A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous vehicle (AV or auto), driverless car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and moving safely with little or no human input.
Self-driving cars combine a variety of sensors to perceive their surroundings, such as radar, lidar, sonar, GPS, odometry and inertial measurement units. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage.
Possible implementations of the technology include personal self-driving vehicles, shared robotaxis, and connected vehicle platoons. Several projects to develop a fully self-driving commercial car are in various stages of development, but there are no self-driving cars in the consumer market today. Autonomy in vehicles is often categorized in six levels, according to a system developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).These are detailed in section 2.4.2.1 of this article, but can be roughly understood as Level 0 - no automation; Level 1 - hands on/shared control; Level 2 - hands off; Level 3 - eyes off; Level 4 - mind off, and Level 5 - steering wheel optional.
As of October 2021, vehicles operating at Level 3 and above remain a marginal portion of the market. Waymo became the first service provider to offer driverless taxi rides to the general public in a part of Phoenix, Arizona in 2020. However, while there is no driver in the car, the vehicles still have remote human overseers. Tesla has said it will offer subscription-based "full self-driving" to private vehicle owners in 2021, and Nuro has been allowed to start autonomous commercial delivery operations in California in 2021. In China two publicly accessible trials of robo-taxis have been launched, in 2020 in Shenzhen's Pingshan District by Chinese firm AutoX and in 2021 at Shougang Park in Beijing by Baidu, a venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
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