Title: Traditional vehicle design frameworks in autonomous vehicle development

Authors: Alex Munoz

Addresses: École des Ponts Business School, 6 et 8, avenue Blaise Pascal, Cité Descartes – Champs-sur-Marne, 77455 Marne-la-Vallee Cedex 2, France

Abstract: Fully autonomous vehicles are expected to revolutionise transportation, reduce the cost of ownership, contribute to a cleaner environment, and prevent the majority of traffic accidents and related fatalities. Even though promising approaches for achieving full autonomy exist, developers and manufacturers have to overcome a multitude of challenges before these systems could find widespread adoption. This multiple case study explored the strategies some hardware and software developers of self-driving cars use to adapt traditional vehicle design frameworks to their needs. Notable themes emerged around regulatory uncertainty, functional safety, rapid iteration, and achieving a competitive advantage. Some findings of the study include the need for better regulatory frameworks to provide certainty, consumer education to manage expectations and universal development standards that could integrate regulatory and design needs into a single approach.

Keywords: vehicle design frameworks; autonomous vehicle; vehicle development; multiple case study; self-driving; traditional vehicle design; regulations; functional safety; competitive advantage; consumer expectations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTCS.2020.111142

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 2020 Vol.11 No.3, pp.238 - 257

Received: 04 May 2020
Accepted: 16 Jun 2020
Published online: 10 Nov 2020 *

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