The automotive digitalization – The way from driving yourself to highly automated driving

Abstract

Some 7 million years ago a creature, later to be known as “homo sapiens“, began to rise up and turned his gaze towards mobility.

10 000 BC man began to domesticate animals like horses and put them before towed carts. Approximately 4000 BC the carts became enhanced by putting wheels on them, thus being evolved to coaches. This kind of locomotion by muscular power could be named “ Mobility 1.x“

1801 modern traffic began with a mobile steam road locomotive (“Puffing Devil“) followed 1870 by the well-known Marcus-Wagen and shortly after by a fuel-powered carriage-like vehicle by Gottlieb Daimler. In consequence these vehicles powered by an engine have been developed evolutionary until now, leaving the basic principle “a motor for drive“, be it fuel, diesel or electricity, mostly untouched. As early as in the middle of the 19th century the increasing mobility caused traffic problems in London. In 1868 the first manually operated gas lit signals for carriages were put into operation, 1920 the first electric three colour traffic light was installed in the motor city of Detroit. In the end the automobile covers the basic human requirement to travel from one place to another independently, quickly and safely. One could consider this era as the second generation of mobility – “Mobility 2.x”.