Automation of driving functions - future development, benefits and pitfalls

This paper describes experiences and background of the research of autonomous vehicle functions. From these hypotheses guidelines about the future developments are derived. The development of intelligent vehicles is put into the context of the general history of automobiles, and analogies to air traffic automation are taken into account. "Hard" and "easy" tasks in vehicle automation are identified and a hypothesis about the contribution of automation to safety is discussed. Using that information, the trend of future intelligent vehicle functions is presented.