Can Blockchain Become an Integral Part of Autonomous Vehicles?

So how is blockchain being used to drive the development of autonomous vehicles around the globe?

The success of the project could be a potential driver for the use of blockchain technology to facilitate settlement systems for autonomous vehicles.

In April 2019 the company filed a patent for a project that would allow it to manage data and interactions for self-driving vehicles using blockchain tech.

This specific patent outlines technology that would allow autonomous vehicles to identify nonautonomous vehicles around it and predict their behaviour based on data from those vehicles' driving record.

When making use of the blockchain technology, other users data remains secure, but autonomous vehicles can access the information in order to improve their navigation on the road. Only authorized parties would be able to access this data in real time, because it is cryptographically secure.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have proven their worth as disruptive payment alternatives, and this very application is one that is being actively developed for use by autonomous vehicles.

In July 2019, Daimler announced that it had partnered with a blockchain startup to develop a hardware wallet solution for vehicles.

The examples of blockchain's use cases in the development of autonomous vehicles and the improvement of their processes is clear to see.

Having co-authored a published use-case paper on blockchain technology for autonomous vehicles, the researcher told Cointelegraph that the applications of the technology in the automotive industry are plain to see, from payments per transport or unit of fuel, data-sharing for traffic and better transport to insurance.

"The biggest influence is without any doubt towards the possibility of exchange of goods on-the-go, in a trustless manner. Insurance companies may or may not find blockchain technologies as the best fit for their services, but trustless exchange of transport, fuel, or any other product/service seems to me like a perfect fit for the current industry, and especially the future autonomous vehicles and machine to machine communications."