the driver can take over the steering wheel at any time.

You will see what prevails in the end

Daimler and Bosch let cars park autonomously in the parking garage
Daimler and Bosch let cars park autonomously in the parking garage

Autogazette: You work on valet parking together with Bosch. Does your work go beyond parking in a multi-storey car park?

Herrtwich: In this project, we want to find out which is ultimately the better solution for the parking garage case: Is the sensor on the vehicle or is it in the parking garage? There are good reasons for both. You will see what prevails in the end. With Bosch, we are tackling the path of sensor equipment in parking garages. In the urban area, such an extensive expansion of the infrastructure would be out of the question for reasons of cost.

Autogazette: Daimler claims innovation leadership in autonomous driving. How innovative are you when you consider that a BMW i3 drove autonomously into a parking garage at the CES in January?

Herrtwich:It's less about parking itself, colleagues can demonstrate that and we can do that. The question for us is which approach has the potential to bring such a function to market quickly and reliably.

Autogazette: When will the pilot parking garage for this valet parking be available?

Herrtwich: Still in this decade.

Autogazette: Car sharing is virtually predestined for autonomous driving …

Herrtwich: … but to do this, you would have to be able to cover all the routes that a car2go vehicle drives autonomously. First of all, we have a few lower-hanging fruits in mind. The biggest obstacle to using a car2go vehicle is that it is too far away from the user. Some users don't bother walking a few hundred meters to the vehicle. We want to change that: The car sharing vehicle should meet them. This would mean that the utility of a car sharing vehicle would be many times higher. Because walking to the next car2go is certainly the part of the Car-Sharing experience that our customers can best do without.

The sensor system is and remains the linchpin

Image
Image

Autogazette: When do you think it is realistic for a car sharing vehicle to cover the last few kilometers autonomously to the customer?

Herrtwich: I already said that we are working to ensure that fully autonomous driving - and that is what it would be like - becomes a reality in the next ten years. And then it should also be possible in many cities that have car2go.

Autogazette: Does the distance play a role?

Herrtwich:No, it depends more on the area where the vehicle is traveling. But through the idea of car sharing with its business areas, you have control over the areas in which the car sharing car drives autonomously. This is a design advantage that should not be underestimated, and it makes our work a little easier than if we wanted to drive autonomously across any city.

Autogazette: What are the main problems on the way to implementation, the high-precision maps are not the only ones?

Herrtwich:We shouldn't rely too heavily on high-precision maps either. Yes, they are important, but we must also be able to drive autonomously where we do not have up-to-date maps. The sensor system is and remains the linchpin. It is problematic in inner-city areas because the vehicles in some places have a poor view of their surroundings. So they may have to drive around an object and can also come into oncoming traffic. It is the same for you as a person: If your view is blocked, you need special driving strategies that ensure that you can see everything that could be dangerous. All of this makes it more complicated than the scenarios on the motorway, where you drive more or less stubbornly in a straight line.

Autogazette:Will there be a pilot project with a view to autonomous car sharing?

Herrtwich: We have always said that such a project would be ideal for the residential communities in the USA. The idea continues, but nothing has been decided yet.

Germany is already a leading provider

An autonomous truck from Daimler will soon be on the road in Germany
An autonomous truck from Daimler will soon be on the road in Germany

Autogazette: Are you disappointed that there is still no legally binding framework for autonomous driving, although the amendment to the Vienna Convention was agreed a year and a half ago?

Herrtwich: Of course, it would be good if there were soon a uniform and binding international agreement. Because that would solve the problem for us that we have to deal with x different regulations. However, we take note of the great benevolence of the regulators that they want to address this issue. Nor should we pretend that we have already solved all technical problems. It would be unfair to push the buck unilaterally on politics.

Autogazette:TomTom presented high-precision maps for the German motorway network at the IAA. Are the Dutch further than Nokia Here?

Herrtwich: I don't think so. I know from our previous projects that the maps from Nokia Here are very good.

Autogazette: What does the takeover at Nokia Here enable you to do that was previously not possible as a cooperation partner?

Herrtwich: First of all, the takeover gives us permanent access to the data. In addition, we will probably be able to control something better in advance in the future so that we always have the necessary map data in the right quality available for new applications.

Autogazette:Mr. Dobrindt wants to make Germany the leading provider and leading market for automated and connected driving. Will this goal fail just as it failed with electromobility?

Herrtwich: Germany is already the leading provider of automated and networked driving with Daimler at the forefront of this movement. Hardly anyone who has already experienced our partially automated systems wants to do without them afterwards. But since we naturally do not want to rest on our laurels, it is very much to be welcomed if politicians want to create an environment in which all the ideas we still have can thrive particularly well.

Frank Mertens conducted the interview with Ralf G. Herrtwich

Recommended: