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Sunday, July 21, 2019

http://SmartDrivingCar.com/7.30-TeslaSafety-072119

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="113" height="21">  Tesla Vehicle Safety Report

Tesla, July 16, "At Tesla, we believe that technology can help improve safety. That’s why Tesla vehicles are engineered to be the safest cars in the world. We believe the unique combination of passive safety, active safety, and automated driver assistance is crucial for keeping not just Tesla drivers and passengers safe, but all drivers on the road. It’s this notion that grounds every decision we make – from the design of our cars, to the software we introduce, to the features we offer every Tesla owner.

Model S, X and 3 have achieved the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by the U.S. government’s New Car Assessment Program.

... In the 2nd quarter, we registered one accident for every 3.27 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. For those driving without Autopilot but with our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 2.19 million miles driven. For those driving without Autopilot and without our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 1.41 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 498,000 miles.... "  Read more   Hmmmm.... This summary uses "accident" for Teslas and "crash" for NHTSA.  This may suggest that the Tesla and NHTSA are not comp[arable... Tesla is reporting about apples and NHTSA is referring to "oranges".  That notes; however, it does seem that for Teslas with and without AutoPilot and the other active safety features, there is consistency in the measure.  A more detailed question arises about the equivalence of the driving domain for each category as well as who is at fault in each of these situations.  Even in light of these issues and details, the large variation in the rates: 3.27 v 2.18 v 1.41 is very significant among Teslas. Seems as if AutoPilot and Tesla's other active collision avoidance safety features are improving safety of Teslas. The spread from the 0.5 value for NHTSA is really astonishing making Teslas much safer than the average of all other cars. Unfortunately these numbers only scratch the surface and beg for more details. In the past I have called for an independent evaluation of the Tesla crash statistics and I do that again there today.   I'll offer to do it.  Tesla should encourage someone to do it. As it stands today, not enough people believe or trust Tesla (see below) Tesla. That's unfortunate because improved safety is THE major objective of SmartDrivingCar technology.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">   Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 116 - Jerome Lutin

F. Fishkin, July 20, "Can technology dramatically improve the safety of bus transportation for pedestrians, riders and drivers? The lead investigator in a national study, Jerry Lutin,  joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on episode 116 of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast. Plus...Tesla's new safety report, the latest from Lyft, Aptiv and a NY Times report on why driverless cars are taking longer than expected. Tune in and subscribe!."  Just say "Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!".  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">    Apollo 11 Anniversary: Everything You Need to Read on the Moon Landing

NY Times, July 17, "...Fifty years later, the amazement caused by Apollo 11 has not worn off. The New York Times has been covering the anniversary of the moon landing, looking back at the event’s meaning, and forward to humankind’s next giant leaps in space.

Here is a roundup of some of our reporting this year on Apollo 11...."  Read more   Hmmmm....  Kitty and I watched the launch from the viewing area near Pad 39A @ Cape Canaveral and the landing with my parents in Miami Beach.   That and Sputnik were enormously significant in my life.  Enjoy this and the other linked articles. Unfortunately, as is stated in the articles, this was a race; once won, there was little reason to continue.  Quite different for Driverless cars... It is not a race nor a demonstration.  The objective is the development of sustainable mobility that delivers improved quality-of-life for many years to come.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="83" height="18">  Building Trust in Autonomous Vehicles

M. Scrudato, July 17, "1.  Why do you trust?, 2. Why can't we trust? ..."  Read more   Hmmmm....  Fundamentally important elements needed for us to begin to actually capture the benefits of this technology. Alain 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="89" height="18">  SAFETY FIRST FOR AUTOMATED DRIVING

M. Wood, July 2019, "This publication summarizes widely known safety by design and verification and validation (V&V) methods of SAE L3 and L4 automated driving. This summary is required for maximizing the evidence of a positive risk balance of automated driving solutions compared to the average human driving performance. There is already a vast array of publications focusing on only specific subtopics of automated driving. In contrast, this publication is a comprehensive approach to safety relevant topics of automated driving and is based on the input of OEMs, tiered suppliers and key technology providers. The approach of this publication is to systematically break down safety principles into safety by design capabilities, elements and architectures and then to summarize the V&V methods in order to demonstrate the positive risk balance. This publication is intended to contribute to current activities working towards the industry-wide standardization of automated driving. ..."  Read more   Hmmmm....  A must read.  Extensive publication by traditional auto OEMS and their suppliers.  It is focused on Self-driving and vehicles that are going to be owned and operated by individual consumers.  Unfortunately its extensive list of authors and contributors does not include anyone from Tesla, Waymo GM/Cruise, Argo, or others that are focused on providing Driverless shared mobility as a service.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Pedestrian collision puts Vienna’s driverless bus trial on hold

J. Porter, July 19, "A self-driving bus trial taking place in Vienna, Austria, has been paused after an incident occurred between a pedestrian and one of the vehicles, reports Bloomberg. On Thursday morning a 30-year-old woman collided with the bus, which is operated by the self-driving startup Navya, sustaining minor injuries. The city’s transit authority has paused the trials of the two autonomous buses while it awaits the results of an investigation into the incident.

It’s currently unclear who was at fault for the collision. State broadcaster ORF reported that the bus was moving at about 7.5 miles an hour when it struck the knee of a woman, according to Bloomberg. In a statement given to The Verge, Navya claimed that witnesses had seen the pedestrian wearing headphones and looking at a mobile phone as she crossed the street and “walked against” the side of the bus. Golem reported a similar account from an eyewitness. Navya said the woman suffered “minor scratches” as a result of the incident...."  Read more   Hmmmm....  This isn't easy!! Alain

  Driverless Cars  Are Taking Longer Than We Expected. Here’s Why.

C. Haberman, July 14, " Now we are at the dawn of the driverless car, also often described as autonomous. Perhaps in time — as was the case with the radio, the automobile and the mobile phone — it will acquire an appellation of its own that is not so ungainly. Much may depend on how far beyond infancy this technology goes. It is an essential question and, setting aside the matter of language, it underpins the latest offering from Retro Report, a series of video documentaries exploring major news events of the past and their lasting impact.

“I have to confess, I’m actually really torn,” said John Leonard, a robotics expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Part of me feels that self-driving is impossible,” he continued, “but things that I think are impossible are happening today.”

As things stand, partially autonomous vehicles are already on American roads, rigged out with features like automatic emergency braking and lane-departure warnings. But a lot of work remains to be done to make fully self-operating cars a fact of everyday life, and Retro Report explores some of the remaining obstacles: Streets and highways need to be mapped, down to a few centimeters. The machines must learn to grapple with snow or rain, which can throw their sensors out of whack. They will have to step up their game if they are to be able to respond instantly to the unexpected, be it a falling tree branch or a child darting into the road from between parked cars...." Read more   Hmmmm....  See video.  What is really needed is what Mike Scrudato presented above.  We need to build trust.  The technology is largely there; trust isn't.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Luminar eyes production vehicles with 100M round and new Iris lidar platform

D. Coldewey, July 12, "Luminar  is one of the major players in the new crop of lidar companies that have sprung up all over the world, and it’s moving fast to outpace its peers. Today the company announced a new $100 million funding round, bringing its total raised to more than $250 million — as well as a perception platform and a new, compact lidar unit aimed at inclusion in actual cars. Big day!

The new hardware, called Iris, looks to be about a third of the size of the test unit Luminar has been sticking on vehicles thus far. That one was about the size of a couple hardbacks stacked up, and Iris is more like a really thick sandwich.

...Iris will cost less than $1,000 per unit for production vehicles seeking serious autonomy, and for $500 you can get a more limited version for more limited purposes like driver assistance, or ADAS. ..."  Read more   Hmmmm.... And, instead of creating a largely useless 360 degree view, it is focused on the road ahead where the real action is.  I've never appreciated the need for the uniform 360 view of spinning LiDARS.  At speed, the needs ahead are by far the most important. The rear is  somewhat important and the sides.. not so much.  When stopped or going slow needs are very different than at speed and one has the benefit of time.  Elon may well be right. Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="128" height="20"> Lyft Is Testing Its Self-Driving Cars on Blind Passengers

G. Barkho, July 10, "Lyft’s has accessibility in mind while developing its driverless program.  This week, the rideshare company announced it has expanded its autonomous vehicle trials, in partnership with auto parts company Aptiv, to include blind and low-vision riders. The test drives, a collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, are taking place in Las Vegas during the organization’s annual conference...."  Read more   Hmmmm.... Very nice!! Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="178" height="19">  Ohio driverless vehicle test-track, touted as industry’s biggest, now open

A. Tobias, July 10, "A new state-funded facility for testing driverless cars and other “smart” vehicles has opened in the latest expansion of Ohio’s Transportation Research Center.  The new Smart Mobility Advanced Research Test, or SMART, Center, in Logan County about 40 miles northwest of Columbus, includes a six-lane, high-speed “smart” intersection, complete with a traffic light, that companies and researchers can use to test new vehicle technology...."  Read more   Hmmmm.... Since I tried to create such a "test-track" at Fort Monmouth and failed miserably (and maybe even deservedly), I extend kudos to Ohio; however, Driverless has to be tested with attendants on real roads in real traffic conditions and stress tested in simulators/virtual reality environments.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Elon Musk announces another price hike for “full self-driving” package

T. Lee, July 16, "On August 16, Tesla will begin charging an additional $1,000 for the "full self-driving" upgrade, CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter on Tuesday. The option currently costs $6,000. It's the latest in a series of price changes for a package whose main function—"full self-driving"—is still largely aspirational.

The price hike reflects Musk's view that Tesla is less than 18 months away from delivering full self-driving technology to customers and that this capability will drastically increase the value of Tesla vehicles.  "That's approximately date when we expect Enhanced Summon to be in wide release," Musk explained. "It will be magical."..."  Read more   Hmmmm.... Price increases tend to imply high demand.  Congratulations.  However, "Enhanced summon" better not extend to public streets; else, things may get very ugly very quickly.  Do what you want on your own private property; that's your problem.  If you bring it to public roads/spaces, then it's my problem and "you can't do that!"!  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="78" height="23">  Discussing Safety First For Automated Driving With Aptiv's Karl Iagnemma

L. Elliot, July 19, "Safety in the self-driving car realm is a top concern and one that I wanted to discuss with Karl Iagnemma, President of Aptiv Autonomous Mobility and founder of NuTonomy, when we met recently.

We were both at the TechCrunch TC Sessions: Mobility summit in San Jose, California this month, and carved out some riveting moments to collegially chat and engage in an energetic dialogue on the all-important topic of safety of autonomous cars, doing so among the noisy hubbub and frenetic activity that’s a hallmark of these kinds of gatherings.  Dovetailing into our discussion was the recently released white paper entitled “Safety First For Automated Driving,” which many are referring to as SaFAD as a handy acronym...."  Read more   Hmmmm.... Interesting.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23">  Tesla hater gets caught and charged for harassing Model 3 owner thanks to TeslaCam

F. Lambert, July 21, "A pickup truck driver who seemingly hates Tesla got caught and charged for harassing a Model 3 owner thanks to TeslaCam, Tesla’s onboard dashcam feature utilizing Autopilot camera. A Tesla Model 3 driver going by Arti on Youtube wrote about a situation he ran into last week in British Columbia:

“The gentleman in this white truck decided to tailgate, pull into the shoulder to intimidate, give me the finger, call me a “Tesla fag”, and run a red without stopping.”

Some of those behaviors were caught by Tesla’s dashcam feature, which uses both a front-facing and 2 side-facing cameras to record when needed."...  Read more   Hmmmm....   Jus think of what a few might do to Driverless cars.  Thank goodness for these imaging systems.  Hopefully the courts will deal seriously with such behaviors and get everyone to behave and show respect;  else, we have a real societal challenge.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23">  Tesla updates map of upcoming Supercharger stations – showing where it’s going next

F. Lambert, July 19, "....Tesla appears to have added several upcoming stations around the world, including in Iceland, Central and Eastern Europe.

Here are screenshots of a few specific markets:"  Read more   Hmmmm....   See maps.  Impressive! Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="125" height="26"> Intel's ultra-efficient AI chips can power prosthetics and self-driving cars

S. Dent, July 15, "...Intel is still working on hard on its Loihi "neuromorphic" deep-learning chips, modeled after the human brain. Now, it has unveiled a new system, code-named Pohoiki Beach, made up of 64 Loihi chips and 8 million so-called neurons. It's capable of crunching AI algorithms up to 1,000 faster and 10,000 times more efficiently than regular CPUs for use with autonomous driving, electronic robot skin, prosthetic limbs and more.

The Loihi chips are installed on a "Nahuku" board that contains from 8 to 32 Loihi chips. The Pohoiki Beach system contains multiple Nahuku boards that can be interfaced with Intel's Arria 10 FPGA developer's kit, as shown above... "  Read more   Hmmmm....   See video (embedded).  Impressive! Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23"> Tesla Model 3 production at Gigafactory 3 to start in November, says Morgan Stanley

F. Lambert, July 17, " Morgan Stanley visited China to do some channel checks on suppliers for the Tesla Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai in order to determine when they could start production.  They expect that Model 3 production at Gigafactory 3 as soon as November.

In a note to clients today, analyst Adam Jonas revised the firm’s expectations for when Tesla can bring Gigafactory 3 online after Morgan Stanley’s Chinese auto team visited local suppliers.

Here are the key feedback points from their Chinese supplier visit:..."  Read more   Hmmmm.... Impressive. Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  City planners eye self-driving vehicles to correct mistakes of the 20th-century auto

K. Shaver, July 20, "...“This is an opportunity to make our city more beautiful by eliminating huge parking lots and doing something more aesthetically pleasing,” De La Torre said. “It’s an evolution from an auto-oriented society to a more pedestrian-oriented society.”

In Washington’s Maryland suburbs, planners in Montgomery County will try to predict the effects of autonomous vehicles on the local transportation network as they update the county’s 30-year general plan.  “We’re trying to be flexible with our thinking,” said David Anspacher, a transportation supervisor for the county’s planning department. “We know a change is coming, but until we actually see a big adoption of the technology, there’s a lot of debate about the changes it will bring.”..."  Read more   Hmmmm....   Hopefully Driverless cars do a lot more than reducing parking requirements.  This is all about revolutionizing mobility for all and fundamentally improving the quality-of-life for many.  Those are much more valuable contributions to cities and communities than the implications on "parking". Alain

Half-baked stuff that probably doesn't deserve your time 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="29" height="39">  The Self-Driving Car Is a Surveillance Tool

M. Anderson, Jun 24, "...  Now, an American geography researcher is arguing that GPS’s transition from dedicated hardware to smartphone software was even more significant than we realize. He says mobile mapping apps also foreshadow the ultimate transformation of car companies from purely “hardware” manufacturers to hybrid hardware, software, and service providers..... True!! Your phone is always with you.  It is a perfect reflection of you and with GPS & WiFi it knows where you are all the time...

...As cars become more automated, Alvarez León says, they also become more valuable platforms for information and tech companies. ..."  Read more   Hmmmm....  What???  The car, whether it is automated or not, provides essentially no additional useful information.  Since you are not always in your car, its data is very much less valuable that the data captured by your phone.  Self-driving or not, the car is a very distant second as a surveillance tool.   Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="131" height="19">  Uber made a blueprint for safe self-driving cars it wants the rest of the industry to follow

M. Coren, July 18, "Uber’s future depends on safe autonomous vehicles. The money-losing company is attempting to transition from costly human drivers to driverless cars. On July 16, it announced the industry’s first “safety case,” a universal framework for developing safe driverless vehicles, and it wants the rest of the industry to join in.

Uber is still recovering after one of its self-driving vehicles killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona in 2018, one of the first recorded deaths by an autonomous car, despite having a safety driver behind the wheel. That prompted a nine-month shutdown of its self-driving program, two investigations, and a drastic rethinking of the company’s efforts to ensure the public feels comfortable stepping into an Uber vehicle driven by algorithms. “We recognize trust will have to be earned,” Noah Zych, chief of staff for Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, said at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in Orlando. “We have to earn back the trust. The first step is to be open, transparent, and sincere about how we do that.”..."  Read more   Hmmmm....  Uber needs Driverless, not Self-driving, and unfortunately caused the "3-mile Island/Apollo One Fire/Chernobyl" of Driverless mobility.  Is anyone going to take their "blueprint" seriously? Alain

 C'mon Man!  (These folks didn't get/read the memo)

Simply ClickBait

 Calendar of Upcoming Events:

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evening May 19 through May 21, 2020

On the More Technical Side

http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/

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Recent PodCasts

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 115

F. Fishkin, July 5, "VW invests billions partnering with Ford in autonomous startup Argo AI. Just one of many new alliances. That plus employing new safety tech for buses, the latest from VIA, Uber, Tesla and a farewell to Ross Perot on this edition of the Smart Driving Cars podcast with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 113

F. Fishkin, June 21, "With new European and Japanese car maker alliances, is Waymo throwing in the towel on driverless transportation? Princeton's Alain Kornhauser wonders out loud. That and more on Lexus, Local Motors and others with co-host Fred Fishkin on the Smart Driving Cars podcast. "

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 112 - J. Hardiman NJM

F. Fishkin, June 9, "Should the insurance industry be pushing more safety and autonomous tech in cars? It's a win, win says Princeton's Alain Kornhauser. Joining him in the discussion along with co-host Fred Fishkin is NJM's John Hardiman, a board member of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Also...Fiat Chrysler, Ford and more."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 110 - Lance Elliot

F. Fishkin, May 25, " The untold secrets of driverless car videos. Dr. Lance Eliot joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a liveley discussion. Plus...Waymo brings back self driving trucks, so will Daimler and is the future driverless for Uber and Lyft. Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 108 3rd Summit Wrapup

F. Fishkin, May 18, "Wrapping up the 3rd annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin zero in on mobility for all and more. It's just getting started. Plus the headlines from Nissan, Tesla, Uber and Lyft. Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 107 3rd Summit Leilei Shinohara & Staff Sergeant Terence McDonnell

F. Fishkin, May 18, "In this special edition from the 3rd Annual Princeton Smart Driving Cars Summit, Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by RoboSense VP Leilei Shinohara on the LiDAR's benefits. And view of autonomous technology from law enforcement with New York State Police
Staff Sergeant Terence McDonnell." 

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 106 3rd Summit David Kidd & Cecillia Feeley

F. Fishkin, May 18, "From the 3rd Annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, David Kidd from the Highway Loss Data Institute joins Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin and then on site preliminary research results on mobility for all with Cecilia Feeley and Andrea Lubin from Rutgers." 

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 104 3rd Summit Anil Lewis & Katherine Freund

F. Fishkin, May 18,, "From the 3rd Annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, join Professor Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. In this special edition, the summit's focus on mobility for all with guests Anil Lewis, Executive Director of Blindness Initiatives at the National Federation of the Blind and ITN America Founder Katherine Freund." 

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 100 - Andrei Greenawalt'99/Via

April 5, F. Fishkin, "The success of on demand transit company Via is proving that ride sharing systems can work. Public Policy head Andrei Greenawalt joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a wide ranging discussion. Also: Uber, Tesla, Audi, Apple and Nuro are making headlines"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 98- Matt Daus

April 5, F. Fishkin, "Here comes congestion pricing in New York City...but what will it mean? Former city Taxi and Limousine Commission head and transportation expert Matthew Daus joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Also...Tesla, VW and even Brexit! All on Episode 98 of Smart Driving Cars."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 97 - Michael Sena'69

March 28, F. Fishkin, "The Future Networked Car? From Sweden, The Dispatcher publisher, Michael Sena, joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for the latest edition of Smart Driving Cars. Plus ...the Boeing story has much to do with autonomous vehicles and more. Tune in and subscribe."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 82 - Intel, Sciarappo & Jitsik, Loeb

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "One of the top chip makers in the world and a start up. Intel's strategic marketing director for autonomous driving Jill Sciarappo and the founder of Jitsik, Dr. Helen Loeb join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for Episode 82 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast from CES."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 81 - nVIDIA, Shapiro & Local  Motors / Olli, Hodge

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "How NVIDIA is paving the way for self driving cars and a new OLLI automated transport from Local Motors. NVIDIA's Senior Director for Automotive, Danny Shapiro and Kurtis Hodge of Local Motors join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for another edition of Smart Driving Cars from CES 2019.."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 75 - PAVE; Nantel, Erlich, Riccobono   

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "From CES in Las Vegas, a new industry organization, PAVE, is formed. Partners for Automated Vehicle Education. And some founding members join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for an on site discussion. Guests include National Safety Council VP Kelly Nantel, Voyage VP Justin Erlich and National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 71-Nader'55

F. Fishkin,  Dec. 13,  "When it comes to self driving cars, Ralph Nader says "Not so fast."  The renowned political activist and author takes the government and the industry to task in a super sized Episode 71 of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 69 - Chunka Mui

F. Fishkin, Nov 29,  "What will it take for driverless vehicles to become a leading form of transportation? Futurist and author Chunka Mui joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 69 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus...Waymo, GM, Amazon and more. Tune in and subscribe! "

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 68 - Dick Mudge

F. Fishkin, Nov 22,  "The insurance industry hears about the outlook for automated vehicles. Co-author Dick Mudge joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 68 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus...Uber, GM Cruise, Waymo, VW and more. Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 66 - Bishop & Zimmerman

F. Fishkin, Nov 8,  "Daimler is partnering with Bosch to bring an autonomous ride hailing service to San Jose next year. In this edition, the Director of Engineering at Bosch joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to outline how it will work. Plus Richard Bishop joins us fresh from an International Task Force on Vehicle Highway Automation in Denmark. And more!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 65 - Bernard Soriano, CA DMV

F. Fishkin, Nov 1,  "California gives Waymo the green light for fully driverless vehicle testing on public roads and the state's deputy director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Bernard Soriano, joins the Smart Driving Cars podcast with the no nonsense details. Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin explore that and more. Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 58-Keith Code, Motorcycles

F. Fishkin, Sept 22  "In this edition of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast, Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by the founder of the Superbike School, Keith Code. Keith is an instructor, coach, author and researcher into motorcycle safety...and a champion racer. Beyond that....he's an old high school friend of Alain's! And there's more on BMW, Apple, VW and more! . Tune in and subscribe!"

 Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 55-Larry Burns, Autonomy

F. Fishkin, Sept 6,  "The coming new world of driverless cars! In Episode 55 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast former GM VP and adviser to Waymo Larry Burns chats with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and Fred Fishkin about his new book "Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car and How it Will Reshape Our World"

Recent Highlights of:

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Sunday, July 14, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Ford-VW alliance expands to include autonomous and electric vehicles

A. Hawkins, July 12, "In a widely anticipated move, Ford and Volkswagen announced Friday their plan to expand their seven-month-old alliance to include autonomous and electric vehicles.

As part of the deal, VW will invest a whopping $2.6 billion in Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle startup based in Pittsburgh that practically no one had heard of until Ford’s own eye-popping $1 billion investment in 2017. VW will invest $1 billion in cash, as well as $1.6 billion in assets that include the auto giant’s Munich-based Autonomous Intelligent Driving team, which will be absorbed by Argo. After the deal goes through, Argo’s post-money valuation will be over $7 billion....

The deal also gives Argo a global reach. The company, which was founded by former Uber engineers with ties to Carnegie Melon University’s famed robotics lab, has been testing its cars with Ford’s backing in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Miami, and Washington, DC. Now it can also deploy its vehicles on European roads under VW’s guidance....

A month ago VW severed a partnership with Aurora Innovation, the autonomy startup founded by former Google self-driving head Chris Urmson. Argo was co-founded by Bryan Salesky, another former member of the Google self-driving team. He was also on the same team as Urmson in the 2007 DARPA autonomous vehicle challenge, which is seen as a watershed moment in the pursuit for self-driving cars. Ford dumped $1 billion into Argo in 2017 and has worked closely with the startup ever since....

Companies have been pairing up to work on self-driving cars for years now, but only recently has that relentless coupling taken on more serious overtones. Over the last few months:
Apple acquired the startup Drive.ai (buying the beleaguered company literally as it was shutting down);
Honda has partnered with General Motors’ Cruise unit;
Volvo and Uber just unveiled their first jointly-developed autonomous SUV after three years of working together;
Waymo is teaming up with Renault-Nissan to bring the Alphabet unit’s self-driving minivans and trucks to Japan and France;
Fiat-Chrysler and Hyundai, along with Amazon, are both partners with self-driving startup Aurora." 
Read more  Hmmmm...  That pretty much rounds up the serious deep pocket alliances: Waymo+, GM/Cruise+, Ford/Argo+, Uber/Volvo,  Lyft/Active, Hyundai/Yandex and Aurora+ with  SoftBank  influencing in the wings. That leaves  Zoox, Toyota, Daimler, BMW looking for dance partners????  Tesla doesn't seem to need one.  (Would Elon sell to Toyota??).  Alain

Friday, June 28, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="72" height="21"> Apple acquires self-driving startup Drive.ai

I. Fried, June 25, "Apple bought Drive.ai, an autonomous driving startup once valued at $200 million, and has hired dozens of Drive.ai engineers, Apple confirmed to Axios on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The deal and hires confirm that Apple hasn't given up its autonomous driving project.

Details: The deal comes after Drive.ai talked with multiple potential acquirers, but in the end Apple won out. Apple also purchased Drive.ai's autonomous cars and other assets, sources tell Axios.

Drive.ai ceased operations within the last 2 weeks.
Apple’s hires are mostly in engineering and product design, per a source.
The purchase price was not disclosed. Apple was expected to pay less than the $77 million Drive.ai raised in venture capital, to say nothing of the $200 million it was valued at two years ago, after its Series B round, Axios' Dan Primack reported recently.

The backdrop: Drive.ai's highlighter-orange vans ferried workers around a business park in Frisco, Tex., and shuttled fans in nearby Arlington to Cowboys games.

Drive.ai is laying off 90 workers in California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. And the company employed many more in Texas."  

Read more  Hmmmm... Looks like a fire sale.  Does this mean that getting to "80% of Driverless" is valued at less than $100m?  Ouch!  It is going to take deep pockets to get to "99.99% Driverless". Alain

Friday, June 21, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Lexus Moves One Step Closer to a World Without Crashes (Lexus may have pulled the press release???)

Press Release, June 19, "...Collisions that result in injury can often be caused by a delay in a driver’s recognition of the situation and his or her ability to react accordingly.
 
In a move to help prevent such accidents before they happen, the Lexus Safety System+ will be a standard feature in all US Lexus vehicles starting with the 2020 model year. “We are working toward preventing crashes before they happen,” said David Christ, group vice president and general manager, Lexus Division.“ That's why we have developed some of the most advanced safety features on the road today, and now those systems will be standard equipment on every model we sell.  ..Nice!...

Designed to help protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians, the Lexus Safety System+ is an integrated suite of four advanced active safety packages anchored by automated pre-collision warning and braking. They include:

  • Pre-Collison System with Pedestrian Detection

This system is engineered to help detect a preceding vehicle or a pedestrian ... why not also a stationary fire truck, or a car stopped at a controlled intersection, or a brick wall, or...???  NotGoodEnough!...  Below see Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: The ADAS Road to AV Reality - #SmartDrivingCar... in front of the Lexus under certain conditions . Should the system detect a pedestrian or a potential frontal collision, it’s designed to activate an audible and visual alert while automatically preparing Brake Assist for increased braking response... why not also begin immediately to brake and slow down ? (Hint..."not sure" is not the right answer.)  If the situation is sufficient for you to alert the driver why isn't it good enough to immediately start to reduce the speed of the car.  Worse case is that you added a couple of seconds to the trip.  The driver can always override the brakes by pushing harder on the gas pedal if the driver insists on tailgating or is committing suicide or ???.  NotGoodEnough!.... If the driver does not brake in time,... are you kidding??  You knew a crash was impending, and you waited until it was too late???  NotGoodEnough!... the system is designed to automatically begin braking before impact... and then you'll slam on the brakes???  NotGoodEnough!... and, in some cases... Not most/many cases; just some cases???  NotGoodEnough!..., can even bring the vehicle to a stop

  • Lane Departure Alert ...OK, but not Lane Centering...
  • Intelligent High Beams ... Great...
  • Dynamic Radar Cruise Control

This system uses radar and camera technology to help maintain a preset speed and following distance from the vehicle ahead. If driving at highway speeds and the road ahead clears, the vehicle returns to its preset speed. .... Great, but a couple of questions... 1.  If the system is on and I tap the brakes, does the system turn off just the acceleration function because it understands that I tapped the brakes because I felt that I was going too fast so the system should not override my explicit signal.  Nice!! However, does it also assume that I really know what I'm doing?  Consequently, it also turns off the brake function even in situations in which I am not applying enough brake forces and a crash is imminent?  Does it again wait until it is too late and and refuse to help me in those critical moments?  Then you'll slam on the NotGoodEnough!  (Note... my S Anti-lock Braking ystem explicitly overrides the way that I'm applying the brakes and keeps me from doing the wrong thing.  Thank you ABS!  What makes the AEB situation different when the system knows better and could really help me in an as critical situation?

2.  What happens if the system is on and I'm following a car at my preset distance going 10 mph under my desired speed.  The car ahead changes lanes because she sees that a parked fire truck is in our lane ahead.  Once her car clears my lane ahead, does the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control system take into account the existence of the parked firetruck ahead and brings me to a smooth stop before hitting the Firetruck?   Or, does the system begin to accelerate to my desired speed and simply leave it to the Pre-Collison System with Pedestrian Detection system to try to "save the day" after it is too late?........"  

Read more  Hmmmm... Again, very nice that these features will be standard.  It is really unfortunate that they are not better.  Hopefully, since the limitations that I expressed above are all software related, Lexus will be able to do over-the-air (or otherwise) updates of the software as soon as Lexus has put more effort into the "intelligence" that uses the data streams generated by their cameras and radars   Alain

Friday, June 14, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Hyundai self-driving deal points to industry-wide pattern

T. Lee, June 13, "It has been a busy week for Aurora, the self-driving startup founded by veterans of the Google, Tesla, and Uber self-driving programs. On Monday, Aurora announced it had forged a partnership with Fiat Chrysler. On Tuesday, Aurora said it was ending its partnership with Volkswagen. Now Hyundai is deepening its partnership with Aurora with an equity investment.

It's the latest example of an industry-wide pattern: one after another, car companies have made big investments in self-driving startups. And these deals mean that carmakers are effectively entering into self-driving alliances with one another....

All of the recent deals between car companies and self-driving companies could put Waymo in a difficult position. Waymo has been working on self-driving technology much longer than any of its rivals, and the company aimed to introduce a driverless taxi service long before others came to market. In that scenario, Waymo would have its choice of automotive partners, so Waymo has been keeping its options open.

But the reality is that Waymo will need help from automakers to scale up rapidly. As more and more automakers commit to Waymo's rivals, Waymo risks becoming stranded—with industry-leading sensors and software but limited capacity to integrate the technology into a large number of vehicles...."  Read more  Hmmmm... Good summary of "self-driving car" partnerships but, by including Waymo in the mix, it is conflating what I continue to contend are two VERY different markets...  Self-driving and Driverless.  What makes them like oil & vinegar is that self-driving vehicles are for the Consumer market and are little different from conventional cars.  Driverless cars are for the Fleet/Business market.

Self-driving cars require a driver in order to deliver any meaningful mobility or value.  Their automation stack delivers additional comfort, convenience and safety to the auto industry's existing customer base.  As such it is a "consumer play" and requires no regulations or public oversight other than what exists today.  Any safety issues can be handled through standard  "product liability" and standard "NHTSA recall" procedures.  Its market penetration evolution is like going from manual transmission to automatic transmission, as Tesla is demonstrating with AutoPilot. From outside the car, one can't tell if it has it or doesn't.  It is a consumer choice at time of purchase.

Tesla is creating its own "automatic transmission"/"AutoPilot stack".  Other OEMs are hedging their bets by partnering with  technology provider for their self-driving technology stack. They'll continue to produce the rest of the car, as they have done for years, and possibly outsource their "automatic transmission" when the time comes. 

Driverless cars  are "mobility machines" when managed as a fleet delivering mobility to individuals.  They are  a "business play".  It is all about the economic efficiency/profitability in delivering mobility to individuals.  The fundamental value is in the opportunity to provide consistent reliable affordable mobility at scale.  The technology stack has taken the inconsistency, unreliability and monetary cost of a human driver out of the loop.  Since algorithms, rather than people, tailor the service to meet individual needs, such systems scale attractively.  All of this MUST be done safely without a driver/attendant, else the economics/affordability/scalability completely collapses. 

From outside the car one can tell that there isn't a driver in the driver's seat.  Consequently, public oversight at all levels from top to  grass roots will need to be comfortable with this thing with no driver in it going down their street and invading their neighborhood and transporting their kids, grandmas, mobility disadvantaged, ... .  Everyone is going to weigh-in with perceptions and regulations.  Consequently, the deployment of the technology is going to need to be "welcomed" .  "Uber-like swashbuckling bravado isn't going to cut is.

Driverless Mobility-as-a-Service is the market that Waymo (and GM/Cruise and Ford/Argo) have been going after.  Because of its need to be "welcomed" (or at least not disdained) by the residents and businesses that abut the streets over which these vehicles deliver their mobility, the deployment dynamics for Driverless is very different from Self-driving.  All Self-driving needs is for Madison Avenue / "Elon Musk" to convince individuals of the comfort and convenience of being able to have the car drive itself some of the time and they are sold.  Driverless requires substantial public relations/education of communities to achieve "welcoming".  A real "ground war".   That is what Waymo (and GM/Cruise and Ford/Argo) needs to conduct to just get started.  Once started Waymo need to continue it to scale (Value is achieved only with scale). 

Finding OEMs that will sell Waymo cars on which to affix its technology stack will not be the problem.  The car is the commodity. The welcoming of the technology stack by communities is the fundamental differentiator.  Waymo is sitting on an order for at least 82,000 cars from FCA and Jaguar.  The order has been announced, but not executed because insufficient "ground warfare" has even been waged, let alone been successful (except in Arizona).  With welcoming environment these 82,000 mobility machines could be serving 4 million person trips per day in communities throughout the country. (Note... our nation's transit systems today (only) serve an equivalent number of person trips; although they are longer trips taken in much more densely populated areas.  The Waymo-served trips would likely be trips that our conventional transit systems can't effectively serve and thus complement conventional transit.  Some of the trips would replace auto trips.  The others would be new trips by persons who can't or don't want to drive their own car for whatever reason and whose lives have been substantially disadvantaged because their mobility needs aren't effectively served by either the personal car or conventional mass transit.

The other elephants in the room that aren't mentioned in the article are SoftBank and Tesla. Today Tesla "owns" the Self-driving market and SoftBank is "involved" with essentially everyone except Tesla and Waymo.  Alain

Saturday, June 8, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">  What Truck Drivers Think About Autonomous Trucking

W. MacNaughton, June 1, "We've all heard about the advent of Autonomous Trucking - but mostly from people who work in the tech industry.  So this week, I've been visiting (and sleeping, eating and showering in) truck stops in Nevada, Utah and Idaho to hear what truck drivers themselves have to say about the future of the profession. ..."  Read more  Hmmmm... This is excellent.  One thing that was missed...  If done appropriately, (operative word here is appropriately, not really what has been done so far...) ... ""autonomy" could help me drive much more safely and really help me if it focused on reducing the stress or anxiety that driving causes me.  It would really be nice if I could relax and think about something else at least some of the time when I drive.  Much of driving is very simple... but very boring. Please help me do my job more safely.  I'll then be fresh and really be able to handle the tough hard stuff.  Do for me what automation does for pilots.  I'm just as important."  Alain

Saturday, June 1, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">  Uber’s First Earnings Report After I.P.O.: $1 Billion Loss

K. Conger, May 30, "Uber’s start as a publicly traded company has gone from bumpy to bumpier.  In its first earnings report since listing its shares on the stock market this month, the ride-hailing giant on Thursday reported its slowest growth in years and steep losses for the first three months of 2019..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  In its most basic form, the ride hailing business has revenue ($r) and costs ($c) proportional to number of rides (R).  Let $r = A*R and $c = B*R.  So Profitability (P) { P =  ($r -$c) = (A - B) * R } is all about (A - B) .  We know that at today's ridership, R(now), (A(now) -B(now)) is negative.  We also know that as ridership increases, new drivers will need to be paid more (B gets bigger), simply because the demand for driver services goes up.  We also know that to attract more riders, revenue per ride will necessarily go down (A gets smaller).  Yikes... Ride-hailing faces a double whammy... as it scales (gets more people to ride) it loses even more from the average rider than it does today plus that bigger negative number gets multiplied by a bigger number of rides. 

When each unit incurs a loss,  making up losses by increasing volume is known to not be a viable approach. Increasing volume when unit losses increase with increasing volume is really not viable! 

The only road to profitability, other than a major pivot, is to be more discriminating in who you serve... Serve fewer riders.  Unfortunately, when you finally get Ridership small enough so that A-B is positive, that number gets multiplied by a smaller number of riders such that the gross amount is nowhere near sufficient to justify valuations greater than that of a lemonade stand.  Uber serves about 1B trips per quarter, which means today, they loses $1/ride.  To be worth $40B they need to make $1 on each of the 4B trips they serve per year.  How Uber gets from a history of losing $1/ride to making $1/ride @ 4B rides/year is an open question.  As is making $10/ride @ 400M rides/year?  As is making $0.10/ride @ 40B rides per year?  Alain

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="133" height="21">  June 2019 Issue

M. Sena, May 22," In This Issue:
Third Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit  ... A fantastic 7 page detailed summary of the 3rd Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit.  Thank you!!!...
European Commission is getting it wrong on V2X  ... A most well-written and well-supported critical assessment of the EU Transport Commission's recommendation on Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS).  Read it carefully, including "There is justice after all"... European Parliament's reply to the Transport Commission's recommendation. ...
Dispatch Central
    Toyota backs off IEEE WAVE in U.S.  ... More details on Toyota's evolving position on V2X communication standards....
    Uber: A Fool’s Gold ... Yup!
    FCA and Tesla: Strange bedfellows .  ... I did not know that!...  
    Tesla’s fifteen minutes of European fame. ... March Model 3 sales in EU  of 15k.  If April is greater than 5k, fame may have legs....
    A Road Trip Down Memory Lane  ... Read with a smile.... 
A Dispatcher’s Musings: Here’s looking at you, kid  ... Everything has a downside.  I like to tell my students that one of the things that the human brain does very well if "forget".  "Optimal Learning" needs some "Optimal  Forgetting" where the objective function is Personal Privacy.  Sure, observe all you want to give me short-term convenience/pleasure, but erase all the data before anyone can use it to hurt me, where both the convenience/pleasure and the hurt are from my perspective, not yours!! 
 
 Read more  Hmmmm... In the aftermath of the Summit, reading and grading the student's final projects in my course and awarding final grades, I misses Michael Sena's early release of the June issue of his Dispatcher.  It is so excellent that I put out this special edition focused just on it.  Enjoy every word!!!   Alain

Saturday, May 25, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="47" height="27">  Speed cameras are coming to Philadelphia's deadliest road

P. Loeb, May 16, "...Sponsor Cherelle Parker says the cameras will photograph any car going more than 11 miles per hour over the speed limit..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  I really don't understand.  What is the meaning of the word limit ? (Hint.... "the utmost extent") 

So for humans a "speed" limit is actually a "Speed +10" limit.  That mean I can set my Cruise Control to "Speed Limit" +10 and I'll be just fine.  Does that also mean that I can code my driverless car "to do +10"???   If not, then why does a person capable of getting a driver's license get to go faster than a person who can't get a driver's license who is relegated to be driven by an autonomousTaxi (aTaxi) that is mandated to drive at a slower speed???? (Please don't tell me it is because the accuracy of the speed sensor is not precise (aka reliable enough).  May I use that excuse in my aTaxi code?)  This is a serious question!  There needs to be a level regulatory (rules of the road/traffic laws) playing field established for aTaxis and human drivers. This is NOT easy (but it could be as simple as:

SpeedLimit(aTaxi) = SpeedLimit (Humans) + 10

StopSign(aTaxi) = SropSign(Humans) +RollOnThrough if no one is around

RedLight(aTaxi) =  Redlight(Humans) + 3 more cars after the yellow, except in Boston where 5 more car after the yellow...  Alain

Saturday, May 18, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="126" height="36">  Making Smart Vehicles to Improve the Human Condition

K. Pyle, May 17, "3.5 million and 5+ million deaths per year are a couple of the statistics that stood out from the 2+ day, 3rd annual SmartDrivingCars Summit at Princeton. There are approximately 3.5 million individuals in the United States who never leave their homes and approximately 1.9M of those people have disabilities, according to Robbie Diamond, President & CEO of SAFE. He went on to say that, “Transportation is the biggest predictor of inter-generational upward mobility.”
His comments echoed the conference theme of improving mobility for all people, especially the mobility marginalized, to paraphrase Professor Alain Kornhauser. Kornhauser brought together participants from multiple disciplines and backgrounds to an event that is like no other. This year, he introduced a research element where there were a couple different opportunities to gauge the reactions of everyday people of varying abilities to various levels of autonomous vehicles...."  Read more  Hmmmm... Ken, thank you for such an excellent summary and all of the help.  Alain

Sunday, May 12, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="197" height="16"> Self-driving car company Cruise raises $1.15bn

S. Bond, May 7, "Cruise, the self-driving division of General Motors, has landed a fresh $1.15bn in funding, boosting its valuation to $19bn including the new funds and giving it additional firepower to launch a planned robo-taxi service this year.

The investment came from T Rowe Price, the mutual fund manager, as well as existing Cruise investors SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Honda and GM, the carmaker said in a statement. Including the latest round, Cruise has raised $7.25bn in equity in the past year, following previous injections from Honda and SoftBank.
.. "  Read more  Hmmmm...   Refer back to  Inside SoftBank's push to rule the road . What if SoftBank added Tesla to this chart.  That really creates a 2-person race with Waymo.  Duopolies aren't bad.  Alain

Sunday, May 5, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="140" height="17">  VW Inclusive Mobility aims to make sure tech takes care of everyone

A. Krok, May 2, "You can't please all the people all the time, but Volkswagen wants to make sure that when it moves into the next era of mobility, it won't leave any groups behind. 

Volkswagen this week unveiled its Inclusive Mobility Initiative, which sees the automaker working directly with outside groups to ensure that its future vehicles are capable of catering to people with disabilities..."  Read more  Hmmmm...This is fantastic and may well be in line with the focus we've taken with the upcoming 3rd Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit 10 days from now.  Our focus is on all people who have been marginalized by the unnecessary/non-inclusive/exclusive designs of our current forms of mobility, .  These designs are especially irresponsible when one no longer needs a person to drive... to keep the car from crashing while on its way from where people are to where the want to go.   What an enormous opportunity to be of service to so many that for what ever reason don't want or can't perform that task.  Yes, there are situations in which a professional is required.  At times, we all need we all need that the help of a professional.  But for all of those situations in which a professional is not needed, we have an enormous opportunity to be so much more inclusive by removing the other unnecessary exclusivities  that have consciously or unconsciously crept into our cars and transit systems.  Our mobility systems no longer need to be big and hold many people to make them affordable, no driver needs to be paid.  They no longer need to be constrained to only go between the few places than many want to go between at only certain times.  They can readily serve where only a few, even one, want to go between at whatever time.  The skill set needed to use and be served diminishes to the skill set needed by the easiest to use elevator. And so on...

Be sure to look VW's Inclusive Mobility Initiative.  Hopefully it encompasses and levels the mobility field  for the people that its cars have marginalized for 100 years.  Alain

Friday, May 3, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Congestion Pricing Plan for NYC is Coming!

Friday, March 29, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="155" height="20"> 10 Lessons From Uber's Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash

Hmmmm.... New Jersey is now started.  Hooray!! Alain

Sunday, March 17, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="116" height="32">Automated vehicles could provide mobility to the ‘mobility disadvantaged’

A. Kornhauser, March 13, "The following testimony was provided to the New Jersey State Assembly’s Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on Monday, March 11....

What we need, what my ask is, that we create in New Jersey a “welcoming environment” for the research, testing and demonstration of this technology and work to focusing it on improving the mobility of the mobility disadvantaged...

While such a demonstration is not prohibited in New Jersey, it is not permitted.  

Consequently, this provides excuses and hurdles to bringing such mobility to our communities and tarnishes any other welcoming efforts aimed at enabling New Jersey to lead instead of follow in what may well address the fundamental objective of this hearing."  Read more  Hmmmm....Seems so simple. I have found it so incredibly hard. Alain

Friday, March 1, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="35" height="38">  FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT Lyft, Inc.

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">Autonomous Vehicles

Feb 25, " This workshop brought together experts in cyber-physical systems, machine learning, transportation engineering, and applied mathematics, both from academia and from industry, to help bridge the technical gaps and to facilitate exchange and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries..."  Read more  Hmmmm.... Slides and videos of the presentations are available here.   In particular, see..:

Friday, February 15, 2019

Thursday, November 22, 2018

 [log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="94" height="29"> Market Framework and Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems

R. Mudge, A. Kornhauser, M. Hardison, Nov, 2018 "The surface transportation industry is in the early stages of a series of profound changes, stimulated by the development of increasingly sophisticated driving safety and automation technologies.   Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the speed with which these changes will take place and the nature of their impacts on safety, the overall demand for travel, vehicle sales, and vehicle ownership.  This report does not attempt to forecast the pace of these changes, instead advancing a list of “trigger points” that might serve as leading indicators of change....

What might these changes mean for actuaries and the insurance industry? Since Driverless vehicles will most likely be available only to fleet operators and not the general public, their actuarial and insurance implication will differ substantially from the implications of Safe and Self technologies that will be on vehicles purchased by consumers. But, will these vehicles continue to be insured in the same way as personal vehicles are today or will this practice change in some way. For example, if the burden of
liability shifts to the technology rather than the driver, then should actuaries focus on product liability rather than personal liability? To what extent does technology rather than personal behavior or demographics become the important link to liability? " Read more  Hmmmm....  This is a very good report. Listen to SmartDrivingCar Podcast 68 with Dick Mudge. (Of course, I'm biased. )  Alain

Thursday, November 1, 2018

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  A Green Light for Waymo’s Driverless Testing in California

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

New Jersey Pending Legislation re: Autonomous Vehicles

Oct 16, Establishes fully autonomous vehicle pilot program A4573 Sponsors:  Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14)

Oct 16, Establishes New Jersey Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Task Force AJR164 Sponsors:  Benson (D14); Zwicker (D16); Lampitt (D6)

Oct 16, Directs MVC to establish driver's license endorsement for autonomous vehicles A4541 Sponsors:  Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14); Lampitt (D6)..."  Read more Hmmmm.... Things are beginning to move in New Jersey.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="39" height="43"> Testimony of Alain Kornhauser, Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="42" height="39"> Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

Friday, June 15,  2018

Tuesday, June 12,  2018

 CPUC AUTHORIZES PASSENGER CARRIERS TO PROVIDE FREE TEST RIDES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WITH VALID CPUC AND DMV PERMITS

Sunday, June 3,  2018

  Waymo’s fleet of self-driving minivans is about to get 100 times bigger

Friday, May 25,  2018

PRELIMINARY REPORT: HIGHWAY: HWY18MH010 (Uber/Herzberg Crash)

May 24, "About 9:58 p.m., on Sunday, March 18, 2018, an Uber Technologies, Inc. test vehicle, based on a modified 2017 Volvo XC90 and operating with a self-driving system in computer control mode, struck a pedestrian on northbound Mill Avenue, in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona.

...The vehicle was factory equipped with several advanced driver assistance functions by Volvo Cars, the original manufacturer. The systems included a collision avoidance function with automatic emergency
braking, known as City Safety, as well as functions for detecting driver alertness and road sign information. All these Volvo functions are disabled when the test vehicle is operated in computer control..." Read more  Hmmmm.... Uber must believe that its systems are better at avoiding Collisions and Automated Emergency Braking than Volvo's.  At least this gets Volvo "off the hook". 

"...According to data obtained from the self-driving system, the system first registered radar and LIDAR observations of the pedestrian about 6 seconds before impact, when the vehicle was traveling at 43 mph..." (= 63 feet/second)  So the system started "seeing an obstacle when it was 63 x 6 = 378 feet away... more than a football field, including end zones!   

"...As the vehicle and pedestrian paths converged, the self-driving system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object, as a vehicle, and then as a bicycle with varying expectations of future travel path..." (NTSB: Please tell us precisely when it classified this "object' as a vehicle and be explicit about the expected "future travel paths."  Forget the path, please just tell us the precise velocity vector that Uber's system attached to the "object", then the "vehicle".  Why didn't the the Uber system instruct the Volvo to begin to slow down (or speed up) to avoid a collision?  If these paths (or velocity vectors) were not accurate, then why weren't they accurate?  Why was the object classified as a   "Vehicle" ??  When did it finally classify the object as a "bicycle"?  Why did it change classifications?  How often was the classification of this object done.  Please divulge the time and the outcome of each classification of this object.  In the tests that Uber has done, how often has the system mis-classified an object as a "pedestrian"when the object was actually an overpass, or an overhead sign or overhead branches/leaves that the car could safely pass under, or was nothing at all?? (Basically, what are the false alarm characteristics of Uber's Self-driving sensor/software system as a function of vehicle speed and time-of-day?)  

"...At 1.3 seconds before impact, (impact speed was 39mph = 57.2 ft/sec) the self-driving system determined that an emergency braking maneuver was needed to mitigate a collision" (1.3 x 57.2 = 74.4 ft. which is about equal to the braking distance. So it still could have stopped short.

"...According to Uber, emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control, to reduce (eradicate??) the potential for erratic vehicle behavior. ..." NTSB:  Please describe/define potential  and erratic vehicle behavior   Also please uncover and divulge the design & decision process that Uber went through to decide that this risk (disabling the AEB) was worth the reward of eradicating " "erratic vehicle behavior".  This is fundamentally BAD design.  If the Uber system's false alarm rate is so large that the best way to deal with false alarms is to turn off the AEB, then the system should never have been permitted on public roadways. 

"...The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action. " Wow!  If Uber's system fundamentally relies on a human to intervene, then Uber is nowhere near creating a Driverless vehicle.  Without its own Driverless vehicle Uber is past "Peak valuation".  

"...The system is not designed to alert the operator. " That may be the only good part of Uber's design.  In a Driverless vehicle, there is no one to warn, so don't waste your time.  If it is important enough to warn, then it is important enough for the automated system to start initiating things to do something about it.  Plus, the Driver may not know what to do anyway.  This is pretty much as I stated in PodCast 30 and the March 24 edition of SmartDrivingCar, See below.Thursday, May 10,  2018

Thursday, April 26,  2018

 This startup’s CEO wants to open-source self-driving car safety testing

Saturday, March 24,  2018

Experts say video of Uber's self-driving car killing a pedestrian suggests its technology may have fail

Tuesday, April 17, 2017

  Don't Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto

[log in to unmask]" alt="imap:[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.36&filename=ajafjpkfaclhelpc.png" class="" width="44" height="50" border="0">Extracting Cognition out of Images for the Purpose of Autonomous Driving

announce historic commitment of 20 automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new vehicles

Sunday, December 19, 2015

[log in to unmask]" alt="imap:[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.38&filename=ccalfjfhllohpdpa.png" class="" width="96" height="63" border="0">Adam Jonas' View on Autonomous Cars

Video similar to part of Adam's Luncheon talk @ 2015 Florida Automated Vehicle Symposium on Dec 1.  Hmmm ... Watch Video  especially at the 13:12 mark.  Compelling; especially after the 60 Minutes segment above!  Also see his TipRanks.  Alain

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