Mathematical Challenges and Opportunities for Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicle (AV) research and development has achieved a similar status in terms of money invested, societal excitement, and media coverage as space travel and exploration. At the same time, AV research is not rocket science; it is more complicated: while in itself, an AV is no more complex than a spacecraft, it must reliably interact and communicate with many other agents, particularly humans both inside and outside of the vehicle, much of it in a de-centralized fashion. Hence, AVs, and their impact on us humans and our transportation systems, incur some of the most complicated science and engineering challenges that we shall face in the near future. At the same time, there is some disconnect across the various research communities: professional product development is highly opaque, and public expectations and media communications are frequently inaccurate or exaggerated.