Vehicles with L4 autonomous driving capabilities can perform most driving tasks in most scenarios on their own, without the need for a driver to take over.
German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz has been given the go-ahead to test L4 autonomous vehicles in Beijing, following approval for L3 testing in the Chinese capital city late last year.
Mercedes-Benz has been granted permission to conduct L4 autonomous driving tests on city roads, highways and expressways in Beijing, becoming the first international car brand to receive such permission, it announced last night.
The tests are designed to study the multi-sensor perception of high-level autonomous driving systems and the system's performance under extreme conditions, exploring the deep integration of perception and regulation, Mercedes said.
Vehicles with L4 autonomous driving capabilities can autonomously complete driving tasks in most scenarios without a driver taking over, according to a statement.
On busy urban roadways, the vehicle can easily complete parking in and out of parking spaces, make U-turns, handle roundabouts, and make unprotected left turns, according to Mercedes.
On highway sections, the vehicle can automatically change lanes when the car in front slows down and can perform tasks such as automatically passing through toll booths.
In extreme situations, the vehicle will implement a minimal risk strategy to find a safe place to stop on its own, according to Mercedes.
This is the latest development after Mercedes-Benz was given permission to conduct L3 autonomous driving tests in Beijing late last year.
Beijing announced the city's administrative rules for road testing of vehicles with conditional autonomous driving functions on December 16, 2023, and Mercedes-Benz subsequently announced on December 18 that it had become one of the first companies to be approved to conduct L3 autonomous driving road tests on Beijing's highways.
China's current classification of autonomous driving systems, which came into effect in March 2022, consists of six levels, with levels 0-2 being driver assistance, where the driver is a human driver, and levels 3-5 being autonomous driving, where the system is responsible for driving tasks.
Below are the details of the classification:
Level 0 Driving Automation
Level 0 driving automation is also referred to as emergency assistance.
A system with this capability cannot continuously perform lateral or longitudinal vehicle motion control in dynamic driving tasks, but has the ability to continuously perform partial target and event detection and response in dynamic driving tasks.
Level 1 Driving Automation
Level 1 driving automation is also referred to partial driver assistance.
A system that continuously performs lateral or longitudinal vehicle motion control in a dynamic driving task under its designed operating conditions and has the capability to detect and respond to partial targets and events appropriate to the lateral or longitudinal vehicle motion control being performed.
Level 2 Driving Automation
Level 2 driving automation is also referred to as combined driver assistance.
The system continuously performs lateral and longitudinal vehicle motion control in dynamic driving tasks under the conditions for which it is designed to operate, and has the capability to detect and respond to partial targets and events appropriate to the lateral and longitudinal vehicle motion control being performed.
Level 3 Driving Automation
Level 3 driving automation is also referred to as conditionally automated driving.
The system continuously performs all dynamic driving tasks under its designed operating conditions.
Level 4 Driving Automation
Level 4 driving automation is also referred to as highly automated driving.
The system continuously performs all dynamic driving tasks under its designed operating conditions and automatically implements a minimal risk strategy.
Level 5 Driving Automation
Level 5 driving automation is also referred to as fully automated driving.
The system continuously performs all dynamic driving tasks under any drivable condition and automatically executes a minimal risk strategy.
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