While autonomous taxis and buses are already operating in certain limited areas in the United States and some parts of Europe, they still require human control in situations that artificial intelligence may struggle to handle. This is where solutions like the one proposed by Street Drone come into play.
The UK-based company aims to have human control in specific situations, suggesting the presence of a standby human teleoperator ready to remotely take control of the vehicle if necessary.
This project has recently been tested for the first time with a Nissan van on public roads in Oxford and London, seamlessly switching control between a driver, an autonomous system, and a remote teleoperator through a secure cyber connection.
“The success of this test, conducted on public roads, combining autonomous technologies with teleoperation, demonstrates technological readiness,” claims Street Drone, which managed the autonomous and remote control systems. Teleoperation comes into play where tasks are too complex for autonomous technologies.
The workstations of remote operators resemble those of a racing video game, with three widescreen monitors, a steering wheel, and pedals. Connectivity must be fast and reliable to ensure these demonstrations experience no delays or interruptions. This aspect is as impressive as the teleoperation system itself.
Remote control systems have been extensively discussed in the context of eVTOL aircraft, but it had not been considered for autonomous cars. This was because the steering wheel will remain a part of cars for a long time, and human drivers can take control when necessary. However, anything hitting the road without a steering wheel on board will need an alternative last-resort option, regardless of how advanced the autonomous system is. Remote control could very well be the answer, as demonstrated in this video:
