SAE Offers Free Summary Document on Levels of Vehicle Automation

October 2, 2014

Patrick Ponticel

One of the illustrations in SAE's summary document on levels of automated driving.

Earlier this year, SAE International published an Information Report categorizing and defining various levels of automated driving. Now it is offering a handy and free two-page document here to illustrate and summarize the categories. The full Information Report (J3016 - "Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to On-Road Motor Vehicle Automated Driving Systems" here includes operational definitions for advanced levels of automation and related terms. SAE says the report provides a foundation for further standards development activities and a common language for discussions within the broader “automated/autonomous vehicle community." In related automated-driving news, Mercedes-Benz recently received a license permitting it to test vehicles in autonomous driving mode in daily traffic on California's roads. Audi and Google previously had been granted licenses.