What is Autonomous Things

Autonomous things, abbreviated AuT, or the Internet of autonomous things, abbreviated as IoAT, is an emerging term for the technological developments that are expected to bring computers into the physical environment as autonomous entities without human direction, freely moving and interacting with humans and other objects.

Self-navigating drones are the first AuT technology in (limited) deployment. It is expected that the first mass-deployment of AuT technologies will be the autonomous car, generally expected to be available around 2020. Other currently expected AuT technologies include home robotics (e.g., machines that provide care for the elderly, infirm or young), and military robots (air, land or sea autonomous machines with information-collection or target-attack capabilities).

AuT technologies share many common traits, which justify the common notation. They are all based on recent breakthroughs in the domains of (deep) machine learning and artificial intelligence. They all require extensive and prompt regulatory developments to specify the requirements from them and to license and manage their deployment (see the further reading below). And they all require unprecedented levels of safety (e.g., automobile safety) and security, to overcome concerns about the potential negative impact of the new technology.

As an example, the autonomous car both addresses the main existing safety issues and creates new issues. It is expected to be much safer than existing vehicles, by eliminating the single most dangerous element – the driver. The US's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates 94 percent of US accidents were the result of human error and poor decision-making, including speeding and impaired driving, and the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School claims that "Some ninety percent of motor vehicle crashes are caused at least in part by human error". So while safety standards like the ISO 26262 specify the required safety, there is still a burden on the industry to demonstrate acceptable safety.

While car accidents claim every year 35,000 lives in the US, and 1.25 million worldwide, some believe that even "a car that's 10 times as safe, which means 3,500 people die on the roads each year [in the US alone]" would not be accepted by the public. The acceptable level may be closer to the current figures on aviation accidents and incidents, with under a thousand worldwide deaths in most years – three orders of magnitude lower than cars. This underscores the unprecedented nature of the safety requirements that will need to be met for cars, with similar levels of safety expected for other Autonomous Things.

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Why is it important now?

Gartner expects autonomous things to be the most important tech trend in the next years. We agree because

Technology that affects the physical world >> technology that affects the digital world.
Cost of sensors(e.g., cameras) are falling
The driver of autonomy, AI hardware and software is becoming more capable.

Software that touches the real world rather than the digital world tends to have a disproportionate impact. Let’s consider mobile software: If we exclude social networks, the most valuable companies that rely mostly on mobile software are Uber and WeChat and they both enable activities in the real world: payments and transportation.

Improved technology for autonomy and reduced sensors costs lead to smarter autonomous things that can automate a wider variety of tasks. This results in more data and experience in autonomous things which creates a virtuous feedback cycle for them. Therefore, we expect businesses to get increasing benefits from autonomous things over time.

What are the leading companies in Autonomous Things?

Autonomous Vehicles Companies

Argo AI
Aptiv
Baidu
BMW
Derq
Ford
GM Cruise
Tesla
Volvo
Waymo

Tesla is one of the leading companies in the autonomous vehicles market with $6.35 B in revenue. Derq is also another company in the market, it has SXSW award-winning algorithms analyze roadside sensor data in real-time to predict dangerous situations with enough time to warn drivers.

Drones

3DR
Airdata UAV
Airmap
DJI Innovations
Juniper Unmanned
Percepto
Skycatch
SolSpec

DJI Innovations is the leading company in the market by possessing approximately 70% of the global enterprise drone market and it has a total of $1.1B fundings.