Cruise control that thinks for itself

Smart or scary? New adaptive cruise control learns from the driver, writes

Korean maker Hyundai has developed what it claims is the world’s first ‘‘Machine Learning-based Smart Cruise Control (SCC-ML)’’, a technology that incorporates the driver’s patterns into its self-driving behaviour.

Adaptive cruise control is already a common feature in new cars. It allows the driver to choose a set speed, but can also automatically slow down and speed up again when following other vehicles.

Many systems now also work right down to a standstill and can restart when the traffic starts moving again.

However, Hyundai’s SCC-ML also learns the driver’s patterns and habits on its own. Through machine learning, it autonomously drives in an identical pattern to that of the driver.

To operate existing Smart Cruise Control, the driver manually adjusts the driving patterns, such as the distance from the preceding vehicle and acceleration. It’s not possible to meticulously fine-tune the settings to accommodate individual preferences.

Hyundai says its SSC-ML will feel much more natural to individual users because it will accelerate and brake much as they do.

Sensors such as the front camera and radar constantly acquire driving information and send it to the computer. The computer then extracts relevant details from the gathered information to identify the driver’s patterns.

An AI technology called machine learning algorithm is applied during this process.

The driving pattern can be categorised into three parts: distance from preceding vehicles, acceleration (how quickly it accelerates), and responsiveness (how quickly it responds to driving conditions). In addition, driving conditions and speeds are considered as well.

Taking into account these various conditions, SCC-ML makes an analysis to distinguish more than 10,000 patterns and can adapt to any driver’s patterns.

But what about terrible drivers? Hyundai says SCC-ML is programmed specifically to avoid learning unsafe driving patterns.

With the upcoming Highway Driving Assist system that features automatic lane change assist, SCCML achieves Level 2.5 self-driving.

Machine learning is an important step on the way to fully self-driving cars.