For driving enthusiasts, ceding control of your braking and acceleration to technology like adaptive cruise control may feel a little relaxing, but may also feel a little robotic. Looking to bring a little human intuition to the experience, Hyundai has revealed it is working on a new form of cruise control that studies the driving style of the person behind the wheel and then mimics their habits with a little help from machine learning.
Hyundai calls its new system SCC-ML, or Machine Learning based Smart Cruise Control, and it is part of the company’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS).
It bills SCC-ML as the first cruise control technology to incorporate artificial intelligence. It works by using sensors, camera and onboard computer to monitor the human driver’s patterns and habits. This could include their typical following distance and rate of acceleration. It then runs the data through a machine learning algorithm to mimic their driving style.
The South Korean automaker says it developed the technology in response to driver anxiety that can occur when its customers felt a difference between how they would drive the car, and how the car behaves when in cruise control mode. It says this caused reluctance to use the feature at all.
“The new SCC-ML improves upon the intelligence of the previous ADAS technology to dramatically improve the practicality of semi-autonomous features,” said Woongjun Jang, VP at Hyundai Motor Group. “Hyundai Motor Group will continue the development efforts on innovative AI technologies to lead the industry in the field of autonomous driving.”
Hyundai hasn’t said exactly when the feature will become available, only that it is planned for “future implementation of Hyundai vehicles.”
Source: Hyundai