New Cruise Control System Learns the Patterns of Drivers

Self-driving vehicles are getting a lot of attention as companies pour billions of dollars into developing the vehicles of the future.

While cars that drive themselves are still a few years away, Hyundai Motor Group isn't waiting. It's building autonomous driving technology into the cruise control systems of its vehicles. 

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Hyundai's smart cruise control relies on AI 

Calling it a first for the industry, Hyundai announced 22 October machine learning-based smart cruise control, a technology that learns the driver's patterns and incorporates that into the cruise control. To make this possible, Hyundai is embedding artificial intelligence into the Advanced Driver Assistance System feature of its vehicles. The technology is planned to be included in future vehicles of the South Korean car manufacturer. 

“The new SCC-ML improves upon the intelligence of the previous ADAS technology to dramatically improve the practicality of semi-autonomous features,” said Woongjun Jang, VP at Hyundai Motor Group in a press release. “Hyundai Motor Group will continue the development efforts on innovative AI technologies to lead the industry in the field of autonomous driving.”

System learns driver's patterns without intervention 

According to Hyundai what makes this advancement so exciting is the fact that the technology learns the driver's patterns and habits without any intervention. It can then autonomously drive exactly like the driver. 

To achieve that, sensors including the front camera and radar acquire information about the driver and send it to a computer. The computer takes the relevant data and creates an identical driving pattern to the driver. A machine learning algorithm is applied during this process so the system can adapt. The system looks at the distance the vehicle is from other cars on the road, acceleration, and responsiveness. Driving conditions and speeds are also taken into account. 

Hyundai said this approach will make more people feel confident when cruise control is on. As it stands, when the current Smart Cruise Control is activated and the vehicle is operated differently than what the driver likes, it can result in a reluctance to use the technology again. But with this system, the driver won't be able to tell a difference and will be more confident when cruise control is activated. 

Hyundai isn't the only one adding technology into the cruise control systems of their vehicles. BMW is reportedly developing a cruise control system that will be able to recognize traffic lights.