Cost, safety and collaboration: the key trends in AV development
Issues such as regulatory uncertainty and compliance with safety certification standards will pose a significant challenge to autonomous vehicle (AV) developers, as well as a handful of more immediate concerns around the technology itself. Automakers have poured investment into R&D, but lofty hardware and software costs remain. If AVs are ever to hit the market en masse, slashing those costs and ensuring functional safety standards are met will be key.
In March 2019, an investigation was commissioned to learn more about the challenges hindering the delivery of safe and affordable autonomous vehicles at scale. The report, led by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by global semiconductor IP firm, Arm, surveyed workers across the AV space: the vast majority of respondents (90%) work for companies developing SAE Level 1 to Level 4 AVs; the remainder focus on Level 5 vehicles which, in theory, will be able to operate in any given scenario, condition and environment without a driver.