Mercedes-Benz is the first to bring Level 3 automated driving to the US

Mercedes-Benz announced it was the first automaker in the U.S. to receive government approval for a Level 3 driving feature. The company said it had certified itself in Nevada to use the Drive Pilot feature, where the car does all of the driving. does, but the driver must be on standby to take control in the blink of an eye.

Mercedes stated that its technology meets Nevada’s “minimum risk condition” requirement that requires level 3 or higher vehicles to be able to stop “fully autonomous” vehicles if there is a failure in the system.

“Nevada law allows all levels of automation to operate on public streets,” a spokesman for the state’s DMV said in an email. “Nevada does not issue any permit or license based on the level of automation of an autonomous vehicle.”

Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot is similar to “hands-free” highway driving systems such as GM’s Super Cruise, Ford’s BlueCruise, and Tesla’s Autopilot, in that drivers can take their hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals under certain conditions. requirements. But unlike Level 2 systems, which require drivers to keep their eyes on the road, Mercedes’ Level 3 system has slightly more rights.

According to The ride, who was allowed to test the system on a closed course in Germany last year, the driver must always keep his face visible to the in-car cameras, but he can also turn his head to talk to a passenger or play a game on the vehicle infotainment screen. (For example, a Mercedes engineer suggested playing Tetris.) But when The ride reporter brought a camera to his face to take a picture, the system was turned off.

In other words, the system does not allow drivers to take a nap or ride in the back seat of the vehicle. In the past, people have abused the lax driver monitoring controls in Tesla’s Autopilot to do both, which has unnerved regulators and spurred safety advocates to advocate for more robust monitoring.

Aside from that, Drive Pilot works similarly to many of the Level 2 systems available in the US. It speeds up and slows down depending on the traffic in front of you. It can stay in the middle of the lane and perform automatic lane changes and blind spot detection. Interestingly, Mercedes says Drive Pilot only works at speeds up to 40mph on “suitable highway sections and where there’s a high density of traffic” – which seems to suggest it will only be available in heavy stop-and-go traffic.

In addition to cameras and radar, the system relies on data from a lidar sensor to create a 3D model of the environment, as well as microphones to detect approaching emergency vehicles.

Of course, Level 3 systems are not without risks. Most autonomous vehicle operators, including Waymo and Cruise, have said they find Level 3 too dangerous and prefer to work exclusively on Level 4 technology. The reason is the need for drivers to remain attentive despite the fact that the vehicle is most perform driving tasks.

There have been studies showing that the handover between an automated system and a human driver can be particularly fraught. When people are unable to drive for extended periods of time, they may overreact when they suddenly take control in an emergency situation. They may steer too hard, brake too hard, or fail to react correctly because they are not paying attention. And those actions can create a domino effect that can be dangerous — maybe even deadly.

Mercedes isn’t the only automaker pursuing the technology. In announcing it was moving away from fully autonomous driving, Ford said it would move to “internally developed L2+/L3 technology”. Audi, BMW and Volvo have all said they are working on their own Level 3 systems, with California seen as the next frontier for testing and deployment. Indeed, Mercedes said it hopes to receive approval to offer its Level 3 system to drivers in the state later this year.