Extended Inquiry Project Proposal

Area of Inquiry: Autonomous Vehicles

Exigency: A Jeeps computer system was hacked remotely; the American hackers were

able to gain control of radio functions, ventilation systems, and the windshield wiper

system.

A French scientist was able to stump an autonomous vehicles radars with just $43 and a

laser.

Potential/Relevant Audiences: Manufacturers of the autonomous vehicles, Consumers

of the autonomous vehicles

Context: Today, basic hackers are able to easily disrupt a cars computers, or more

urgently a self-driving cars autonomy. After this research, manufacturers are now

looking for methods to evade these hackers for improved passenger safety and security in

the future.

Describe your specific area of interest/topic. If the topic is broad, refine it down

toward your central issue, niche or focus. With autonomous vehicles becoming more

mainstream, researchers have been able to find ways in which to hack cars computer

systems, regardless of whether or not they are autonomous. Following this research,

skeptics are now concerned about the cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles. Computers

are beginning to play a larger role in cars, which exposes them to risks which could have

life-threatening implications.

What issue, problem, concern, tension, or hotspot lines of inquiry will you be

pursuing/exploring? With my research on the cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles, I

 will be exploring different threats to autonomous vehicles and how manufacturers such as

Tesla and Google are working to prevent these threats.

Pose 2 or 3 problem statements and corresponding critical questions.

- An increase in automotive computer technology leaves cars open to the danger of

hacking.

o What steps are being taken to prevent hacking?

o If a vehicle is hacked, what are the potential dangers that its passengers or

other cars may face?

- Drivers are losing control with the innovation of autonomous vehicles.

o With autonomous vehicle software, will the drivers or operators have the

ability to override the technology when required?

o How much of a car will be controlled by computers, and what tasks will

humans still have to complete to guarantee their personal safety and the safe

operation of the vehicle?

Describe your interest and involvement with this topic--your experience and current

investment/engagement with it, anecdote or brief scene). [Relevant for Ethos,

Pathos] What do you know about the topic already. My interest in this topic stems

from my prior knowledge of automotive computer systems. I have learned how to

manipulate a cars mechanical and electrical systems, which today work together, in order

to generate more horsepower. This process is called chip tuning, and can manipulate fuel

ratios, transmissions, and many other aspects of a car. As automotive technology has

progressed and computers and electronics have taken on a larger role in a cars

functionality, more systems have lost user control and been taken on technologically,
 such as a cars steering and braking systems using drive-by-wire systems, which are

similar to the fly-by-wire systems used in the aviation industry.

Open ended: Since the process of inquiry is to discover, what do you hope to

discover? What new ground or insights do you aim for? What might your

contribution be beyond what is already explored in this issue and topic?

By completing research into the cybersecurity efforts in autonomous vehicles, I hope to

discover specific methods that manufacturers are using to ensure that self-driving cars are

just as safe, if not safer than human-operated vehicles. I hope to learn what kind of

preventative measures are being taken against hackers, which have the potential to be

dangerous or deadly.