With the autonomous vehicle sector expected to face a boom in the coming years, it would be very helpful to understand the different roles that are available. Some of them are discussed here.
- Self-driving car engineer – A self-driving car engineer ensures that the software developed is of very high quality. They are also responsible for testing the systems, integrating the software, and maintaining consistency in the architecture.
- Mechatronics – One of the popular streams in engineering is mechatronics. It brings together computer science, robotics, and mechanical engineering together. Studying mechatronics is one of the ways in which one can become a self-driving car engineer.
- Automotive design – They are responsible for designing vehicles aesthetically as well as aerodynamically. People who are creative or artistic have a great advantage when it comes to designing cars. Automotive designers create 3D models to better portray their creations.
- System Engineer – The System Engineers are responsible for understanding and adhering to the requirements, architecture design and ensuring the safety and quality of the automotive systems.
- Deep Learning Engineer – Deep learning engineers are responsible for developing algorithms, design systems, and training machines using large amounts of data.
One can also improve the required skills by
- Learning how to code in python, C++, Java, Matlab
- Understanding how machine learning/ deep learning works
- Improving their mathematical capabilities
- Learning image processing.
Organizations that are working on autonomous vehicles
Listed below are some of the top organizations in the world that are working on the development of autonomous vehicles.
Waymo – An independent company under Alphabet Inc, Waymo has been an early leader in driverless technology. With Alphabet having access to a large amount of data, Waymo has the capacity to emerge as the winner of the automated vehicle technology race. They have completed over 20 million miles of test runs.
General Motors – General Motors (GM) boasts of an incredibly efficient large-scale auto manufacturing expertise. Combine that with a strong footing in the electric vehicle sector and a solid amount of investment and we have a sure-shot way to take GM to the top of the autonomous vehicle sector. They have completed close to 500,000 miles of test runs.
Tesla – Synonymous with smart electric cars, Tesla has been working on developing a fleet of autonomous vehicles. Tesla’s electric cars have already taken the world by storm. Their recently developed chips are able to handle massive amounts of data very quickly, thereby allowing cars to perform more complex processes.
Toyota – As part of its city of the future project called “Woven City”, Toyota has been working on designing and developing autonomous vehicles. Woven City is being built from the ground up and will have sensor-laden pathways that are capable of channelling large amounts of data to support the vehicles.
BMW – In 2016, BMW partnered with Intel and Mobileye to design and develop autonomous vehicles. Recently, it was announced that BMW has been gearing up to introduce level 3 autonomous vehicles in the US.
Uber – Uber has been developing and testing autonomous vehicles since 2015. It has been known to have been spending around USD 20 million a month on the research and development of autonomous vehicles. Recently, Uber’s advanced technologies group (ATG), which was responsible for developing the technology, was bought by Aurora Innovation.
Some of the other companies that develop autonomous vehicle technology include Arity, Cruise, Swift Navigation, Cloudmade and Deepscale among others.