Autonomous driving
자율주행
Technology that lets a car watch its surroundings, make decisions and drive itself in place of a person.
Overview
A self-driving car sees its surroundings with sensors such as cameras, radar and lidar. AI reads the road and the movement of other cars and people, and then operates the steering wheel and brakes.
It is divided into levels 0 to 5, depending on how much the car does by itself. Up to level 2, the car only helps and the driver must keep watching. From level 4, the car runs with no person inside a defined area. A robotaxi that carries passengers with an empty driver's seat is level 4.
An everyday example
A lane-keeping feature is like an assistant gently holding the wheel beside you, while a robotaxi is like a driver who has taken over the whole job.
Why it matters
It can cut traffic accidents, help people who find driving hard to get around, and lower shipping costs. Rules questions, such as who is responsible when there is an accident, need to be solved alongside it.
Also calledself-driving, driverless driving