Autonomous Vehicles: Open-Source Technologies, Considerations, and Development

Autonomous vehicles are the culmination of advances in many areas such as sensor technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), networking, and more. This paper will introduce the reader to the technologies that build autonomous vehicles. It will focus on open-source tools and libraries for autonomous vehicle development, making it cheaper and easier for developers and researchers to participate in the field. The topics covered are as follows. First, we will discuss the sensors used in autonomous vehicles and summarize their performance in different environments, costs, and unique features. Then we will cover Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and algorithms for each modality. Third, we will review popular open-source driving simulators, a cost-effective way to train machine learning models and test vehicle software performance. We will then highlight embedded operating systems and the security and development considerations when choosing one. After that, we will discuss Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Internet-of-Vehicle (IoV) communication, which are areas that fuse networking technologies with autonomous vehicles to extend their functionality. We will then review the five levels of vehicle automation, commercial and open-source Advanced Driving Assistance Systems, and their features. Finally, we will touch on the major manufacturing and software companies involved in the field, their investments, and their partnerships. These topics will give the reader an understanding of the industry, its technologies, active research, and the tools available for developers to build autonomous vehicles.