What comes first: connected vehicles or connected buildings?
We’re all connected by technology: via the cloud, social media and the smartphone we’re always checking. After ‘connected people’ come ‘connected vehicles’, or will ‘connected buildings’ be even quicker than these intelligent means of transport?
Connected vehicles don’t just communicate with the driver; they also communicate with the vehicles around them. We can use data collected in this way not just to improve safety, but also to make transport more efficient. Read: less energy consumption, fewer traffic jams, not so many infrastructure problems.
First connected, then autonomous
In contrast to what many people believe, we’re still quite a long way off this. But that doesn't stop dreamers and techies daring to think about ‘autonomous vehicles’. These vehicles will drive (sail, fly, etc.) themselves without any direct input from the driver, leaving him/her free to do other things while it controls itself, with the ultimate aim of improving safety and efficiency. These same dreamers and techies believe these improvements will take place in five stages, with the driver giving the vehicle more and more autonomy in each stage. Basically: from driver assistance (where we nearly are now) to partial, conditional, high and finally full automation of the vehicle, boat or aircraft.
A safe (home) port
Lots of experiments are currently taking place with ‘autonomous vehicles’ in ports. And we’re not just talking about small boats and large ships here, but also about forklift trucks, trains and lorries. Why a port? Because it’s a safe, enclosed and predictable place with lots of automated processes already, and because over 90% of international trade transport takes place by sea. Test projects, investment and innovations in this sector are therefore creating very interesting possibilities for the global economy. Just search for ‘The Vessel Train’ from Novimar.
No people, no connection
But what are all these experiments with connected and automated vehicles telling us? Well, at the moment, transportation is still faster if a human is involved as part of the decision-making process. This is partly because computers are (still) more risk-averse – they’re simply programmed to play safe, which brings us nicely to one of the focal points of automation: no people, no connection. This is why offices, buildings and cities are being connected so smoothly at the moment: you already have a network of people there, and so also data. You want to walk into your office freely, and check availability for a meeting room on your smartphone, so you can call your colleague on the other side of the world? It sounds a bit closer than a car driving you from A to B by itself, while you call home from the driving seat to see what’s for dinner this evening.
