Self-driving cars are getting more and more momentum. In 2014, Tesla introduced the “Autopilot” feature for it’s Model S, which allows autonomous driving. The technology for self-driving cars has been around for years though – there are other factors why it is still not here. It is mainly a legal question and not a technical one.
However, autonomous systems will be here in some years from now, and they will have a positive impact on cloud computing and big data. The use-cases were already described partially with smart cities in an earlier post. However, there are several other use-cases. Positive effects of self-driving cars are the advanced security: sensors need milliseconds to react to threads whereas humans need a second. This gives more time for better reactions. Autonomous systems can then also communicate with other cars and warn them in advance. This is called “Vehicle to Vehicle communication”. But communication is also done with infrastructure (which is called Vehicle to Infrastructure communication). A street for instance can warn the car that there are problems ahead – e.g. that the street itself is getting worse.
The car IT itself doesn’t need the cloud and big data – but services around that will heavily use cloud and big data services.
Self-driving cars also brings a side-effect: Smart Logistics. Smart Logistics are fully automated logistic devices that drive without the need of a driver and deliver goods to a destination. This can start in china with a truck that brings a container to a ship. This ship is also fully automated and works independent. The ship drives to New York, where the goods are picked up by a self-driving truck again. The truck brings the container to a distribution center, where robots unload the container and drones deliver the goods to the customers. All of that is handled by cloud and big data systems that often operate in real-time.
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As of future technologies, Cloud Computing and Big Data aren’t a future anymore. They are here, right now and more and more of us start to deal with these technologies. Even when you watch TV, a reference to the cloud is often made. But there are several other technologies that will have a certain impact on Cloud Computing and Big Data. These technologies are different to Cloud and Big Data but will utilize that and use it as an important basis and back end.
Future Emerging Technologies using Cloud and Big Data
The technologies are:
- Smart Cities
- Smart Homes
- Smart Production
- Autonomous Systems
- Smart Logistics
- Internet of Things
All these technologies work together and have the Cloud as back end. Furthermore, they use Big Data concepts and technologies. Summing these technologies up, they can be described as “cyber-physical systems”. This basically means that the virtual world we were used to until now moves stronger into the physical world. These two worlds will merge together and form something totally new. In the upcoming weeks I will outline each topic in detail, so stay tuned and subscribe to this tag to get the updates.
Header Image Copyright by Pascal, licensed under the Creative Commons 2.0 license.