Abstract
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Vehicles are now capable of self-driving with different level s of autonomy. Each of these levels is characterized by the relative amount of h uman and autonomous control. For example, The Society of Automotive Engineers (S AE) defines 6 levels of driving automation ranging from 0 (fully manual) to 5 (f ully autonomous). These levels have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Trans portation. Autonomous vehicles provide numerous advantages including: (1) loweri ng the number of vehicles on the roads (most privately owned vehicles are driven a small fraction of the time); (2) more predictable and safer driving behavior than human driven vehicles; (3) less emissions if there are fewer vehicles on the road, and they are electrically powered; (4) improved fuel efficiency if they are electric vehicles; (5) increased lane capacity; (6) shorter travel times; an d (7) increased mobility for users who are incapable of diving.
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