levels of driving automation
In plain wordsA six-step scale, from Level 0 to Level 5, describing how much of the driving a car's automation does and how much the human must still watch the road and be ready to take over.
A taxonomy, defined in the SAE International standard J3016, that classifies driving automation by the division of labor between human and system rather than by technology. Level 0 (no driving automation): the human drives, perhaps helped by alerts or by brief automatic interventions such as emergency braking. Level 1 (driver assistance): the system controls either steering or speed. Level 2 (partial automation): it controls both, but the human must supervise continuously and remains responsible. Level 3 (conditional automation): within its operational design domainoperational design domain, n.: The specific conditions an automated vehicle or robot is designed to work in, such as particular roads, speeds, weather and times of day, outside of which it must not operate on its own. the system performs the whole driving task, including monitoring the road, but a fallback-ready human must take over when asked. Level 4 (high automation): the system drives and handles its own fallback within its domain, needing no human. Level 5 (full automation): it can drive wherever a human could. Levels 1–2 are driver-support featuresadvanced driver-assistance system, n.: Car features that help the driver but do not replace them, such as automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping help, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warnings.; Levels 3–5 are automated driving systems. The levels describe features rather than vehicles, so one car may offer several.
It's a Level 2 system, so legally you're still the driver even with your hands off the wheel.
Origin
SAE International first issued J3016 in January 2014; revisions in 2016, 2018 and April 2021 refined the definitions, and the 2021 text was also issued jointly with ISO as ISO/SAE PAS 22736 (August 2021). The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted the SAE levels in its 2016 automated-vehicles policy, replacing its own five-level scheme of 2013, and regulators and manufacturers worldwide now use them.
Usage note
Often misread as a ranking of capability: a Level 4 shuttle confined to one campus is not 'better' than a Level 2 system usable anywhere. 'Level 2+' is a marketing term, not part of the standard. Level 3 approvals, such as Mercedes-Benz's Drive Pilot under UN Regulation No. 157, have been rare and narrowly limited.
Related
- autonomous vehicleautonomous vehicle, n.: A vehicle, usually a car, truck or shuttle, that can drive itself, sensing the road, deciding what to do and steering, braking and accelerating with no human driving.
- advanced driver-assistance systemadvanced driver-assistance system, n.: Car features that help the driver but do not replace them, such as automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping help, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warnings.
- operational design domainoperational design domain, n.: The specific conditions an automated vehicle or robot is designed to work in, such as particular roads, speeds, weather and times of day, outside of which it must not operate on its own.
- robotaxirobotaxi, n.: A taxi with no human driver: you summon it with a phone app, and a self-driving car picks you up and drives you to your destination.
- levels of autonomylevels of autonomy, n.: Ladders that grade how independently an AI system acts — from a tool a person fully controls, through suggesting and asking for approval, up to acting on its own while people merely watch.
- human oversighthuman oversight, n.: Keeping people able to watch, understand, question and, if necessary, stop or overrule an AI system, rather than letting it act unchecked.
Sources
- SAE International (2021). J3016_202104: Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles.
Defined in law or standards
SAE J3016 (current revision J3016_202104); also published as ISO/SAE PAS 22736:2021
Mentioned in
autonomous vehicleautonomous vehicle, n.: A vehicle, usually a car, truck or shuttle, that can drive itself, sensing the road, deciding what to do and steering, braking and accelerating with no human driving., advanced driver-assistance systemadvanced driver-assistance system, n.: Car features that help the driver but do not replace them, such as automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping help, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warnings., autonomyautonomy, n.: How much an AI system can act on its own without a person approving each step, from merely making suggestions to carrying out long tasks with no supervision at all., levels of autonomylevels of autonomy, n.: Ladders that grade how independently an AI system acts — from a tool a person fully controls, through suggesting and asking for approval, up to acting on its own while people merely watch., robotaxirobotaxi, n.: A taxi with no human driver: you summon it with a phone app, and a self-driving car picks you up and drives you to your destination., levels of AGIlevels of AGI, n.: A scheme from Google DeepMind researchers for grading AI by how well it performs and how broad its skills are, from emerging to superhuman, much as self-driving cars are graded by levels., operational design domainoperational design domain, n.: The specific conditions an automated vehicle or robot is designed to work in, such as particular roads, speeds, weather and times of day, outside of which it must not operate on its own.