**7. 5G and transportation**

New opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and safety are presented by 5G technology, which has had and will have a significant impact on the transportation industry. The development of new technologies, such as high-speed networks, decentralized storage systems, edge computing, and others, has made it possible to operate a car with little to no human involvement. The use of 5G means that the way cars connect and the infrastructure around cars could be completely altered by 5G. Vehicles that operate without the direct input of the driver are referred to as autonomous vehicles (AV). AVs do not require the driver to continuously monitor the road. AVs are also referred to as driverless automobiles or autonomous cars. With enhanced safety measures and enhanced energy efficiency, the AVs appear to be a promising technology with reduced environmental impact. Due to the impact of 5G, major automakers are adding more AVs to their fleets. For instance, Mercedes-Benz has implemented autonomous driving (AD) in its S-class automobile. Similarly, Tesla has already developed cutting-edge software and hardware to enable completely driverless driving (level 5 automated vehicle).

**Figure 5** illustrates the levels of vehicle automation from conventional vehicles (CVs) to connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) whereas **Figure 6** shows the levels of automation in autonomous vehicles. However, to enable fully autonomous driving and high-speed networks, fifth-generation (5G) or beyond 5G (B5G) technologies, is the key to a successful implementation of the levels of autonomy required by such vehicles [36]. The switch from conventional vehicles to fully autonomous vehicles is a slow but sure process that 5G will spearhead as illustrated in **Figure 6**.

#### *Perspective Chapter: 5G Enabling Technologies – Revolutionizing Transport, Environment... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.111671*


#### **Figure 5.**

*Conventional Vehicles to Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CV-CAV) [53].*

**Figure 6.** *Levels of automation in autonomous vehicles [53].*

## **7.1 Evolution of autonomous vehicles**

The idea of AVs has been around for decades. In recent years have seen significant technological advancements and the pursuit of more effective transportation systems accelerate their development [54]. The development of autonomous vehicles, from their infancy to the present, and the significant milestones achieved along the way will be briefly discussed in this subsection. AVs have been around since the 1920s when experiments with radio-controlled automobiles were carried out [55]. The first truly autonomous vehicle, the VaMoRs, was created in the 1980s by Ernst Dickmanns and his group at the Bundeswehr University Munich [56]. The VaMoRs paved the way for subsequent research in the field by utilizing cameras and computer algorithms to navigate and avoid obstacles.

The Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV) program was started in the 1990s by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of

Defense. Its goal was to create vehicles that could operate independently in off-road environments. ALV program prompted the improvement of the NavLab series via Carnegie Mellon College, which exhibited the capability of independent driving in different circumstances. The DARPA Grand Challenge, a series of competitions in which teams were challenged to create autonomous vehicles capable of traversing desert terrains, spurred significant advancements in AV technology in the 2000s [57].

New algorithms and sensor technologies were developed as a result of these competitions, as were government, business, and academic partnerships. Google's selfdriving car project, which is now known as Waymo, was the pioneer in the field of AV development in the 2010s [58]. In 2014, Tesla released its Autopilot feature, which enabled semi-autonomous highway driving [59]. In the interim, Uber and Lyft started investigating independent ride-hailing administrations, flagging the potential for AVs to upset conventional transportation frameworks [60]. Companies like Waymo, Cruise, and Argo AI are leading the charge in testing AVs in a variety of settings worldwide today [61]. Countries like Germany, China, and the United States have enacted policies and invested in infrastructure to support, regulate, and regulate the development and deployment of AVs [62]. The widespread use of AVs is anticipated to have a significant impact on transportation, urban planning, and society as a whole as the technology develops further [63].
