How far away are we from self-driving cars?

So how close is humankind away from self-driving automotive vehicles? Innovators may be off for a few more decades, but this will break all over the news. The media loves to blow things up, metaphorically, because that’s what it does best.

Boston Dynamics

Self-driving cars meet your predecessors! There is an artificial intelligence for a self automatic dog created by Boston Dynamics happily named SPOT. This dog can open/close doors, collect materials, and help the handicap. When the dog is impeded, the AI will go around it or carefully push it out of the way. SPOT can also inspect facilities to make sure they are up to code, use for public safety, and have several construction tools. This progression in technology is significant. SPOT demonstrates technological progressing with similar fashion with cars.

Progression in Technology

In 2020, there is an expectation that vehicles will use apps like the STEER Autonomous Application to valet and park your cars just with the simple press of a button. 2019+ vehicles already perceive the world through a fantastic array of sensors and so they will use those sensors to guide the car through traffic until it finds an open area located on the GPS and other goal-driven systems. Apps like these are cost-competitive, fleet ready, and a Stable automotive embedded platform, thus killing services like Uber.

Cyber Security

As technology progresses, so does the risk of stolen personal information stolen. Apps like STEER promise to uphold a proper security system; however, that might not be enough. Viruses, for example, have several entry points today. They can come from e-mails, fake USB charger stands, or malicious software/hardware, and if a virus gets on your wifi, it could spread to any computer system in the shop. To help prevent future damages follow these three steps:

1. Keep all trusted Anti-virus software up to date
2. Keep two backups on all your shop’s data on external drives; one for daily updates and the other Yearly updates
   • Make sure all external drives are in a dry and safe location
3. Do not share the shop’s wifi to any customer

Following those simple steps will quickly improve your shop safety and well being going into 2020.

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Cyber security is in the news, all the time. And with today’s vehicles having a huge amount of digital connectivity not only internally between modules and components, but externally via wi-fi and navigation systems, the chance for 'hacking' is all to real. Cyber security expert and NASTF Executive Director Donny Seyfer shows you to be aware of and how to prevent yourself and your customers from becoming victims of hacking attacks.

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