The lecture was very well-attended by a mixture of IET members and engineers, medical doctors and specialists from the French Automotive industry. Nick provided the background of the shift on vehicle control from the driver to the vehicle on board computers, with ongoing projects at most Vehicle OEMs and suppliers. Whilst robotic cars are not new, the technology is available; the demonstration by Google in 2010 has attracted the interest of industry and public. Nick highlighted that the issues are not only technological but also human, as vehicles are in constant interaction with humans adding much complexity. Nick pointed also to ethical issues in which the computer on board needs to decide between different options that might involve choosing sides in dangerous situations, he also referred to the changes in behaviour by the road users, the need for training the next generation of drivers, etc. Other issues included the implications for system designers once drivers are out of the control loop. He concluded the lecture asking whether or not his daughter was going to need to pass her driving test?
On an anecdotal note, Nick showed the audience the attached picture of a Citroën DS developed as an automated vehicle in the 1960s by the TRL, it used electric guidance wire fitted for 16 Km on the M4.
A rich and lively session of Q&A was followed including questions from the IET/ICE core engineers and the automotive engineers in the audience.
Whilst at first our French colleagues were a bit apprehensive as their entered a Pub in one of the “Chic” quartiers of Paris, their feedback was very positive about the quality of the lecture and the discussion that followed, it brought a valuable perspective of the perception of the remaining challenges from experienced engineers working outside the automotive domain.
(Later on we discovered that one of our ICE colleagues was part of the team working on the guidance cable in the M4).
We would like to thank Phil Dunbar from the France Network for the excellent support he gave to this event.
Report by JIGS
Photgraph reproduced
