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Friday, September 13, 2019

http://SmartDrivingCar.com/7.38-EndOfGig-091319

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">  California Passes Landmark Bill to Remake Gig Economy

K. Conger, Sept 11, "California legislators approved a landmark bill on Tuesday that requires companies like Uber and Lyft to treat contract workers as employees, a move that could reshape the gig economy and that adds fuel to a yearslong debate over whether the nature of work has become too insecure....

The bill may influence other states. A coalition of labor groups is pushing similar legislation in New York, and bills in Washington State and Oregon that were similar to California’s but failed to advance could see renewed momentum. New York City passed a minimum wage for ride-hailing drivers last year but did not try to classify them as employees.

In California, the legislation will affect at least one million workers who have been on the receiving end of a decades-long trend of outsourcing and franchising work, making employer-worker relationships more arm’s-length. Many people have been pushed into contractor status with no access to basic protections like a minimum wage and unemployment insurance. Ride-hailing drivers, food-delivery couriers, janitors, nail salon workers, construction workers and franchise owners could now all be reclassified as employees..."   Read more  Hmmmm....  This is really bad news for businesses that, in order to justify their current valuation, must grow/scale from a situation where they are not profitable.  This increases their unit cost of labor.  More damaging is that it explicitly makes them labor intensive.   Their opportunity to have increasing scale reduce unit costs disappears.  This is a real wake-up call to investors.  Uber/Lyft's only hope is "Driverless", which may not emerge soon enough to save them.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">   Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 124

F. Fishkin, Sept 14 , "Will Uber and Lyft have to speed up driverless technology to survive? Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on that...plus Argo AI, Tesla, Daimler and more on the Smart Driving Cars podcast. "  Just say "Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!".  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  U.S. DOT awards 3 states AV research funds

A. St. John, Sept 12, "Representatives from Ohio, Michigan and Virginia announced this week that each of the states received funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to advance research and testing of autonomous vehicle technology.

Ohio and Michigan said they received $7.5 million in grant funding from the department. Virginia representatives said the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute received $15 million.

The U.S. DOT said its Automated Driving Systems Demonstration Grants were set up with as much as $60 million available to test integration of automated driving systems.  The department has not yet announced all grant recipients and did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ..."  Read more  Hmmmm.... Congratulations to Virginia Tech, Michigan and Ohio.  Given how critical Safety is to the emergence of this technology, testing is a good use for these funds.  Hopefully the testing will be focused on achieving Driverless which has the opportunity to deliver the greatest societal benefits but faces the greatest technological challenges.  Safe-driving testing can be funded out of the expected liability savings garnered by the insurance industry .  Self-driving has sufficient consumer appeal that its testing can be funded by OEM marketing/sales initiatives (Elon Musk doesn't need, nor wants, Federal R&D assistance to improve AutoPilot.).  Driverless, focused on delivering affordable mobility-as-a-Service, especially to serve the mobility challenged/disadvantaged, is technologically the toughest and socially the most responsible. driverless deserves public sector support.   Alain 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Another Tesla driver apparently fell asleep—here’s what Tesla could do

T. Lee, Sept 103, "Yet another Tesla driver has apparently fallen asleep behind the wheel while his car cruised down the freeway. The latest video comes from the Boston area, where a local man caught a video of a Tesla driver and his passenger slumped over while their car barreled down Interstate 90....This has become a regular occurrence. Last month, a Los Angeles area television station featured video of a Tesla with a sleeping driver on Interstate 5. We reported on two other incidents in June and another one in the Netherlands in May.   "Many of these videos appear to be dangerous pranks or hoaxes," Tesla said in an emailed statement. ...
As we've noted before, drowsy driving incidents aren't limited to Tesla vehicles. Hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of non-Tesla vehicles crash every year after their drivers fall asleep. The main thing that makes these Tesla cases remarkable is that—apparently thanks to Autopilot—the cars don't immediately drift off the road and into a ditch. They're able to continue on their way—sometimes for miles—while their drivers sleep....

...  steering wheel torque isn't a very effective way of determining whether the driver is actually paying attention to the road, as these asleep-at-the-wheel incidents make clear. We don't know if the driver fell asleep with his hands resting on the wheel, or if the Tesla cars in these videos just hadn't forced their drivers to pull over yet. It's also possible that some of these videos were pranks, with drivers pretending to be asleep but actually holding the wheel from the bottom....  More aggressive notifications are also possible. In a comment to a previous article about sleeping drivers, reader LordOfThePigs describes the behavior of his or her late-model VW vehicle. If the driver ignores warnings for around 20 seconds, "the car jerks itself by quickly applying and releasing the brakes, the seatbelt is very abruptly tightened," the reader wrote...."    Read more  Hmmmm....  Given that the person who took the video, just sped away without honking frantically to awaken the driver or passenger after taking the video, suggests that this is a hoax; however, Tesla should, must and can implement and distribute better compliance to situational awareness required by users of AutoPilot.  Alain 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  The Argo AI Approach to Deploying Self-Driving Technology: Street-by-Street, Block-by-Block

B. Salesky, Sept. 9, "... At Argo, we have a “street-by-street, block-by-block” mindset underlying our approach to developing and deploying technology. It’s not a race. Our goal remains to make self-driving vehicles that are safe, provide a compelling experience, and are accepted by society....— a service that will only operate within specific areas of a city. The system currently under development is not intended to be applied to vehicles that will be purchased and owned by individuals or to travel outside of their operational areas..."   Read more  Hmmmm.... Bryan:   Amen!!!!  Thank you and congratulations. I agree 100% with your approach to Driverless.  It is the only one that is both practical and has a any chance of delivering mobility benefits to society and not just reports on book shelves, pdf files in the cloud, and losses to investors.   Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="74" height="15">  Toronto’s driverless vehicle pilot project chooses Scarborough’s neighborhood for test site

B. Spurr, Sept 9, "The city has selected Scarborough’s West Rouge neighborhood to be the testing ground for a pilot project of autonomous vehicles.

Mayor John Tory announced new details of the driverless shuttle project, which city council first approved last year, on Monday afternoon at a conference of the National Association of City Transportation Officials in downtown Toronto.

... According to previous city and TTC reports, the goal of the pilot is to determine whether autonomous vehicles could help connect residents in low-density areas where demand doesn’t support conventional bus service to public transit... Although the vehicles used will be capable of operating without a driver, a Metrolinx or TTC staff member will be on board at all times to take control of necessary....

He revealed the city hopes to start operating an autonomous vehicle service to Scarborough’s Rouge Hill GO Transit station by September 2020. The exact route has not yet been determined, but it’s expected to be finalized after public consultations the mayor said will take place this fall..."  Read more  Hmmmm....  Nice that this demo is focused on providing high-quality mobility in a low-density neighborhood... but...   Why is there a "route" and not an area-wide Mobility-as-a-Service throughout the neighborhood???  I can understand starting out with attendants but if this isn't leading to a "attendant"-less operation this is a dead-end test.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="156" height="24">  Electric vehicle sales are up sharply in California, mostly due to Tesla

R. Mitchell, Sept 11, "Sales of new electric vehicles in California shot up 63.7% in the first half of the year, to 51,750 units, largely on the strength of the Tesla Model 3.

But that doesn’t mean a golden age of electric vehicles has dawned. Pure electric cars still total only 5.5% of California car sales. Consumers, for the most part, are shrugging at EV offerings from car companies not named Tesla. And Tesla sales could be topping out.

“California is the largest green market in the country,” said Jessica Caldwell, market analyst at Edmunds. The state accounts for nearly half of the 105,472 pure EVs sold nationwide. “But EVs are still a tough market, even in California.”... " Read more  Hmmmm....Not the Golden Age of EVs, but if it wasn't for Tesla (and AutoPilot?) it would be the Dark Age of EVs.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="78" height="23">  Where Does Auto-Follower Platooning Fit Within The Driverless Truck Ecosystem? 

R. Bishop,Aug 30, "This post, my first for Forbes.com, provides a perspective across the multi-dimensional factors and actors within the complex world of automated driving in road freight automation. Having been highly active in this space for a number of years, I’ll offer some observations as to how it all might play out. This “primer” will serve as a jumping-off point for shorter posts to come...

Pundits concluded the untimely demise of platooning early this year when Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Trucks, announced at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show they were suspending work in Level 1 platooning due to their conclusion the business case was insufficient...  A less-quoted portion of Daum’s remarks reveal that he left the door open for platooning at higher automation levels. The TruckNews article covering his January speech says he noted that the money spent testing platooning “hasn’t gone to waste” as they’ve learned a lot about the technology, plus that “platooning may make sense in the future, when a driver is no longer required in the following vehicles.”...

While Daimler mulls this over, the future has arrived. This spring a new platooning player, Locomation.ai, un-stealthed to announce they are developing auto-follow platooning. Only weeks later at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in Orlando, Peloton CEO Josh Switkes announced a Level 4 auto-follow development program which has been secretly underway for some time. He showed their high functioning prototypes which are being run through their paces at a private test track, building on their commercial Level 1 platooning system...

....In a nutshell, it’s looking quite good; in particular Peloton’s results with seven major fleets running in Texas show 7% or better fuel economy improvement..."  Read more  Hmmmm... Richard, very nice update! Thank you.   Alain

 [log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Daimler and Torc Robotics Deploy Self-Driving Trucks on Public Virginia Roads

K. McQuilkin, Sept 10, "... Blacksburg self-driving tech firm Torc Robotics announced that it has begun testing autonomous trucks on Virginia highways in partnership with Daimler, one of the world’s largest automakers.

The Stuttgart, Germany-based company behind Mercedes-Benz is initially driving the trucks – using Torc software – on highways in southwest Virginia, near the Torc Robotics headquarters.

The pair has gone through months of testing and safety validation on a closed-loop track since Daimler acquired the startup in April.... "  Read more  Hmmmm....  Nice, but there is an attendant on board so this is Self-driving not Driverless,.  Talk about "Level 4" is Futuristic Hype and Fake News, not today's reality.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="169" height="24">  Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism shows how cities can adapt and change to accommodate everyone

L. Alter, Sept 11, "Self-driving cars, a subset of what are known as Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), are coming down the road someday, and people are beginning to think about how they will fit in cities. Some suggest fences on every street and gates on every corner; others, like The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) have a different take.  NACTO is just finishing up its convention in Toronto, where they released their vision for an autonomous vehicle policy, Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, and they actually love AVs, particularly when they are buses and trains. Private autonomous cars, not so much. The timing of the report, however, is important because change is coming...." Read more  Hmmmm....  I really wish that they would focus on Driverless (without attendants) vehicles providing shared-ride, on-demand Mobility-as-a-Service.  (The streetscapes featuring light rail don the center aren't appealing to me. That level of density deserves a subway.)   Be sure to look at the report Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Uber has troves of data on how people navigate cities. Urban planners have begged, pleaded, and gone to court for access. Will they ever get it?

G. Dobush, Sept 9, "Joe Castiglione compares his job to playing SimCity.  As the deputy director for technology, data, and analysis at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Castiglione spends his days manipulating models of the Bay Area and its 7 million residents.

From wide-sweeping ridership and traffic data to deep dives into personal travel choices via surveys, his models are able to estimate the number of people who will disembark at a specific train platform at a certain time of day and predict how that might change if a new housing development is built nearby, or if train-frequency is increased.

The models are exceedingly complex, because people are so complex....  Castiglione and his team process a lot of publicly available datasets for many modes of transportation: private cars, buses, trains, bicycles, going by foot. But one growing gap in the data is the footprint of ride-hailing services like Uber.
If regional agencies had that data, they could add public transit routes or adjust service times to offer more incentives to get people out of cars and onto trains and buses....

What Castiglione craves is an anonymized dataset of all Uber rides with the origin and destination ZIP codes, dates, and times...."  Read more  Hmmmm.... I also crave  Uber's & Lyft's trip data (O, oTime, D, dTime) (Have those for NYC :-)).  I crave Tesla's even more.   Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23"> Tesla Autopilot safety feature helps save cop running a red light

F. Lambert, Sept 13,  " A Model 3 owner credits Tesla’s Automatic Emergency Braking System, an active safety feature powered by Autopilot, for helping to save a police officer on a motorcycle running a red light.  The incident was caught on TeslaCam, Tesla’s integrated dashcam feature.

...Yesterday, a Model 3 owner started to accelerate after the stoplight turned green when a police officer on a motorcycle ran the red light, seemingly to chase after someone.

The Tesla owner claims that the police officer had his lights on but his siren was off, and since he was coming from the side, he didn’t see him...."  Read more   Hmmmm... See video.    Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23"> Tesla starts its massive self-driving computer retrofit, but don’t hold your breath

F. Lambert, Sept 12,  " Tesla is starting to retrofit Autopilot 2.0/2.5 computers in older Model S and Model X vehicles with its new self-driving computer in what stands to be a massive retrofit program....
They claimed a factor of 21 improvement in frame per second processing versus the previous generation Tesla Autopilot hardware, which was powered by Nvidia hardware.According to the company, its new computer can process 2,300 frames per second and perform 144 trillions of operation per second.

Tesla said that the new computer was in all new Model S and Model X vehicles since March (starting around March 20th) and in all new Model 3 vehicles since April (starting around April 12th).

But Tesla has also been promising to offer a retrofit to the new computer for Tesla owners with vehicles equipped with Autopilot 2.0 and 2.5 computers who have purchased Tesla’s Full Self-Driving package...."  Read more   Hmmmm...  This is really great customer service.  First, Free over-the-air updates, and now, upgrade of computing hardware without having to buy a new car.  In the 5 years that I've owned my Mercedes with Distronic Plus w/Lane Centering, all I've heard from Daimler is "Buy a new car for > $100,000. (and, by the way, save $700. in gas over the next 5 years) if you want any performance upgrades in the Lane Centering" (The intelligent Cruise Control works very well; Lane centering, not so much. AEB, I hit a deer a couple of weeks ago.  Neither I, nor the AEB, had much of a chance to sense and react.)    Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="96" height="27">  Autonomous Solutions Tested at Airport in Unique Collaboration

Semcom, Sept 13, "The AVAP (Autonomous Vehicles for AirPorts) research project is a unique collaboration project that aims to demonstrate how vehicle automation can safely help to reduce costs and make airport operation more efficient. In the long run, this will allow additional smaller airports to remain open and reduce delays for passengers.

“Our part of the project involves developing an autonomous tractor designed to keep runway edge lights clear of snow. This may not seem like much, but the runway gets closed down if 15 per cent of the lights are non-operational, and this causes significant delays and costs. But more seriously, this presents major safety risks as well,” says Anne Piegsa, technical project manager at Semcon...."  Read more  Hmmmm....  Another nice application.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="127" height="35"> Delta, Georgia Tech, Curiosity Lab partner to test driverless cars

A. Gailley, Sept 6, "...In partnership with Georgia Tech and Curiosity Lab, Delta (NYSE: DAL) announced Friday it will help fund a research project that tests autonomous vehicles on a 1.5-mile track in Peachtree Corners, Georgia..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  Unfortunately testing that is limited to a test track isn't really testing Driverless .... The "Operational Domain" of any test track is so limited that successful testing in such an environment is only the very early beginning of testing that has any chance of leading to actual Driverless operation that would provide affordable mobility to society. Mother mature delivers the challenges to Driverless and it is very difficult, if not impossible, to get her to divulge the critical challenges in a test-track environment.   Alain  

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

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

Simply ClickBait

 Calendar of Upcoming Events:

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Recent PodCasts

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 123 - K. Kolodge JD Power

F. Fishkin, Aug 30 , "A J. D. Power study finds customer demand for safety technology threatened by overbearing alerts. Lead researcher Kristin Kolodge joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus headlines from Tesla, NVIDIA, GM's Cruise, Lyft and Ford.  "

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 122

F. Fishkin, Aug 30 , " The indictment of former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski, what Waymo's riders have to say and the latest on Toyota, Cadillac and more in the latest Smart Driving Cars podcast with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. "

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 121 - Ken Pyle

F. Fishkin, Aug 22 , "Daimler and Bosch hold a community meeting in San Jose as they ready plans for autonomous vehicle testing. Community board member Ken Pyle joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus...Waymo, Tesla and more."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 120

F. Fishkin, Aug 18 , "Solving senior mobility needs with Uber, Lyft and autonomous transportation. Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin weigh in on that...plus Tesla, UPS, the big problem with congestion pricing and more."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 119

F. Fishkin, Aug 8 , "Uber and Lyft need driverless to have their businesses make sense. So says Princeton's Alain Kornhauser in the latest edition of Smart Driving Cars with co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..the latest from Tesla, Waymo and more."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 118 - Michael Sena

F. Fishkin, Aug 1, "Congress seeks help with self driving legislation, an acquisition by Ford, a breakthrough in vehicle data sharing in Europe and more! The Dispatcher publisher, Michael Sena joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in a new edition of Smart Driving Cars."  Just say "Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!".  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

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!."

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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Friday, September 6, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="78" height="23"> Lessons Gleaned From The NTSB Report For A Tesla Autopilot-Engaged Car Crash

L. Elliot, Sept 4, "The NTSB has released its findings about a car crash that involved a Tesla Model S with its Autopilot-engaged that rammed into the back of a parked fire truck on a busy freeway in Southern California, occurring on a sunny morning of January 22, 2019...."  Read more   Hmmm...  While the "Factual Report of the Investigation" provides the background and some interesting tidbits, the important information is contained in the:
  • "Vehicle Data Recorder Specialist's Factual Findings": especially the charts of "Vehicle drive mode information": Figures 1 for the hour leading up to the crash and Figure 2, for just the 15 minutes prior.  It is very interesting to have the precision and richness of data of the vehicle's behavior prior to the crash.  Armed with this information, no wonder Elon wants to insure these cars.   What is most interesting about these data is the chart of Lead Vehicle Distance (m).  It shows that "lead vehicle distance" is not the instantaneous value obtained by the radar but some smoothed out value of { previous readings plus the latest radar value} (else, there would be some discrete jumps in the data when other cars either cut-in or cut-out of the Tesla's lane ahead.).  Moreover, the appearance of a stationary object (approach speed = Tesla speed) in the lane ahead is disregarded (or very lightly weighted) in the determination of "lead vehicle distance". (it grew to its saturated value (that was much greater than the distance to the firetruck) once the lead SUV had changed lanes (whenever that was determined to have occurred).  At some point (possibly 490msec before the crash, see below), the system decided that the stationary object detected ahead was not a "false reading" but actually a stationary object that should no longer be disregarded.  Since it was being disregarded the Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) operated using a large value for "lead vehicle distance" so it began to accelerate to its desired cruise speed, as would be expected if "lead vehicle distance" is a large value.  Yipe!!!!!  If Elon hasn't already demanded, NTSB should require Tesla, and all other manufacturers, to: 1.  The software/logic governing TACC's behavior during  transitions involving a cut-out or a cut-in needs to be substantially improved!, and  2.  The reliability in the identification of stationary objects in the lane ahead needs to be substantially improved so that they cease to be assumed to be false alarms.   
  • "Vehicle Automation Data Summary Report": especially:
1.  Figure 4, The speed of the Tesla in the last 221 seconds before the crash showing that the Tesla was traveling rather slowly in the 100 seconds before the crash (under 20 mph), but then accelerated (as discussed above) in the 3 seconds just prior to the crash, beginning as soon as the lead SUV changed lanes,
2.  Figure 5,  the distance between the Tesla and its lead vehicle, showing that the TACC worked really well until the lead vehicle "disappeared" (changed lanes), and

3.  Figure 6  which clearly depicts the movement of the Tesla relative to the lead vehicle and the Firetruck in the 15 seconds before the crash.   The Tesla's radar and front facing camera mush have "seen' the firetruck 4 seconds before the crash and every sensing loop (1/10th of a second) during the last 4 seconds yet...
"... Data show that at about 490 msec before the crash, the system detected a stationary object in path of the Tesla. At that time, the forward collision warning was activated; the system presented a visual and auditory warning. Data also shows that the AEB did not engage and that there was no driver-applied braking of steering prior to the crash. According to Tesla, the AEB was active at the time of the crash, and considering that the stopped fire truck was detected about half a second before impact, there likely was not sufficient time to activate the AEB."  ...This implies that the AEB and its functioning in collaboration with the TACC needs to be substantially re-evaluated/re-designed.  Alain

Friday, August 30, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">  Former Star Google and Uber Engineer Charged With Theft of Trade Secrets

M. Isaac, Aug 27, "Anthony Levandowski was once one of Silicon Valley’s most sought after technologists.  As a pioneer of self-driving car technology, he became a confidant of Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, and helped develop the search giant’s autonomous vehicles. Uber wooed him to gain an edge in self-driving techniques. Venture capitalists threw their money at him.

But on Tuesday, Mr. Levandowski, 39, fell far from that favored stature. Federal prosecutors charged him with 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets from Google. ...

The criminal indictment against Mr. Levandowski from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California opens a new chapter in a legal battle that has embroiled Google, its self-driving car spinoff Waymo and its rival Uber in the high-stakes contest over autonomous vehicles. The case also highlights Silicon Valley’s no-holds-barred culture, where gaining an edge in new technologies versus competitors can be paramount....

According to the indictment, Mr. Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 files containing critical information about Google’s autonomous-vehicle research before leaving the company in 2016. He then made an unauthorized transfer of the files to his personal laptop, the indictment said. Mr. Levandowski joined Uber later that year when the ride-hailing firm bought his new self-driving trucking start-up, which was called Otto....

“The Bay Area has the best and brightest engineers, and they take big risks,” John Bennett, the F.B.I. special agent in charge of the San Francisco Division, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “But Silicon Valley is not the Wild West. The fast-paced and competitive environment does not mean federal laws do not apply.”Mr. Levandowski’s next court date is Sept. 4. If he is convicted, he could face a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine for every count and additional restitution.

“All of us are free to move from job to job,” said David L. Anderson, United States attorney in the Northern District of California. “What we cannot do is stuff our pockets on the way out the door.”..."  Read more   Hmmm...  Central to this technology is the perception of personal safety and trust.  Lying, cheating & stealing can't be part of this industry, else it will never emerge from the venture stage.  If DeiselGate and the Uber crash weren't enough, let this be the next wake-up call to this industry to clean up its ethical behavior.  Hopefully the FBI will also aggressively pursue all cyber attackers. It isn't cute, nor a virtual reality game. It is hard serious work and creativity focused on improving the quality of everyday life. Alain

Friday, August 23, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Five myths about autonomous vehicles

J. Browne, Aug 16, "Autonomous vehicles are the future. Self-driving cars could change our lives, heralding an era of greater convenience, improved productivity and safer roads...."  Read more   Hmmmm....  Actually much of this opening sentence is a myth... It doesn't take Self-driving or Driverless to have automation technology yield safer roads.  It takes safe-driving technology that works, like Automated Emergency Braking (front and rear)...  And ... are we really going to do our "manufacturing or service job " (increase "productivity") if we don't have to do the work of driving anymore???  Of the few "riding shotgun to work" what percentage are doing work while riding shotgun?  Certainly less than 10%.  Less than 1%?  So much for productivity improvements 

If we get to Driverless, then the myths aren't myths.  There will be fewer private cars, downtown congestion will be reduced, the environment will be saved, the insurance industry's gross revenues will go down substantially  (but their profits will go up) and AVs are already safer than humans that text and/or are "under the influence" while driving. 

If we don't get to Driverless, then we'll remain with "Do-it-yourself private mobility" that will include Self-driving assistance.  Armed with that form of personal mobility, then all the myths are myths: More private cars ...   and the policy implications are clear.  See: J. M. Greenwald, A. L. Kornhauser "It’s up to us: Policies to improve climate outcomes from automated vehicles".   Also, to have a proper perspective of the role of transportation and car/"FordF150s" in greenhouse gas emissions see...  M. Sivak, Aug 22, "Increased relative contribution of medium and heavy trucks to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions"   Alain

Saturday, August 17, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="107" height="19">Autonomous Vehicles:  A View from Seniors

 Katherine Freund, August 2019, "...By the year 2060, approximately 100 million people, 25 percent of the US population will be 65 years of age and older.  In this age group, people outlive their decision to stop driving by about 10 years, and three out of four live in rural and suburban communities that lack the density for traditional mass transit solutions.  Their unmet transportation needs lead to social isolation, diminished quality of life, limited access to healthcare and a strain on families and caregivers.

It is apparent that our needs change as we age, but how they change, and in particular how our transportation needs change, is only generally understood.  Based on data from the ITNRides database and the ITNAmerica annual customer satisfaction survey, the typical ITN rider is a woman (74%) age 75 or older (71%) living alone in the community (58%).  She probably has a driver’s license (69%) and owns a car (59%), but there is only one chance in three she still drives (34%).  Her most common ride is for healthcare (39.5%), followed by consumer needs (23%) and recreation (10%). ..."  Read more   Hmmmm....  Another must read.  Chock full of fundamental facts.  Alain

Friday, August 9, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">  Uber Posts $5.2 Billion Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate

K. conger, Aug 7,  "Uber set two dubious quarterly records on Thursday as it reported its results: its largest-ever loss, exceeding $5 billion, and its slowest-ever revenue growth.  The double whammy immediately renewed questions about the prospects for the company, the world’s biggest ride-hailing business. Uber has been dogged by concerns about sluggish sales and whether it can make money, worries that were compounded by a disappointing initial public offering in May.

For the second quarter, Uber said it lost $5.2 billion, the largest loss since it began disclosing limited financial data in 2017. A majority of that — about $3.9 billion — was caused by stock-based compensation that Uber paid its employees after its I.P.O.  Excluding that one-time expense, Uber lost $1.3 billion, or nearly twice the $878 million that it lost a year earlier. On that sariesme basis and excluding other costs, the company said it expected to lose $3 billion to $3.2 billion this year...Lyft has also reported a series of deep losses. This week, it said it lost $644.2 million in the second quarter, though it added that it expected that amount to abate. Several months earlier, Lyft had also posted a particularly steep loss related to stock-based compensation payouts to its employees..."  Read more   Hmmmm....  No wonder Uber looked so good prior to its IPO, it hadn't "paid" its employees.  So is this really a "one time" expense?? Anyway, Driverless is their only potential savior as a $40 stock. They can't afford to pay their employee, their gig workers can't feed families, new customers can't afford their prices and food delivery generates only chump change.  Uber Stock price, See also...Uber and Lyft keep losing money while driving up the number of cars on our overcrowded streets. Alain

Friday, August 9, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Toyota invests $600m in Didi and signs smart fleet management joint venture

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Cruise postpones plan to launch driverless taxi service in 2019

A. Hawkins, July 24, "Cruise will miss its goal of launching a large-scale self-driving taxi service in 2019, the GM subsidiary’s CEO Dan Ammann said in an interview Tuesday. The company plans to dramatically increase the number of its autonomous test vehicles on the road in San Francisco, but will not be offering rides to regular people this year.

Previously, GM executives told investors that its autonomous ride-hailing service would be open to the public by the end of this year. Now it seems as if Cruise is moving away from deadlines and launch dates altogether. Ammann, GM’s former president who now leads its autonomous vehicle unit in San Francisco, wouldn’t even commit to launching the service next year, in 2020....

Cruise is still waiting for the federal government to accept or reject its request to deploy a fleet of fully driverless Chevy Bolt vehicles without steering wheels or pedals. The request was in limbo until this past March, when the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it would solicit public comments and conduct a review. That process concluded in May, and now Cruise is waiting for a final verdict. “We’re in dialogue with them,” Ammann said of NHTSA. “And nothing further to comment on at this point.”...

It will also host community events to answer questions from residents of San Francisco who, in some respects, are the company’s unwitting test subjects in its public self-driving experiments...."  Read more   Hmmmm.... Starting in the Blue Chip cities trying to serve those that already have lots of mobility options is turning out to be a fundamentally flawed approach. 

Wouldn't it be better to start providing mobility to those in areas that aren't currently well served by existing mobility options... cars and transit.  Find such places like Central Jersey, Chandler AZ, South Carolina, The Villages and Peoria be precursors to the MountainViews, Washington DCs, Miamis, SFs and LAs.  Start there where the need exists and real benefits can be delivered.  See also Timothy Lee's take on this. Alain

Sunday, July 21, 2019

[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

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

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

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

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

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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