Despite the hype, one PNW Electrical Engineer professor suggests you should not hold your breath waiting to buy your first autonomous vehicle.

“We are not ready yet… for deploying autonomous vehicles,” said Khair Al Shamaileh, professor of Electrical Engineering.

“We have the technology that enables autonomous driving,” he said. “[But] I believe it’s very difficult to mix autonomous vehicles and human beings driving on the same road,”

Last month, Elon Musk announced that Tesla will unveil an autonomous Robo-Taxi in August.  Musk first mentioned these fully self-driving vehicles in 2019. Regulators immediately questioned Musk’s plans, saying they had not seen prototypes or approved plans. 

An autonomous vehicle is capable of sensing the natural environment and operating without human intervention. At one point, Musk reportedly was so confident about his Teslas’ ability to drive themselves that he asked his engineers to begin designing some vehicles without steering wheels. Today, steering wheels remain standard equipment on all Teslas.

The promise of autonomous vehicles is that they may be safer, according to a University of Michigan study published last year, which found human drivers are more likely to crash, cause crashes and injure others than autonomous vehicles.

Al Shamaileh said the challenge is that … self-driving vehicles tend to think differently.

Using cameras, sensors and other technology, autonomous vehicles can identify a wide range of road features and obstacles, such as lane markings, curbs, pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles.

However, these vehicles react differently than defensive drivers, who often view other cars and pedestrians as things to look out for – and unexpected behavior as something to anticipate. 

Other challenges for autonomous vehicles include weather, such as snow, sleet or hard rain  that may impede a vehicle’s sensors or obscure road markings.

“The system is subject to fail,” said Al Shamaileh. 

And, he said, autonomous vehicles may be susceptible to hackers, who could take complete control of the vehicle.

“It’s very easy,” Al Shamaileh said. “It can be done with what’s called software-ready components …you can find …on Amazon,” he said. “All they need is someone who knows how to operate them.”

Still, the Electrical Engineering professor is confident that autonomous vehicles will become a reality some day.

“As for technological advancements I believe … it’s still under some research and development,” he said. “But this is part of auto improvements.”