What are the different levels of automation?

There are six different levels of automation of vehicles based on standards set by the Society of Autonomous Engineers (SAE):

• Level 0 No driving automation:

These are manually controlled vehicles with no assistance at all. But some systems may help the driver, like the emergency brake system.

• Level 1 Driver assistance:

It contains features like cruise control or adaptive cruise control, where a car can keep a safe distance behind the others moving ahead of the vehicle.

• Level 2 Partial Driver automation:

In this, the system can control both the steering and acceleration/deceleration, but it is not automatic, as the driver still needs to be attentive to the road and take control at any time.

• Level 3 Condition Driving Automation:

The system has "environment detection" capabilities and can make decisions by itself, like accelerating past slower vehicles, etc. But still, the driver needs to be attentive if the system fails to take proper action.

• Level 4 High Driving Automation:

The main difference in this level is that the system can take control if there is a system failure or something of that type, and it does not require human intervention in most circumstances.

• Level 5 Full Driving Automation:

They will be fully automatic and will require no human intervention. Their design might not need to have steering and gas pedals. They will be able to do everything an experienced human driver can do.

For more details about these levels, visit: https://www.synopsys.com/automotive/autonomous-driving-levels.html

What is Mercedes' "Drive Pilot" system?

Mercedes is initially offering the "drive pilot" system on Germany's 13,191 km of pre-approved motorway and is seeking approval from state authorities of 2 states in the U.S., assuming legal and regulatory framework allows the use of this system.

Mercedes build is based on the surround sensors of the Driving Assistance Package and has added additional features that they consider indispensable for the safety of the passengers. These include multiple sensors like LiDAR and camera and wetness sensors in the wheel well. Along with all these, it has redundant steering and braking systems, so that driver can take control of the car at any time if the system fails. It also has a highly accurate positioning system to locate the vehicle's exact position which will help in navigation. The sophisticated sensors and cameras of the Drive Pilot system provide the 3D mapping of the street and environmental image, which is stored and updated constantly in blackened data centers.

Mercedes' drive pilot, unlike the level-2 features, does not require the constant supervision of the driver as the car turns and accelerates and gives the driver more leeway compared to level-2 automation as it has certified with level-3 automation.

For further information about the drive pilot system and Mercedes's other automation software, visit the source: https://group.mercedes-benz.com/innovation/case/autonomous/drive-pilot-2.html

What is Tesla’s “Autopliot” system?

Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system that enhances safety and convenience behind the wheel. When used correctly, Autopilot reduces the driver's overall workload. The new Teslas are equipped with a camera or powerful vision processing to add a layer of security.

But still, the current autopilot packages like the Autopilot, enhanced Autopilot, and the Full-Self driving capability are intended to use with a fully attentive driver who can take command of the car and has hands on the wheel at all times.

Some features of the enhanced Autopilot include:

• Auto lane change
• Navigate on autopilot(beta)
• Autopark
• Summon
• Smart summons etc.

Some features of the Full Self Driving Capability are:

• All functionality of Basic Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot
• Traffic and Stop Sign Control (Beta)
• With an upcoming quality of autosteer on city streets.

For more details about the Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and the Full self-driving capability's features, visit the source: https://www.tesla.com/en_eu/support/autopilot#:~:text=Self%2DDriving%20Capability-,Autopilot%20is%20an%20advanced%20driver%20assistance%20system%20that%20enhances%20safety,an%20additional%20layer%20of%20safety.

And if you want to read more about tesla autopilot, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Autopilot

Why is Tesla's Autopilot still Level-2 automation?

A trial of Tesla's Full Self Driving ability has been making its way around a few U.S. cities. But still, after some talks between Tesla and the California Department of Motor Vehicle, it has been known now that the auto steer technology of the tesla cars is no more than the Level-2 certification of SAE.

While previously, Elon Musk had said that Tesla would achieve full automation by the end of 2021. The capabilities now in beta versions of autonomous vehicles are still at level-2, just one step above the independent cruise control, requiring the driver to be attentive and take control at any time.

Californian documents say the autonomous abilities now in beta are only Level 2 – just one step above adaptive cruise control, and still requiring the driver to be attentive and ready to take command at any time.

Thus, the Autopilot still needs the driver to be attentive to take control at any time, not just in extreme conditions. Mercedes' drive pilot has a feature called traffic jam chauffeur that lets the driver ignore the road entirely in some circumstances like a traffic jam. This feature is unavailable in Tesla Autopilot as Tesla is shifting most of its attention to their poorly named "full" self-driving cars when it can build such parts for its vehicles.

For more details, visit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2021/12/13/mercedes-gets-approval-for-traffic-jam-pilot-where-is-tesla/?sh=301b29385fc8

or, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmorris/2021/03/13/why-is-teslas-full-self-driving-only-level-2-autonomous/?sh=257de5726a32

For more details about the traffic jam chauffeur, visit:

https://l3pilot.eu/applications/applications/news/traffic-jam-chauffeur

Conclusion:

The race is still on for the companies to become the first ones to develop and implement a high level of autonomy in their vehicles. Mercedes has surpassed Tesla in this race by becoming the first company in the United States to become certified with Level-3 automation in their cars.