[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class=""> Amazon in
Advanced Talks to Buy
Self-Driving-Car Tech Company
Zoox
C. Lombardo & T. Higgins, , May 26, "Amazon.com Inc. is in advanced talks to buy Zoox Inc. in a move that would expand the e-commerce giant’s reach in autonomous-vehicle technology. The companies are discussing a deal that would value Zoox at less than the $3.2B it achieved in a funding round in 2018..." Read more Hmmmm... This would be a real bargain for Amazon and bring on some real talent to focus on the algorithmic side of driverless delivery while leveraging Rivian on the vehicle side. See also Financial Times Alain
[log in to unmask]"
class="">
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 158 - Chunka Mui
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="">
SmartDrivingCars Zoom-Cast
Episode 158 - Chunka Mui
Video version of SmartDrivingCars
PodCast 158 -
Chunka Mui
....
Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="44"
height="44" border="0">
The SmartDrivingCars eLetter,
Pod-Casts, Zoom-Casts and
Zoom-inars are made possible
in part by support from the
Smart Transportation and
Technology ETF, symbol MOTO.
For more information: www.motoetf.com.
Most funding is supplied by
Princeton University's
Department of Operations
Research & Financial
Engineering and Princeton
Autonomous Vehicle Engineering
(PAVE) research laboratory
as part of its research dissemination initiatives.
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.5&filename=lmjdiniodjkflpia.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="38"
height="42" border="0">
SmartDrivingCar
Zoom-inar 003 Everyone's
for Connectivity, but ...
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="78"
height="23"> 5
Ways Our Coronavirus Recovery
Strategies Might Make Or Break
The Future: Part 1
Chumka Mui, May 7, "When you’re fighting a fire, it’s easy to forget that the water can cause more damage than the fire itself. When you rebuild after a fire, the desire to rebuild quickly can trump the inclination to rebuild smartly. During a disaster, focusing on anything other than getting back to normal as fast as possible can sound impractical or even tone deaf.
Well, we’re in the midst of one
of the biggest global disasters
in centuries, and, at the risk
of appearing impractical or even
tone deaf, I’ll ask you to bear
with me as I argue that we need
to be laser-focused not only on
how we fight the pandemic but,
even now, on how we rebuild from
it. ...
I’ve been working with Paul Carroll for some time on a plan for 2050 that we call the Future Perfect and that, while it is as hopeful as the name suggests, is technologically feasible based on six Laws of Zero. The basic idea is that, in six areas, key resources are headed toward zero cost, which means that infinite amounts can be imagined as available for the future...
Most of the costs of transportation will also disappear once driverless cars hit scale....
Zero cost, however, does not necessarily lead to good outcomes. Technology is a double-edged sword....
Too cheap transportation, for example, can worsen sprawl, congestion and pollution. Worse yet, technology can amplify evil and stoke our tendencies toward narcissism, parochialism and tribalism....
Below is a preview of five ways that smart recovery strategies can create more hopeful futures for our children and their children. We want to leave them a Future Perfect, not a Future Pathetic. I will elaborate on each of the five in later parts of this series...." Read more Hmmmm... . Very interesting!! From my perspective, everything physical begins with transportation/mobility; however, there are a couple of really key phrases here...
- "What
unjust pain might be caused by
inaccurate or biased data and
algorithms? " One
might argue that we've
been here before... Hillary's
chances of winning
are greater than 99% and
where we were in
January, February, ...
and maybe even today
with Covid-19?
- " Or,
we can rebuild smartly"... Of
course, but what
agreement is there on
the definition of
"smartly"?
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="50"
height="39"> Who
Will Own the Cars That Drive
Themselves?
J. Motavalli, May 29, "...The
question about the long-term
future for the world’s cars is
far from settled, and the
experts (some of whom see
disaster for the planet if
people own autonomous cars as we
own our cars now) differ sharply
in their perception of where
we’re heading..." Read
more Hmmmm...
Many good sharply
different points here;
however, there are a
couple that are missed.
The first "Level
5 is not only more
difficult ...
encompasses the concept of
everywhere which is
unachievable by anything.
The conventional car
ecosystem isn't at its
"level 5" today after more
than 130 years of
development. Commenting
that achievable is not
going to be achieved is
not achieving anything.
Next, hopefully, it has been realized for a while now, that driverless cars are a bad idea as a consumer product. While many/most consumers would be responsible enough to use and take proper care of driverless vehicles, it would take just a very few to ruin it for everyone. In fact "Level 3" will likely never make it to the market because of the product liability implications of poor consumer maintenance and irresponsible use of that product description. Every OEM would be dragged into essentially every litigation of every failure of a product over which they have very insufficient oversight about how it is maintained and how it is used.
With
respect to the use of
driverless cars to provide
high-quality affordable
mobility to a segment of
the population that would
appreciate such a service,
to me, that's the future
for this technology.
Offer this as an
alternative to those whose
next best option is what's
offered by its
conventional transit
operator, is a
no-brainer. To those
those that have the where
with all to enclose
themselves in their own
cocoon, while they scorn
global warming, well,
we'll see. One thing may
be obvious... the cocoon
buyers should not be
subsidized by the those
that choose/can't buy
their own cocoons. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="89"
height="16">
AUTOMATED
VEHICLE TESTING IN VERMONT
Staff, May 2020, In an effort to
hear from affected parties and the
public, the Agency of
Transportation is seeking comments
on the Draft of the Automated
Vehicle Testing Permit Guidance
and Application. The Guide
implements the AV Testing Act and
describes the process and
requirements to obtain a permit to
test automated vehicles on state
and town highways in Vermont. The
Guide is intended for use by
applicants who are seeking a
permit to test automated vehicles
on public roads in Vermont and
municipalities that are
considering allowing testing on
town highways under their
jurisdiction. It also serves as a
guide to the Vermont Traffic
Committee, whose approval is
required for all automated vehicle
test permits in the state, in its
deliberations over specific permit
applications.
Click Here to for the
Automated Vehicle Testing Permit
Guidance and Application...." Read
more Hmmmm...
Nice to have Vermont in the
game. However, presumably
the automated vehicles being
tested will always have an
attendant behind the wheel.
This is "testing" not
"operations". Are these
vehicles really any
different than a car with an
automatic transmission?
Going beyond testing by operating
without a competent and
alert licensed driver behind
the wheel is an entirely
different issue. Alain[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="55"
height="32"> Autonomous
car company Aurora increases
hiring amid industry
struggles
K. Wiggers, May, 27,
"Autonomous vehicle (AV) startup
Aurora today announced it has
roughly doubled its workforce to
500 people (up from 250 as of
May 2019) and committed to
hiring workers across the
company as it welcomes 22 remote
interns and a trio of
executives.
Aurora’s hiring spree — which
has a specific focus on mid- to
senior-level engineers in
software and infrastructure,
robotics, hardware, cloud, and
firmware — comes at a
particularly fraught time for AV
companies. The economic fallout
from the pandemic has begun to
take its toll, with even
well-funded ventures like
Cruise, Kodiak Robotics, and Ike
shedding hundreds of employees
collectively. ...Against this
backdrop, Aurora CEO Chris
Urmson says the company remains
in a “solid position” with
enough runway to employ its
existing team members (including
its full-time vehicle operators)
and to continue hiring as it
advances the development of its
full-stack autonomous
platform...
Toyota Research Institute alumnus Sagar Behere will direct systems and safety engineering at Aurora, while former Google and eBay executive Tara Green will head up people operations, recruiting, and IT. As for Autonomous GmbH cofounder Raul Rojas, he’ll lead the recently launched Aurora Academy, where he’ll design and facilitate expert-level classes for Aurora employees on visualization, sensor development, mathematical foundations, machine learning, and more." Read more Hmmmm.... Congratulations Chris! Take advantage of this opportunity. Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class=""> [log in to unmask]">The
Challenge of Supporting AV at
Scale
A. Shashua, , May 26, "At the
Consumer Electronics Show in
January, we presented an
unedited 25 minute-long video of
a Mobileye self-driving car
navigating the busy streets of
Jerusalem. The video was
published, first and foremost,
for the sake of promoting
transparency. We wanted to
demonstrate the exceptional
capabilities of our technology,
but more importantly, to show
the world how autonomous
vehicles (AVs) operate so that
society will come to trust them.
Continuing this effort, we are
introducing today a new
40-minute unedited video of a
drive comprising a small section
from 160 miles of Jerusalem
streets we use for our AV
development. We chose to follow
the drive with a drone to
properly provide context for the
decision-making logic of the
robotic agent, and the only
intervention during the drive
was to replace the drone’s
battery after 20 minutes or so.
We have also added narration to
explain where and how our
technology is handling the wide
variety of situations
encountered during the drive.
The full-length clip is inserted
below and a number of short
sections from the drive are
highlighted at the end of this
editorial. ...
To appreciate what we are dealing with let’s do a simple “back of the envelope” calculation." [log in to unmask]">Read more Hmmmm... I like the Back of the envelope calculation. A crash a day in a fleet of 100,000 delivering 5M person trips logging 10M vehicle miles is actually pretty darn good! (What crash rate did Hertz experience before chapter 11 with its fleet that was moving much less than 5 hours per day?) AV at scale is not only the goal, it is the necessity. Else, this is all at best a nice academic exercise. See video Impressive but it is only 160 vehicle miles (One assumes that there were no disengagements.) Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="118"
height="15"> Tesla
Crashes Into Tree On Human
Pilot: Owner Wishes Autopilot
Was On
S. Loveday, May 26, "Tesla
owner Martin Grefte admits he
wasn't paying enough attention
when he recently drove his Tesla
Model 3 into a tree. He had just
received bad news about a sick
family member, his thoughts
wandered, and that was all it
took to lead to the crash.
Fortunately, Grefte is okay, but
his Model 3 is not.
Looking back, he says he wishes
he had engaged Autopilot. If he
had, there's a really good
chance the crash would have
never happened. Cameras and
radars are always paying
attention, they're not impacted
by emotion, and computers work
much faster than humans. While
there's no way to know for sure,
it can be assumed that
Autopilot, and more
specifically, Tesla's standard
active safety systems, wouldn't
have let the Model 3 run into a
tree so easily...." Read
more
Hmmmm.... Yup! Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class=""> Uber
is scrapping tens of thousands
of Jump bikes during a
nationwide bike shortage
A. Hawkins, May 27, "”Uber is
sending tens of thousands of its
electric Jump bikes to the scrap
yard, weeks after offloading
the money-losing bike-share
division on Lime. The news
of the scrapped bikes has
incensed bike enthusiasts on
social media, one of whom decried
the act as
“unconscionable.”
Uber confirmed in a statement
that it was “recycling” many of
Jump’s older bikes and scooters
after transferring “tens of
thousands” of the newer models
to Lime. But the scrap job comes
at a time when many people are avoiding
public transportation
because of the coronavirus
pandemic and looking for
alternate forms of
transportation. Bike sales (and
especially electric bike sales)
are booming. And the destruction
of tens of thousands of viable
bikes and scooters during a
crisis is striking
many on social media as
incredibly wasteful.... ". Read
more Hmmmm....
Nothing is easy for Uber.
Whew! Alain
BOEING Boeing Resumes 737 MAX Production
“We’ve been on a continuous journey to evolve our production system and make it even stronger,” said Walt Odisho, vice president and general manager of the 737 program. “These initiatives are the next step in creating the optimal build environment for the 737 MAX.”". Read more Hmmmm.... This lapse may have substantially improved the manufacturing process such that the lapse is not a complete loss. The bigger question is... When will the customers come back and want to take delivery of the planes that are now being produced? Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="110"
height="23"> All
eyes on Tesla’s recovery in
China — rumors of massive
backlog
F. Lambert, May 26, "Tesla, like
many other automakers, is
struggling to get operations to
something resembling normal within
the next month in order to save
its second quarter financially.
For the California-based
automaker, China is going to be
very important this quarter, and
there are rumors that Tesla is
enjoying a massive backlog of
orders in that market.According to local registration numbers, Tesla only delivered more than 3,000 cars in China in April.
That’s despite its Shanghai Gigafactory reportedly producing 3,000 vehicles per week and the Chinese car market recovering nicely after the pandemic.
However, Tesla’s sales in China were negatively affected in April due to the country modifying its EV incentives, which made the Model 3 ineligible due to its starting price. In May, the automaker managed to reduce the price of Model 3 in order to be again eligible for the country’s EV incentives.
Furthermore, it’s likely that many customers decided to wait for the longer-range version of the Model 3, which Tesla announced in early April. Tesla just started deliveries of the new version of the made-in-China Model 3 last week.
There are reports coming out of China stating that Tesla has accumulated a massive backlog of 15,000 orders for the Model 3 Long Range RWD..... " Read more Hmmmm... Very interesting. Tesla may well become the new Apple... Boeing. Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class=""> The
story of cheaper batteries,
from smartphones to Teslas
T. Lee, May 22, "In 2010, a
lithium-ion battery pack with 1
kWh of capacity—enough to power an
electric car for three or four
miles—cost more than $1,000. By
2019, the figure had fallen to
$156, according to data compiled
by BloombergNEF. That's a massive
drop, and experts expect
continued—though perhaps not as
rapid—progress in the coming
decade. Several forecasters
project the average cost of a
kilowatt-hour of lithium-ion
battery capacity to fall below
$100 by the mid-2020s.That's the result of a virtuous circle where better, cheaper batteries expand the market, which in turn drives investments that produce further improvements in cost and performance. The trend is hugely significant because cheap batteries will be essential to shifting the world economy away from carbon-intensive energy sources like coal and gasoline..." Read more Hmmmm... This is indeed impressive progress in a sector that has defied substantial improvement since Thomas Davenport in 1837. Cheap, light weight, effective energy storage is a fundamental enabler of mobility. Alain
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="110"
height="23"> Watch
Tesla Cybertruck drive into
The Boring Company’s tunnel
F. Lambert, May 28, "The Tesla
Cybertruck may not be getting any
smaller, but at least it fits
inside The Boring Company’s test
tunnel under Los Angeles. CNBC
and Jay Leno’s Garage have been
teasing an episode of the latter’s
show featuring Elon Musk and the
Tesla Cybertruck prototype for a
month now. We have seen several
teasers, but now the full segment
has launched.... " Read
more Hmmmm... See video. What can I say?!?
Enjoy! Alain[log in to unmask]"
alt="" width="170" height="17">
China’s
Baidu finishes building
‘world’s largest’ test ground
for autonomous vehicle, smart
driving systems
C. Pan, May 28, "Chinese search
engine giant and artificial
intelligence (AI) champion Baidu
said on Tuesday that it has
completed construction of what
it claims to be the world’s
largest testing ground for
autonomous driving and
vehicle-to-infrastructure
communication.
The 13,500 square meter (145,300
sq ft) Apollo Park in Beijing’s
Yizhuang Economic Development
Zone houses more than 200
self-driving vehicles and is
equipped with facilities to
support the full autonomous
vehicle development process from
research to testing, Baidu said
in a statement on Tuesday....
Last month, competing Chinese self-driving start-up AutoX launched an 80,000 sq ft “gigafactory” in Shanghai, which it said was the largest data hub for self-driving car data in China ... Whatever that means???...and the biggest robotaxi operations centre in Asia. ... Whatever that means???... Read more Hmmmm... Test grounds are only the beginning and may not even complement simulation. Real testing needs to be out on in the real world with human supervision until human supervision is a waste of time or more harmful than helpful. Alain
C'mon Man! (These folks didn't get/read the memo)
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
Click-Bait
Calendar of Upcoming Events:s
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.5&filename=lmjdiniodjkflpia.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="46"
height="52" border="0">
- What's
it for (Comfort/Safety/Control),
- Who
owns/controls the
data/information (The
individual/The OEM/The
Government),
- How
far does Privacy extend (individual
controls/judicial
oversight (court
order)/rescindable
through "Patriot
Acts")
On the More Technical Side
http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/[log in to unmask]"
class="">
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 157, Zoom-Cast
Episode 157 w/Grayson Brulte
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.5&filename=lmjdiniodjkflpia.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="38"
height="42" border="0"> SmartDrivingCars
Zoom-inar 002 The
Future of Public Roadway Transit
- Zoom-inar Video (Video replay) Smart Driving Cars: The Future of Public Roadway Transit
- SmartDrivingCar PodCast (Audio Only) Smart Driving Cars: The Future of Public Roadway Transit
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 156, Cars Zoom-Cast Episode 156 w/Danny Shapiro2
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 155, Zoom-Cast Episode 155 w/Alex Roy2
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 154, Zoom-Cast Episode 154 w/Dan Sperling
SmartDrivingCars
Zoom-inar 001 The Driverless New
Normal Debate
- Zoom Video
- SmartDrivingCar
PodCast (Audio Only) Smart
Driving Cars: The Driverless
New Normal Debate
- Zoom Audience Questions (Only a few were addressed in Zoom-inar)
- Zoom
Audience Comments
- YouTube Video
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 153, Zoom-Cast Episode 153 w/Dick Mudge2
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 152, Zoom-Cast Episode 152 w/Brad Templeton
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 151, Zoom-Cast Episode 151 w/Joe Moye
SmartDrivingCars Podcast Episode 150 - Andrei Greenawalt
Video version... Watch episode 150 with Andrei Greenawalt.... Alain
SmartDriving
CarsPodcast Episode 149 - Matt Daus
Video version... Watch episode 149 with Matt Daus.... Alain
SmartDrivingCars
Podcast Episode 148 - Richard Bishop
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" class="" width="77"
height="18"> SmartDrivingCars
Zoom-Cast Episode 148 - Richard
Bishop
Video version... Watch our first attempt.... Alain
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 147 -
Michael Sena
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 142 -
J. Hughes
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 141- A.
Roy
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 140 -
C. Mericli
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 139-
Randal O'Toole
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
138-Nick Zart
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 136
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 135 -
with Jim Atkinson
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 130
with Dick Mudge & Michael Sena
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 126 -
Sturges & Caudill
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 121 -
Ken Pyle
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 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 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 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 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:
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.2&filename=hejedgabmgkdglfj.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="115"
height="69" border="0">
[log in to unmask]"
alt=""
class=""
width="38"
height="34"> Technology
driving safer
transport
H.
Zhao, May 1,
"This edition
of ITU News
Magazine
discusses the
latest trends
in connected
cars, new
ITU
initiatives to
improve smart
transportation
— and key
insights from
the annual
Symposium
on the Future
Networked Car
(FNC‑2020), a
gathering of
top experts
hosted by ITU
and UNECE.
Participants
at the 5 March
event
discussed the
technical,
business and
regulatory
actions
required to
build public
trust in
connected,
automated
vehicles.
They
highlighted
the state of
the art in
automotive
cybersecurity.
Together, they
explored the
status
and future of
safety-critical radio‑ communications for the road, and they presented
the latest
developments
in the review
of regulations
governing road
transport.
FNC‑2020
participants
also had the
opportunity to
consider the
crucial role
of the latest
5G
connectivity
technologies
in delivering
safer and more
effective
transport.
Read on to
learn about
the experts’
insightful
discussions at
the event, how
ITU’s work is
supporting the
development of
Intelligent
Transport
Systems —
and what key
industry
players are
doing to
leverage the
power of ICTs
for better
transport." Read
more
Hmmmm...
This topic
will be at the
heart on the
next Zoom-Tank
Zoom-inar on
June 1 (or
June 15??)@
2PM. An
eloquent
summary of
this
topic/symposium
was presented
by Michael
Sena in his April
2020 edition
of The
Dispatcher.
Alain
Thursday, April 30, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="78"
height="23">
Luminaries
Battle In
Lincoln-Douglas
Style Debate
About The
Future Of
Self-Driving
Cars
Lance
Eliot, April
28, "Several
self-driving
car luminaries
assembled
online via a
Zoom-casted
battleground
this week to
undertake a
Lincoln-Douglas
style debate
about the
future of the
Autonomous
Vehicle (AV)
self-driving
car industry
and the advent
of AI-driven
mobility.
Originally
scheduled for
one hour, the
dialogue and
fielding of
audience
questions
prompted the
superstars to
keep going,
tackling many
of the most
vexing and
unsolved
matters that
underlie the
potential
success of
self-driving
vehicles,
encompassing
both
autonomous
cars and
autonomous
trucks.
The lively
discussion was
civil and
polite,
fortunately so
in these times
of seemingly
stark
polarization
and guttural
attacks during
our
contemporary
public
discourse.
Yet, even in
the realm of
eloquent
argumentation,
at times the
gloves came
off and there
were some
fierce zingers
and moments of
rather
piercing
cut-the-air-with-a-knife
verbal
sparring..."
Read
more Hmmmm... Lance, Thank you for
the kind and
thorough
synopsis of
our 1st
Zoom-inar. We
were all
pleased by the
turnout,
interaction
and substance.
Alain
Friday,
April 24, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="50"
height="39">
What
Negative Oil
Prices Mean
and How the
Impact Could
Last
V.
Bajaj, April
22,"A main
benchmark for
the price of
oil fell
negative for
the first time
ever this
week. The
decline —
more than 300
percent in
daily trading
— raised fresh
questions
about the
damage the
coronavirus is
having on the
global
economy.
What does it
mean for oil
prices to be
negative?
A benchmark
price for a
barrel of oil
to be
delivered next
month fell to
-$37.63 on
Monday, which
means that
sellers would
have to pay
someone that
much to take
it off their
hands.
But that
historic
plunge was
exacerbated by
a quirk in how
the oil
markets work.
The negative
price
concerned only
contracts for
delivery of
barrels in May
that are
traded on
so-called
futures
markets. At
the same time
trading
happens for
May
deliveries,
people trade
on contracts
ending in
June, in July
and so on." Read
more Hmmmm... What??? I realize that
I'm often "out
of it",
but... In all
my life I have
NEVER...
thought of,
let alone
mentioned, nor
have heard
anyone else
mention the
concept of negative
oil!
Often, talked
about $150/B
oil, $250/B,
S20/B even
$7/B oil.
NEVER $0/B
oil,
negative
Oil...
NEVER,NEVER,
NEVER!!!! and
look where we
are. UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Implications:...
no one's
models
extrapolate to
that regime.
(it requires
extrapolation
because no
data exists in
this
unimaginable
region.
Listen to Pod-Cast;
Watch Zoom-Cast
Alain
Friday, April 17, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="78"
height="23">
Can
Robotaxis
Survive A
Pandemic?
Questions arise about what happens in the robocar world if we need to suffer another pandemic in the future. The Covid-19 crisis took place before the commercial deployment of robocars, but that won’t be true later. I covered some issues in my article on delivery robots, but let’s consider what we’ve learned this year:
- Transit ridership has cratered, and service has been cut
- Delivery demand has vastly increased
- People worry if drivers might be infectious
- People don’t want to touch things, from seats to scooter handlebars, that others are touching
As noted in the delivery article, while delivery robots are always good in a time when there is a massive surge in demand for delivery, it’s pretty easy for a driver in a van with an automatic door to never have to touch the packages, just like a delivery robot. With massive unemployment, human driven vans are probably the best answer to the delivery demand surge...." Read more Hmmmm... Not a pretty picture, but with every challenge, comes opportunities... Listen watch more on Pod-Cast_152/Zoom-Cast_152. Alain
Friday, April 10, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="33"
height="38"> Autonomous
shuttles help
transport
COVID-19 tests
at Mayo Clinic
in Florida
At a time when health care resources and staff are stretched thin, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has partnered with Beep and NAVYA to use autonomous vehicles to safely transport COVID-19 tests collected at a drive-thru testing location at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
"This development is a historic moment for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority," says Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., CEO of Jacksonville Transportation Authority. "Along with our partners, Beep, NAVYA and Mayo Clinic, we are leveraging our learnings from three years of testing autonomous vehicles through our Ultimate Urban Circulator program. Our innovative team saw this as an opportunity to use technology to respond to this crisis in Northeast Florida and increase the safety of COVID-19 testing."..." Read more Hmmmm... While not mentioned in the article, they are operating Driverlessly... without attendant or safety driver. Yea!!! (People aren't being moved, just goods and the Operational Design Domain is constrained, but it it is driverless none the less!) Listen watch more on Pod-Cast_151/Zoom-Cast_151. Alain
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Society
of Actuaries
Research Brief
Impact of
COVID-19
https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2020/impact-coronavirus/
Friday, March 27, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
class=""
width="78"
height="23">
Starsky
Robotics
Failed. Does
That Mean
Automated
Trucking Is
Dead?
R. Bishop,
Mar 24, "I met
Stefan
Seltz-Axmacher
for the first
time in
November 2015
at the Florida
Automated
Vehicles
Summit. Not
long after, we
met at the
Blue Danube
coffee shop in
Alameda, CA so
he could tell
me about his
vision for
Starsky
Robotics. When
he
energetically
described his
remote-driving-for-trucks approach, I was skeptical. “Remote driving is
hard,” I said.
“The military
has struggled
with this for
years. Its
harder than it
looks.” On the
technical
side, latency
for secure
communications
is
challenging.
On the
operational
side,
re-creating
enough on-road
reality
(situational
awareness) for
a remote
driver is
difficult when
going for the
high levels of
safety needed.
Seltz-Axmacher
remained
bullish on the
approach and
at that time
went on to
found Starsky
Robotics as
one of the
earliest truck
AV startups,
later closing
a $16.5M
Series A
funding round
in March 2018,
and then
hauling
freight while
developing
both remote
and automated
driving
ability.
Initially,
Starsky’s
concept was
all about
remote driving
for first/last
mile. They
later expanded
their offering
to include
fully
automated
highway
driving on
limited
freight
corridors.
Now, Starsky
has become the
first casualty
within a
crowded truck
automation
space, and
Seltz-Axmacher
has provided
us with an
intriguing
post-mortem in
a recent
Medium post.
Most of the
media coverage
I’ve seen has
acted as echo
chambers for
Seltz-Axmacher’s
perspective.
Here I offer a
counterpoint
based on my
longtime
involvement in
truck
automation
plus
discussions
with many
others in the
truck
Automated
Driving
Systems (ADS)
startup space,
many of them
irate at what
they see as
unfounded
assertions
made in the
original post.
My sources
tell me that
because
Seltz-Axmacher
hasn't
experienced
their
technology nor
been briefed
on their
technical/safety
approach, he
has no basis
to make
sweeping
claims about
the entire
industry...."
Read
more Hmmmm... Listen
to PodCast 148.
or/and Watch
us on YouTube.
Alain
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Waymo suspends robotaxi service except for its truly driverless vehicles
K. Korosec,
Mar. 17,
"Waymo said
Tuesday it is
pausing
operations of
Waymo One, a
service in the
Phoenix area
that allows
the public to
hail rides in
self-driving
vehicles with
trained human
safety
operators
behind the
wheel, in
response to
the COVID-19
pandemic.
Waymo is also
halting
testing on
public roads
in California.
However, Waymo
will keep some
operations up
and running,
notably its
truly
driverless
vehicles,
which don’t
require a
human safety
driver,
according to
an
announcement
on its website
Tuesday. These
driverless
vehicles are
used in the
Phoenix area
as part of
Waymo’s early
rider program
that lets
vetted members
of the public
hail a
ride..." Read
more Yippie!!! Unfortunately, the
latest is not
so good... Waymo has suspended all services, including
the
driverless.
Poopie!!!
Alain
Friday, February 28, 2020
NTSB
slams Tesla,
Apple and
regulators
over a fatal
Autopilot
crash
The National Transportation Safety Board said 38-year-old Walter Huang, an Apple software engineer, had Autopilot engaged in his 2018 Tesla Model X and was playing a video game on his iPhone when the car crashed into a defective safety barrier on U.S. Highway 101.The board also blamed the highway safety arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation for failing to properly regulate rapidly evolving robot-car technology.... The board adopted a long list of measures meant to reduce such accidents as “partially automated driving” technologies become more popular in new vehicles....
Friday, February 7, 2020
Friday, January 31, 2020
2020 Hyundai Sonata stars in Super Bowl ad all about 'Smaht Pahk'
Friday, January 24, 2020
The Disengagement Myth
Kyle
Vogt, Jan 17, "In
a few weeks the
California DMV
will release
disengagements
data from Cruise
and other
companies who test
AVs on public
roads. This data
is really great
for giving the
public a sense of
what’s happening
on the roads.
Unfortunately, it
has also been used
by the media and
others to compare
technology from
different AV
companies or as a
proxy for
commercial
readiness. Since
it’s the only
publicly available
metric, I don’t
really blame them
for using it. But
it’s woefully
inadequate for
most uses beyond
those of the DMV.
The idea that
disengagements
give a meaningful
signal about
whether an AV is
ready for
commercial
deployment is a
myth. ..." Read
more Hmmmm... Amen! This is a MUST
read. As with
everything, details
matter. It is
true that
figures don't
lie, but but
it is easy to
game systems
such that
figures,
without the
underlying
details, do
lie. As Kyle
points out,
there are
important
details
associated
with
disengagements.
These need to
be well
understood for
disengagements
to be a proxy
for safety and
market
readiness. The
when, where
and associated
details of
each
disengagement
is critically
important if
the objective
is safety and
market
readiness.
What is also most important here
is the
underlying
objective of
the companies
doing the
tests and
reporting the
data. As has
happened in
our secondary
education
where students
are taught
what is in and
how to take
the SATs
rather than
just learn.
The objective
is not
learning , but
getting 800s
on the SATs so
that they can
get into
'Princeton'.
This is
perpetuated by
the
'Princetons'
of this world
that don't
look into the
details of the
student's
academic
qualities and
capabilities.
In the
academic
world, we know
these students
as 'box
checkers',
gamers of the
college
admission
process. The
gaming is
continued by
the 'banks and
med schools'
that use
simplistic GPA
(Grade Point
Average, aka
'disengagements')
cutoffs. The
'box checkers'
then take
'underwater
basket
weaving'
courses and
become grade
grubbers. It
is lazy and
irresponsible
to use
simplistic
measures as
proxies to
very complex
concepts such
as
intelligence,
creativity,
compatibility,
and all the
other details
that make a
good student,
a good
employee, a
good citizen,
a good
mobility
system.
In our case, testing is assumed to be about safety and market readiness; however, for some, it may be about trying to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" or "putting lipstick on the pig". It is easy to game the metric 'Disengagements' by simply testing in easy places, under easy conditions, instead of really trying to find the corner/edge cases that you don't know in places and conditions of the Operational Design Domain that you are actually going to serve and make a business out of all of this technology; rather than just trying to get good press, or flipping it to someone else or putting it on an academic self. The details would readily divulge the real objective of the company doing the testing.
I hope that Kyle, in his next post, will divulge what he, GM's lawyers and GM's board are requiring of his system for each of them to sign off and begin to operate an economically viable mobility service to the general public in some ODD. Each will demand that it be safe. The board will also demand that it be profitable. What details are they requesting that will make each comfortable signing on the bottom line? AlainSunday, January 12, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
class=""
width="30"
height="33"> Hmmmm... Reflections
A. Kornhauser, Jan 12, Hmmmm... Self-driving cars are hot and the OEMs are responding. I'm about to buy a new Subaru Outback and EyeSight is standard. It is no longer just AutoPilot or expensive options that car salesmen don't sell. Car companies, as reflected in what is in showrooms and what was promoted at CES, have realized the comfort and convenience of Self-driving technology (cars that have a lot of the Safe-driving car features but also enable you to take your feet off the pedals and hands off the wheel at least for short periods of time. These technologies are really becoming the 'chrome and fins' that sell cars to individuals in the 2020s. The momentum is all behind that happening and there is little Washington or Trenton or Princeton Council can do about it. Hopefully part of that momentum will be to make these systems actually work well, especially the Automated Emergency Braking Systems (MUST quit assuming that all stationary objects in the lane ahead can be passed under and consequently each is disregarded. As Tesla is finding out, sometimes those objects are parked firetrucks.) and begin to put hard limits on over-speeding, tailgating and use while driver is impaired. Self-driving cars are unfortunately going to lead to substantial urban sprawl, increased VMT, increased congestion and do nothing to help the energy and pollution challenges of our addiction to the personal automobile. Only 'Waymo-style Driverless' (autonomousTaxis, (aTaxis)) tuned to entice ride-sharing can potentially stem the tide of ever more personal car ownership and ever expanding urban sprawl. Alain
Monday, January 6, 2020
Hmmmm...I'm
Back
A. Kornhauser, Jan. 6, Hmmmm... I'm in rehab and hope to go home on Wednesday morning. Thank you to so many of you for all the good wishes and prayers. They each helped. I'm looking to making a full recovery. Remember, if you don't feel well, get evaluated by a doctor. I was totally clueless about what hit me from out of nowhere. Alain
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Chandler unveils drop-off, pick-up zone for self-driving cars
Read more Hmmmm... The iconic image:
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="79"
height="131">
autonomousTaxi (aTaxi) stop facilitating true ride-sharing to any destination within the autonomous transit system's Operational Design Domain. The first of what may well become a half million or so others. Each strategically located to be less that a 5 minute walk from essentially any of the billion or so person trip ends that are made on any typical day in the USA (outside of Manhattan (whose subway stations provide the comparable accessibility). Twenty million or so aTaxi vehicles could readily provide on-demand, share-ride mobility from these ~0.5M aTaxi stops. Provided would be essentially the same 24/7 on-demand level-of-service as we do for ourselves with our own conventional automobiles; however, this mobility would be affordably achieved using half the energy, creating half the pollution, eliminating essentially all the congestion, doubling conventional transit ridership and making such improved mobility available to those who today can't or wish not to drive a conventional automobile. This is a MAJOR 1st. Alain
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Self-driving car capital? One senator thinks it can be Florida
R. Wile, Nov
22, "Sen. Jeff Brandes
(R-St. Petersburg) had
just finished serving in
the Army, and was looking
to make a name for himself
in Tallahassee as a junior
representative. He came
across a talk given by the
founder of Google’s
driverless car project.
He quickly realized the
potential of self-driving
cars to transform many
aspects of daily life.
Ever since, he has made it
his mission to turn
Florida into what he calls
“an angel investor” in
automation policy. “We
want to have policies in
place for this technology
to flourish,” Brandes said
in an interview at the 7th
Annual Florida Automated
Vehicles conference in
Miami, which concluded
Friday.
Among the state’s advantages Brandes points to that he believes makes it ideal for AV companies: no snow, which makes lane markings more visible. That also means less road construction in general...." Read more Hmmmm... Congratulations Jeff!!! It was a great AV Summit and congratulations on creating such a Welcoming environment and intelligently shaping the birth of this technology. What you've done is enable Florida to begin to enhance mobility and the quality of life for all in Florida and especially those who can most benefit from these mobility machines. It was most impressive to witness the enthusiasm for nurturing the many aspects of this technology from Florida's Governor, Miami's Mayor, Fl DoT's Commissioner, the heads of the toll road authorities, planning agencies and educational institutions. Most impressive was Ford's comment that their autonomousTaxi efforts are focused on developing driverless technology and intend to operate it to deliver Mobility-as-a-Service in Florida, rather than sell the technology to individual consumers. I applaud that approach and hope that Ford will look to also bringing some of those vehicles to New Jersey so that we can begin to reap the benefits of this technology. What you've accomplished in Florida is THE "best practice" for us to emulate in New Jersey. Congratulations. Alain
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Friday, October 18, 2019
Your Tesla Can Now Pick You Up
R. Mitchell, Oct. 4,
" Smart Summon is for parking lot
use. But drivers have other
ideas.
Tesla unleashed the latest twist in driverless car technology last week, raising more questions about whether autonomous vehicles are outracing public officials and safety regulators.
...Using a
smartphone, a person can now
command a Tesla to turn itself on,
back out of a parking space and
drive to the smartphone holder's
location - say at a curb in front
of a Costco store.." Read
more Hmmmm....
Russ, great article. A must
read!
Elon,
please stop.
StupidSummon was a bad
Valley-entitled idea
before you released
it. Now that it is
out there it will ruin
all that is good about
Tesla, AutoPilot and
Driverless cars. The
shorters are going to
have a field day.
While
you are at it also
remove all of the
DistractTainment add
ons or limit their use
when AutoPilot is NOT
on and drivers are
engaged in driving.
Just go back to V09!
Along the way also get
the Automated
Emergency Braking
(AEB) system to work
properly (See NTSB
below). To do
that, maybe you should
take a serious look at
Velodyne's new
Tesla LiDAR. It
may be able to tell
you if the stationary
object in the lane
ahead is high enough
above the road surface
before your AEB
system decides to
disregard it. Then
Tesla's may stop decapitating
drivers.
If you don't
remove StupidSummon then at
least be sure to limit its
use to the Tesla owner's own
private property by
responsible users. (You
know the GPS coordinates of
where each owner lives, so
you can geofence it. You
also know each irresponsible
use (You get the videos).
Irresponsible use (use in
the violation of the
conditions spelled out in
the user's manual) should
void its future availability
in that car unless proper
amend are made. If not,
then insurance companies
should clearly state that
insuring the use of this
feature requires a
substantial additional
premium; else, you're not
covered. Courts should view
that use of this feature
implies premeditated harm
and demonstrates an extreme
indifference to human life.
Parking Lot owners should
install signs forbidding the
use of this feature on their
property to protect
themselves from being
dragged into the claims
process.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="116"
height="32">Public
forum will explore possibility
of transit on demand in
Princeton
K. Knapp, Sept 22, "What would it
take to make Princeton an accessible
community for all, even those who
cannot or choose not to own or drive
a car? Princeton Future will explore
the question at a public forum from
9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 28 in the
community room at the Princeton
Public Library.Princeton Future is a non-profit community group that studies issues related to planning, development, and affordability. Speakers will discuss the capabilities of a transit-on-demand system where small, driverless shuttles could be summoned by a smart phone app to a location within walking distance of a resident’s home...." Read more Hmmmm.... Listen to a summary of the event in Episode 126 of the SmartDrivingCars PodCasts. See below for other info. Alain
Friday, September 20, 2019
Waymo’s robotaxi pilot surpassed 6,200 riders in its first month in California
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="107" height="19">Autonomous
Vehicles: A View from Seniors
Friday, March 29, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="116" height="32">Automated
vehicles could provide mobility to
the ‘mobility disadvantaged’
Friday,
March 1, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="35" height="38">
FORM
S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT Lyft,
Inc.
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..:- Andrea Censi: "Liability, Ethics, and Culture-Aware Behavior Specification using Rulebooks" Abstract, Slides, video (via click on Schedule 11:30 Monday;
- Adam Oberman:"Generalization and adversarial robustness of Regularized Deep Neural Networks " Abstract, Slides, video (via click on Schedule 11:30 Tuesday);
- Alain Kornhauser: "Market Forces and Market Potential for SmartDrivingCars (aka Autonomous Vehicles) " Slides, video, (via click on Schedule 11:15 Tuesday);
- Hani Mahmassani: "Shared Autonomous Fleet Services and Multimodal Urban Mobility: Optimization, Prediction and Dynamic Network Modeling " Abstract, video, (via click on Schedule 4:00 Thursday);
Thursday,
November 22, 2018
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="94" height="29"> Market
Framework and Outlook for Automated
Vehicle Systems
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)
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="39" height="43"> Testimony
of Alain Kornhauser, Assembly
Science, Innovation and Technology -
Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00
AM
Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM
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".
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
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.36&filename=ajafjpkfaclhelpc.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="44"
height="50" border="0">Extracting
Cognition out of Images for the
Purpose of Autonomous Driving
Sunday, December 19, 2015
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.38&filename=ccalfjfhllohpdpa.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="68"
height="44" 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
This list is
maintained by Alain
Kornhauser and hosted by the Princeton
University
Leave
|Re-enter