Want to cut through the hype and get to the core of autonomous and connected vehicles? Then this book is your clear, accessible guide to a complex and fast-moving field. Starting with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), it walks you through the essential foundations, including Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) – the stepping stones to full autonomy. Explore how self-driving cars mimic human behavior through a loop of perception, analysis, decision, and action. Discover the key functions that make it possible: localization, obstacle detection, driver monitoring, cooperative awareness – and the most challenging of all, trajectory planning, across strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Will vehicles be connected? The debate is on – but the standards are already here. Learn how connectivity, infrastructure, and vehicles can work in synergy through the innovative concept of floating car data (FCD). Dive into real-world implementation: with embedded electronics account-ing for over 30% of a modern vehicle‘s cost, we unpack the architecture, coordination, and tools required to manage the complexity – brought to life with a hands-on case study. To finish, we open the door to the future: building your own 1:10 scale autonomous vehicle. No plug-and-play solutions – just the foundations for a collaborative, creative, and geek-friendly challenge. Let’s drive the future together.