GM is working on an eyes-off, hands-off driving system4 Oct 2024 19:53
October 4, 2024
Seven years ago, GM became the first automaker to offer hands-free driving when it rolled out its Super Cruise advanced driver assistance system. Now, it’s looking to push that capability even further with a system that would allow drivers to keep their eyes off the road too, according to one of GM’s top software executives.
These hands-off, eyes-off systems — also known in the industry as Level 3 or L3 — are not self-driving cars like the ones Waymo operates (which are considered Level 4). Instead, they typically operate only on highways and at reduced speeds. And unlike a robotaxi, the driver is still required to take control if needed.
Despite these constraints, a hands-off, eyes-off system would push GM beyond nearly every other automaker that offers an advanced driver assistance system. The majority of automakers today offer what is known as Level 2, a system that automates some of the driving, but still requires the driver to pay attention. Tesla’s Autopilot — and even its FSD software system — is still considered a Level 2 system, along with GM’s Super Cruise and Ford’s Blue Cruise systems.
Today, only Mercedes-Benz offers a limited hands-off, eyes-off system called Drive Pilot in the United States.
“Super Cruise, I think, is an industry-leading L2 solution for hands off, eyes on,” Dave Richardson, Senior Vice President of Software and Services Engineering at GM, told TechCrunch in a wide-ranging interview. “We’re looking aggressively to make that an L3 solution, where you don’t even have to look at the road anymore.”
Super Cruise uses a combination of lidar map data, high-precision GPS, cameras and radar sensors, as well as a driver-attention system, which monitors the person behind the wheel to ensure they’re watching the road. When the system is activated, it will accelerate or brake to maintain a selected following distance from a vehicle ahead, steer to keep its lane position, and make automatic change lanes to pass slower traffic.
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