You can’t buy a fully self-driving car today — and may never be able to — but automakers are looking for ways to shift more of the workload from human drivers to machinery. Mercedes-Benz may have taken the biggest step in that direction yet.
Mercedes claims that the Drive Pilot system, which was recently launched in Germany, is the first production system to achieve Level 3 on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) autonomy scale, meaning the car is a fully active system. but a human driver may still need to take charge from time to time. It’s still a far cry from autonomous driving, but the Level 3 designation signifies greater potential than competing systems.
While the Drive Pilot isn’t on sale in the United States yet, we got a taste of it during a test drive in a Mercedes-Benz EQS electric car at the automaker’s proving grounds in Emmenden, Germany.
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to level
With Drive Pilot, Mercedes has placed itself in an unusual position. The SAE autonomy scale goes from level 0, which denotes full manual operation, to level 5, indicating cars that can drive themselves in all conditions. Level 3 is the halfway point between those two extremes, but, crucially, it’s also the only level that mixes human and machine control.
According to SAE, when the Level 3 system is in operation, the car is running. However, it may still ask the driver to take over the controls. This bet is unique to level 3. At levels 4 and 5, the car should not require human intervention according to SAE standards, while at levels 0-2 the driver is assumed to be in charge at all times. This includes systems such as General Motors’ Super Cruise and Ford’s BlueCruise, where drivers can simply supervise without touching the steering wheel or pedals.
With Drive Pilot, Mercedes has placed itself in an unusual position.
This ambiguity has led many automakers to avoid Level 3 and aim for higher levels of automation. While Tesla markets its most advanced driver-assist system as “full self-driving,” Mercedes is the first automaker to receive external certification for operation above Level 2 with a production-ready system. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) approved the use of Drive Pilot in both the EQS and Mercedes-Benz S-Class in late 2021, allowing Mercedes to offer the system to customers in its home market.
Even with that acknowledgment, the drive pilot is limited to only 37 mph, so you won’t see German businessmen destroying the left lane of an Autobahn with their hands off the wheel. It also only operates on specific sections of the divided highway, and with clear weather only during the day. If an emergency vehicle appears, the system will also ask the driver to handle it, as he has no way of knowing whether the said vehicle is an ambulance trying to go past or a police car pulling you over. trying to.
Mercedes is my co-pilot
Mercedes kept the interface fairly simple. A pair of buttons on the steering wheel at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions activates Drive Pilot, and an instrument cluster icon confirms that the system is activated.
Once everything is in place, you can take your hands off the wheel and your feet off the pedals, but not fully calibrate. A camera monitors for distractions, and the system will sound a warning if you look too far away from the road. If the driver does not respond or becomes incapacitated, the car will automatically slow down and come to the side of the road.
The system will sound a warning if you look away from the road for too long.
Like GM and Ford’s hands-off systems, we appreciated the use of driver monitoring. Not only does this prevent drivers from blinking behind the wheel, but it also makes it less likely that drivers will inadvertently disable the drive pilot. Some driver-assistance systems rely on the driver holding the steering wheel to check that they are still paying attention, but tugging too hard can be misinterpreted as an attempt to retake manual control. .
However, Mercedes said that some infotainment features with Drive Pilot are not normally available while driving. In practice, we found that the system would allow us to briefly glance down at the EQS’s 56-inch hyperscreen display, or glance at the Mercedes engineer who was describing our drive from the passenger’s seat before sounding the alarm.
always scan
While everything on the inside seems fairly normal, Drive Pilot-equipped cars are fitted with additional sensors to maintain a constant state of awareness that (in theory) exceeds distraction-prone human drivers.
On top of the radar units and cameras already used for more basic features like adaptive cruise control, Drive Pilot adds lidar and stereo cameras at the front and a rear-facing camera and microphone in the rear window. The latter are mainly for detecting emergency vehicle lights and sirens. Moisture sensors in the wheel well check whether it is too wet for the drive pilot to operate safely.
Cars have additional sensors installed to maintain a constant state of awareness.
In addition to the sensors, Drive Pilot includes redundant steering and braking hardware so that the driver can take control even when there are problems with the system. Drive Pilot also relies on an advanced GPS antenna and detailed HD maps. Sensor data is constantly compared with GPS data and maps for accuracy. The maps, which are much more detailed than the maps used for traditional navigation systems, are constantly updated to account for changes in road conditions and incidents such as accidents.
All of this means, if Mercedes should launch Drive Pilot in the US, it won’t be able to push the system to existing owners via software updates like Ford did with its BlueCruise system. This may frustrate some customers, but the added hardware helps ensure reliable operation.
Drive Pilot passed his driver’s test
Our test drive took place on a closed road simulating a section of the highway, with many cars and trucks surrounding us. Choreographed traffic repeated many common scenarios, from slow-moving vehicles to aggressive drivers cutting into the lanes. The drive pilot was unimpressed by everything.
With the system activated, we were truly passengers as our Mercedes EV followed the ebb and flow of traffic. It slowed down to match the speed of a dump truck, when a car cut through in front, and parked around the stalled car. It was all done with an ease human drivers should aspire to. It’s this behavior that really sets Drive Pilot apart. We’ve seen things like automatic lane keeping and lane changes before, but there was a level of finesse in the drive pilot that justified using the system rather than doing everything yourself.
Instead of simply manipulating the controls, the drive pilot can also respond like a human driver – in some situations, at least. In Germany, when an emergency vehicle approaches, the car is programmed to pull to the right of its lane, following local regulations that require drivers to make room for those vehicles (as That’s mentioned above, it then controls back to the driver). The ability to adapt to local regulations could facilitate drive pilot adoption in various markets.
Depending on your standards of road etiquette, the drive pilot may very much Like a human driver. When a vehicle in front of us suddenly stopped, the system immediately stopped our car and then sounded the horn. It seems that Mercedes has the habits of New York drivers in mind.
Up to level 3… and beyond?
Drive Pilot is really a step up from other driver-assistance systems. It performs better with smooth control inputs and responses that are quick but not jarring. Mercedes has completely developed the entire package, from the sensor suite to the governing software that gives the system a greater awareness of the environment a car is traveling in.
But where does this technology go from here? Mercedes is looking to offer the Drive Pilot in the US, but the regulatory situation could prevent it. With no federal regulations governing this technology, individual states have developed their own separate regulations. Mercedes probably won’t sell a feature that is legal in one state but not in another.
The Drive Pilot is also available only in the most expensive Mercedes luxury sedans – the electric EQS and the gasoline S-Class. Mercedes has a history of debuting technology on its flagship models – such as anti-lock brakes and stability control – that stretches to the point of being mandatory on all new cars in the US, but it takes some getting you to drive. It may take time. Pilot equivalent in Toyota Corolla.
Another luxury?
The many sensors that enable drive pilot also add to the cost. Lidar in particular has a high per-unit cost, and the position of the lidar sensor in the grille of cars equipped with Drive Pilot means they are likely to be damaged in a collision. Drive Pilot also requires a data connection and constantly updated maps, the cost of which may need to be paid to customers to make a solid business case for this technology.
The need to add more sensors and connectivity also refutes a popular misconception: that Level 3 technology inevitably leads to fully autonomous driving. Just as getting from level 2 to level 3 required new hardware, reaching levels 4 and 5 would require even more. This will also require mapping of more roads, and drive pilots to move beyond divided highways. This development adds cost and pushes the limits of technology, which cannot operate beyond the relatively controlled environment of highways.
It’s also important to note that, although it may improve safety, Drive Pilot is really about convenience. Being more attentive than the average human would almost certainly prevent some accidents, but most of the time the main task of the drive pilot would be to stress the wealthy enough to afford it. This technological marvel, as the name suggests, will pilot cars through stop-and-go traffic, taking some of the mental load off drivers.
The Drive Pilot, then, may be more comparable to the luxury features offered in high-end Mercedes cars—large touchscreens and massage seats—than any leading safety technology. It’s a nice feature, but it may not be the future of automotive safety. Because while human drivers leave a lot to be desired, taking people out of the loop doesn’t automatically make cars safer.
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