An Overview of Factors Influencing the Mass Adoption of Self-Driving Vehicles

A self-driving vehicle used to be found in science fiction but would promisingly and gradually become a reality in our daily life in the foreseeable future. Self-driving or autonomous vehicles can bring about disruptive changes to the current transportation system, commuting ways, the concept of vehicle ownership, risk management, legal liability, regulations, urban planning, etc. A highly/fully self-driving vehicle is one of the most complex man-made systems and involves various aspects of modern society. Nevertheless, the public seems to lack a clear enough understanding of self-driving vehicles. To further the development of self-driving technologies, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive understanding of multifaceted factors that could hinder the mass adoption of self-driving vehicles. Therefore, this paper intends to present an overview of some technical factors that could influence the advancement of self-driving vehicles. First, this paper reviews state-of-the-art architectures of a self-driving vehicle. Various sensor technologies are followed with a discussion of their limitations. As two essential software subsystems for realizing a self-driving vehicle, the perception and decision-making systems are presented with an overview of their major tasks and challenges. This paper is concluded with a summary of the technical challenges, being a helpful resource for engineers, the public, policy-makers, and social researchers.