Autoliv Inc. has announced plans to launch a Learning Intelligent Vehicle (LIV) system. The system is being developed by Autoliv Research to facilitate collaboration and shared control between driver and vehicle in order to attain trust and facilitate required safety in autonomous driving. The LIV system will be demonstrated at CES 2017on Jan. 4 in Las Vegas.
The first version of LIV utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and subsequent versions will incorporate online and off-line machine learning, utilizing a wide array of data sources and developing an individual relationship to the driver. LIV, pronounced {‘li:v} or “leave,” which means “life” in Swedish and is a common Swedish first name as well as part of Autoliv’s own life-assuring brand name.
“With this research platform, Autoliv Research aims to solve what truly proactive safety is all about,” said Ola Boström, vice president of research at Autoliv. “With LIV, we have found a way to combine our history of saving lives and our leading technology within active safety to accelerate the safe development of automated vehicles.”
LIV 1.0
The first version of LIV is equipped with Autoliv technology readily available today, connecting all the different technologies via an AI-based electronic control unit, which communicates and acts on all available data. Data sources include what is derived from the driver, the car, its surroundings, as well as from other vehicles and external data sources.
In both autonomous driving situations as well as with the driver in control, LIV complements the driver, monitoring and analyzing all aspects surrounding the vehicle and safeguarding the situations in close cooperation with the driver. LIV also provides assistance based on the traffic around the car as well as the preferences of the driver, keeping the driver in the loop by allowing for two-way communication as well as interpreting the driver’s behavior. In forthcoming versions, LIV also will incorporate machine learning technology, providing the necessities to learn the unique characteristics in the relation between the individual driver and vehicle.
The main reason for promoting the LIV research platform, incorporating and testing new and existing technologies on a continuous basis, is to develop the necessary conditions to be able to unleash autonomous driving and AI technology on a broad scale – while maintaining safety and providing a better driving experience. The accelerated innovation and technology development within autonomous driving and automated transport solutions in turn requires more of a so-called human-centric approach – where shared control and two-way trust between human and smart vehicle is crucial for a safe autonomous development, according to Autoliv.
Boström, who is in charge of the LIV project, explains further. “The more advanced machine learning and AI technology becomes, the more important it is to have a human centric approach – understanding how we humans and smart machines collaborate as a joint cognitive system. As vehicles become safer, in a sense we become worse drivers. We no longer need to control the vehicle unless it needs or wants us to. With LIV, we have turned this table around, with a system that trusts you to drive and works together with you, and not the other way around.”
