Discovery, Volume 15, Number 42, April 10, 2014

Feasibility Analysis of Driverless Car Using VANETs

Chandan Seth
Student
Invertis University
chandan.seth0046@gmail.com

Nowadays the automotive market is increasing at a rapid rate

and thus the need for car safety, eventually leading to human
safety which is an important issue for all automotive
companies. In this paper, we are analyzing and surveying the
on-going research of Google on driverless car using the
Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETS) and intelligence
systems in auto motors for achieving the goal of driverless
vehicle .We are also doing the feasibility analysis of driverless
car in real environment.

Keywords
VANET, Driverless car, Adoption, Convergence.

1. INTRODUCTION
Recently, vehicular networking has become very popular
among the industry and research community. The concept of
improving efficiency and safety for future automotive
vehicles has also evolved in recent years. Several innovative
vehicular applications like driverless car using the VANETS
and sensor technology are being designed to solve
transportation problems. In this paper we are discussing and
analyzing the upcoming concept of driverless vehicle.

1.1. VANETS
A VANET is a subgroup of Mobile Ad Hoc Network
(MANET) technology in which moving vehicles are treated as
nodes to form a mobile network. VANET create a network
with wide range connecting vehicles approximately 100 to
300 meters of each other and allow vehicles to intelligently
communicate with each other and with roadside infrastructure.
As vehicles fall out of the signal range and drop out of the
network, other vehicles can join in, connecting vehicles to one
another so that a mobile Internet is created. The different
types of communication supported in VANETS [1] are:

Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V)

Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I)

Vehicle to Roadside (V2R)

Hybrid models

Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) & Vehicle to

Infrastructure (V2I)

Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) & Vehicle to Roadside

(V2R)
Vehicle to Vehicle communication approach is most suited for
short range vehicular networks. It is fast and Reliable. It does
not need any roadside Infrastructure.V2V does not have the
problem of Vehicle Shadowing in which a smaller vehicle is
shadowed by a larger vehicle preventing it to communicate
with the Roadside infrastructure
Vehicle to Infrastructure provides solution to longer-range
vehicular networks. It makes use of preexisting network
infrastructure such as wireless access points (Road-Side Units,
RSUs).Communications between vehicles and RSUs are
supported by Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) protocol and
Meeta Chaudhry, Chandan Seth, Akhil Sharma.
Feasibility Analysis of Driverless Car Using VANETs,
Discovery, 2014, 15(42), 86-88,
http://www.discovery.org.in/d.htm

Vehicle-to-Roadside (V2R) protocol. The Roadside

infrastructure involves additional installation costs.

1.2 Google Driver less Car

The Google Driverless Car is a Google on-going project that
is indulged in developing technology for driverless cars. The
system gather information from Google Street View with
artificial intelligence software that combines input from video
cameras inside the car, a LIDAR sensor on top of the vehicle,
radar sensors on the front of the vehicle and a GPS position
sensor attached to one of the rear wheels that helps locate the
car's position on the map. Google anticipated that its
automated driving system will not only help to reduce the
number of traffic related injuries but also at the same time
provide efficient use of space and energy on roadways.
Currently the companies involved in the manufacturing of
driverless cars are GMs Cadillac, Audi MG, BMW AG, Ford
Motor Co. and Volvo. However, Googles autonomic Toyot
Prius is among the most popular in the U.S. and will serve as
the primary example of the driverless car throughout the
research paper [2]. There are two salient features of Google
Driverless car:
(a) Fewer Accidents: It will drastically decrease the number of
accidents proportion as compared to now days as all the
controls are autonomous.
(b) Fewer Traffic Jams: A better traffic management can be
done which will return in lesser congestion and also better
fuel economies can be achieved as a result.

2. TECHNOLOGIES USED IN GOOGLE

DRIVERLESS CAR
(a) GPS System: -The car is equipped with an internal GPS
system.
(b) Lidar Sensing Technology: - This technology allows car to
examine everything in its surroundings with the help of
ultraviolet rays, visible or near infrared lights.
(c) Sensors: - The front and the rear bumpers are surrounded
by four sensors to inspect the cars surroundings and
calculate decisions appropriate to its setting.

Sensor technologies
(Infra-red sensing / Video and Camera Image Perception /
RADAR / gyro sensor / inertial sensor), process data through
mathematical algorithms to come up with a virtual
understanding of the vehicle environment.
(d) Laser Technology: -On the roof car features a laser range
finder called the Velodyne 64-beam laser that generates a 3dimensional map of the setting. Also an inertial measurement
unit and a wheel encoder is included.
(e) Vehicle Digital Maps and Positioning Technologies
(VDMP):- In VDMP technologies (GPS/Wi-Fi/Wi-Max) are
used as sensing systems for the accurate identification of
vehicle and to also interpret the environment

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86

ABSTRACT

Akhil Sharma
Student
Invertis University
aakihlsharma10@gmail.com

Page

Meeta Chaudhry
Associate professor
CSED Invertis University
meeta.c@invertis.org

Discovery, Volume 15, Number 42, April 10, 2014

3. COVERGENCE
As stated above basically there are two distinct technologies
involved in achieving the goal of autonomous vehicle.

3.1 Connected Vehicle Based Solution Only

Wireless technology is being used in connected vehicle
system to communicate in real time for both V2V and V2I,
and vice versa. The disadvantages of this are [3]:
Distinct Short range Communication (DSRC) does not
currently work with pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.
DSRC-based V2I might require significant infrastructure
investment.
. V2V requires high penetration by market to deliver value
reliably.

3.2 Sensor Based Solution only

To increase vehicle safety in speed zones where the
potentiality of driver error is very high sensor-based solutions
can be used. At times when the driver is stuck in traffic low
speed is desirable and when the one is going through long
highways high speed is desirable These systems, known as
Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), use a combination
of advanced sensors, such as stereo cameras and long- and
short-range RADAR, combined with actuators, control units,
and integrating software, to enable cars to monitor and
respond to their surroundings. The disadvantages are [3]:
Cannot sufficiently mimic human senses.
Not cost-effective for mass market adoption.
Lack of adequate 360 mapping of environment in urban
grids.
Thus for manufacturing fully autonomous vehicle there exist a
need of converging both the sensor based solutions and
connected vehicle based solutions.

3.3 Converged Solutions

For achieving the goal of fully autonomous vehicle there is an
emerging need for the convergence of connected vehicle
based solutions and sensor based solutions. There are various
advantages of converged solutions as stated below [3]
Convergence will facilitate adequate mimicking of human
senses.

Meeta Chaudhry, Chandan Seth, Akhil Sharma.

Feasibility Analysis of Driverless Car Using VANETs,
Discovery, 2014, 15(42), 86-88,
http://www.discovery.org.in/d.htm

4. FEASIBILITYANALISIS
After introducing the technologies involved in the
development of Google Driverless car we are now here
analyzing there technical and economical feasibility. Based on
the data collected we analyzing how much feasible is the
adoption of Google driverless car in the real environment.

4.1 Adoption
In this section we discuss the adoption scenario, the obstacles
that might arise, and how the stakeholders within the
automotive ecosphereincluding manufacturers, regulators,
city planners, policy makers, and consumersmight work
together to speed or inhibit progress.

(a) Cost: Although the cost involved in achieving the goal

of autonomous vehicle is very high but the infrastructure cost
here is only the one time initial cost, once the infrastructure
has been established there is just the requirement of time to
time maintenance. Also in upcoming future with the help of
convergence we can reduce its cost.

(b) Driver Education:

There is need to educate

drivers in-case of limited self-driving so that the driver could
understand the messages exchanged and can also send
messages to the other vehicles for efficient travelling.

(c) Consumer Acceptence:

In Global surveyof
1,514 consumers 18year or older, Cisco found that 57 percent
would put their trust ina driverless vehice. The answer varied
widely depending on country, with 95 percent Brazillians
embracingthe concept of silicon chauffer. In Japan
skepticismis still very high with only 28 percent willing to
give up direct control of their cars.

(d) Legislation:Various

legislations are being already

prepared by government of different countries.For e.g.
Brazils government is already preparinglegislation that will
require all cars to have a beacon.

4.2 Effect of Autonomous Vehicle

Transportation on Eco-System
(a) Crash Avoidance: Rather of being unconnected
vehicles are connected to each other and with the outside via
sensors and V2X communications. Ultimately, leading to
vehicles that cannot crash or at least cannot crash under
normal operation.

(b) Lowering Need for New

Infrastructure: As
presently accommodations are designed for human driver,
who are too often inexperienced, distracted, or impaired.
Thus, it must accommodate for the imprecise and oftenunpredictable driving pattern of human-driven vehicles with
extra-wide lanes, guardrails, stop signs, wide shoulders,
rumble strips and other features not required for self-driving,
crash less vehicles.

(c) Data Challenges: as large amount of data will be

generated, there arises the need to protect data from
unauthorized disclosure. The data security requirements are
[5]

Authentication: -It validates that data is sent from

the authorised node

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87

Using the Vehicle to Vehicle Communication system two

autonomous cars on the road are able to communicate with
each other and it allows them to share data and adjust their
actions to avoid any collision. Interestingly; these cars are also
independent of the roads infrastructure due to their built-in
sensors and cameras. They are designed to comply with the
laws of driving they avoid any possible obstacles and respect
all traffic laws [7].
If there is a gridlock/high traffic density detected by a
roadside infrastructure then the roadside system can broadcast
the information to all its nodes/vehicles. In turn using the
DTN capabilities of VANETs, the information can be
transmitted to other vehicles heading towards this junction.
Although human intuition is essentially taken away, Thrun
states "That these calculations allow the car to make better
decisions by detecting other vehicles, passengers and traffic
lights and
acting accordingly with reflexes much faster
than those of humans [7]".

Convergence will reduce need for an expensive mix of

sensors and reduce the need for blanket V2I investment.
Convergence will provide the necessary level of functional
redundancy to ensure that the technology will work 100 per
cent of the time.

Page

Use of VANETS in Google Driverless Car

Discovery, Volume 15, Number 42, April 10, 2014

Confidentiality: - It deals with the guarding of data

from unauthorized node. As this may led to serious
problems like collisions. For example the data must
only be transmitted between the authorised nodes.
Integrity: - It is the assurance that no change in the
data has been made during the transmission time.
For e.g. the content of the data sent between the
nodes should not be manipulated.
Non-repudiation: -It assures that no entity can
deny its function once it has participated in the
communication. For e.g.: sender cannot deny the
sending of message and the receiver cannot deny
the receiving of message.

(d) Time Dependency: It can help the user to

estimate the travel time based on which one make future
travelling plans and even can avoid congestion on roads

[3] Gary Silberg Richard Wallace, Self-driving cars: The

next revolution, Center for automotive research
kpmg.com cargroup.org.
[4] A. Singaravelan, A. Manikandan,Transportation System
of Security Issues in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks,
International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2013.
[5] Maria Elsa Mathew and Arun Raj Kumar P.Threat
Analysis and Defence Mechanisms in VANET
International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer
Science and Software Engineering Research, Volume 3,
Issue 1, January 2013.
[6] Jerome M. Lutin Alain L. Kornhauser, Eva LernerLam.The Revolutionary Development of Self-Driving
Vehicles and Implications for the transportation
engineering Profession, ITE journal, july 2013
[7] Erico Guizzo,How Google Self-Driving Car Works
IEEE spectrum,oct 2011.

(e) Improves Productivity: As a result of travel

time dependability one can utilise the time normally being
waste in traffic jams for some productive purpose and hence
the productivity to increases.

(f) Improved Energy Efficiency:

Due to
autonomous control, the fuel can be more efficiently utilized.

4.3
Suggested
Automation

Levels

for

Vehicle

Five levels for vehicle automation have been proposed [6]:

Level 0 (No Automation):- The vehicle is fully

under the human control.

Level 1 (Function Specific Automation):- The

vehicle is partially automatic i.e. some of its
functions are autonomous while other is under the
human control.

Level 2 (Combined function automation):Automation of at least two control functions

designed to work in harmony.

Level 3 (Limited Self Driving):- Vehicles controls

all safety functions but under certain pre-defined
conditions. Driver expected to be available for
occasional control.
Level 4 (Fully Self Automation):- The vehicle is
fully autonomous there is no need of driver. The
converged solution of connected vehicle solution
and sensor based solution is the basic solution for
fully automatic vehicle.

5. CONCLUSION
The rapid rise in the automotive market has increase the
concern for the safety and security of vehicles and eventually
driven the desire of driverless vehicle. The Google project on
driverless car using VANETS and intelligent systems has
received much attention recently. In this paper we have
discussed the driverless car technology and analysed the
probability and levels of fully autonomous vehicle. We have
also analysed the adoption scenario of driverless car and its
effect on ecosystem and security challenges.

88

6. REFERENCES

Meeta Chaudhry, Chandan Seth, Akhil Sharma.

Feasibility Analysis of Driverless Car Using VANETs,
Discovery, 2014, 15(42), 86-88,
http://www.discovery.org.in/d.htm

Page

[1] G chandrasekaran,VANETs: The Networking Platform

for
Future
Vehicular
Application.
Rutgers
University,pp. 45-51,may 2007.
[2] https://sites.google.com/site/gessicadriverless.

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