Hyundai Claims First AI Cruise Control

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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21st October 2019

Hyundai has claimed to have created the world’s first cruise control system that employs machine learning and AI.

The automaker’s new adaptive cruise control claims to be able to learn the driver’s driving patterns and habits and, when asked to take over the car’s steering, it will mimic the driver’s own driving style. Existing systems allow some manual adjustments by the driver, such as with distance setting from the vehicle in front and rate of acceleration, but cannot fine-tune settings to accommodate the diver’s individual preferences.

Hyundai quotes the example where and individual driver may accelerate differently in differing speed ranges depending on the circumstances. In this way existing cruise control drives differently from the driver’s preferred characteristics persuading some not us deploy the technology at all because it made them feel anxious and unstable.

The automaker’s new system sensors, such as the front camera and radar, to acquire driving information and send it to the on-board computer where a machine learning algorithm is applied to assess the data. The driving pattern is assessed by distance from preceding vehicles, acceleration and response times plus vehicle driving conditions and speeds. For instance, maintaining a short distance from the preceding vehicle during slow city driving and further away when driving in the overtaking lane.

“The new [system] improves upon the intelligence of the previous ADAS technology to dramatically improve the practicality of semi-autonomous features,” said Woongjun Jang, vice-president at Hyundai.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_