Winter apt to delay arrival of self-driving vehicles

The transition from traditional to self-driving cars is likely to take years if not decades, and Saskatchewan’s least favourite form of precipitation could make that process even longer, according to one expert.

Autonomous vehicles use a variety of sensors to detect objects in the environment, and the province’s climate is likely to prove more challenging than that of the southern United States, said Jonathan Cliffen, an engineer with 3M.

“I think the value proposition is going to be a challenge at first,” said Cliffen, who leads the Maplewood, Minn.-based materials company’s efforts to build signs and road markings optimized for self-driving cars in Canada.

“Much like owning a motorcycle, it’s going to be a two-thirds-of-theyear solution, right? Autonomous vehicles, you’re going to be able to use them year-round in manual mode and hopefully six to eight months of the year you’re going to be able to use it in autonomous mode.”

At the same time, Cliffen said, autonomous cars — a category that includes everything from vehicles with driver assistance tools to fully-autonomous cars without a steering wheel — have significant benefits for safety.

That is why the global conglomerate was in Saskatoon this week pitching new road signs with embedded infrared markings that autonomous vehicles can read, as well as lane markers that it contends are more visible to the cars’ sensors.

Retrofitting every road in Saskatchewan with materials optimized for self-driving cars would be enormously expensive, but Cliffen said jurisdictions across Western Canada are curious about what they need to do to get ready for self-driving cars.

“They’re definitely thinking about it, and we all need to think about it. I personally think there’s going to be no bigger change in our lifetimes to the way we do business and the way we conduct ourselves than the introduction of autonomous vehicles.”

3M was in the city for the 2018 Transport Association of Canada conference, which runs through Wednesday.

Much like owninga motorcycle, it’s going to be a two-thirds-ofthe-year solution, right?

ALEX MACPHERSON. Jonathan Cliffen, an engineer with 3M, says Saskatchewan’s climate could make the adoption of self-driving cars slower. He says jurisdictions across Western Canada are curious about what they need to do to get ready for autonomous vehicles.