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[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Waymo starts to open driverless ride-hailing service to the public

K. Korosec, Oct. 8, "Waymo,  the Google  self-driving-project-turned-Alphabet unit, is beginning to open up its driverless ride-hailing service to the public.

The company said that starting today, members of its Waymo One service will be able to take family and friends along on their fully driverless rides in the Phoenix area. Existing Waymo One members will have the first access to the driverless rides — terminology that means no human behind the wheel. However, the company said that in the next several weeks more people will be welcomed directly into the service through its app, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.

Waymo said that 100% of its rides will be fully driverless — which it has deemed its “rider only” mode. That 100% claim requires a bit of unpacking. The public shouldn’t expect hundreds of Waymo-branded Chrysler Pacifica minivans — no human behind the wheel — to suddenly inundate the entire 600-plus square miles of the greater Phoenix area.. ..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  "...fully Driverless...".   That means that Krafcik, the Waymo "Board", Alphabet's Board and all the lawyers have signed off and said... We are safe enough to basically bet the ranch that the expected value of the mobility that we'll be putting out on the streets of our Operational Design Domain, which is under our control, is worth whatever expected risk still exists that some bad things may happen.  That is an enormous hurdle that has been achieved by an entity that has an enormous ranch.  CONGRATULATIONS!!! It hasn't come easy, nor has it come without intese diligence and effort. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="107" height="20">  Waymo will allow more people to ride in its fully driverless vehicles in Phoenix

A. Hawkins, Oct 8, "...These driverless vehicles aren’t totally alone in the wilderness. Waymo has a team of remote employees who watch the real-time feeds of each vehicle’s eight cameras and can help, with the push of a button, if the software runs into a difficult spot and needs a human eye to figure out what’s going on. But Waymo insists these remote operators won’t be “joy-sticking” the cars, which are outfitted with a bevy of cameras and sensors that help it “see” its surroundings. The car will be making most of the driving decisions itself thanks to its large computer system and artificial intelligence software..."  Read more  Hmmmm... Andrew's take on this. Of course they'll be watching very closely.  This is not a stunt.  Its a very responsible roll out.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Waymo finally launches an actual public, driverless taxi service

T. Lee, Oct. 8, "After covering Waymo for several years, I've learned to take the company's announcements with a grain of salt.

In 2018, for example, Waymo said it would launch a fully driverless commercial service by the end of the year. Waymo did release a service called Waymo One in December 2018, but it came with a couple of huge asterisks: every vehicle had a safety driver, and the service was only open to a small group of people.

But today Waymo finally seems to be launching the taxi service it promised two years ago: one that's fully driverless and open to the public. Waymo told Ars that the service will initially operate in a 50-square-mile area in the Phoenix suburbs of Chandler, Tempe, and Mesa. ..." Read more Hmmmm....   As Timothy put it... The challenge is now economics.   Alain

[log in to unmask]" class="">  SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 178  w/Andrew Hawkins, Verge

F. Fishkin, Oct. 9, "Here we go! Waymo going fully driverless in Phoenix suburb service. The Verge senior transportation reporter Andrew Hawkins joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla... Amazon... Rivian and more.  Subscribe!  ." Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!".  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> SmartDrivingCars  Zoom-Cast Episode 178  w/Andrew Hawkins, Verge

Video version of SmartDrivingCars PodCast 178...  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.

[log in to unmask]" alt="">  Elon Musk takes shots at rival Waymo as it opens robotaxis to public in ValleyElon Musk takes shots at rival Waymo as it opens robotaxis to public in Valley

C. Schubarth, Oct. 9, "Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo self-driving unit got Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk's attention on Thursday after it announced plans to open its driverless robotaxis to the public for the first time in the Valley....

But Musk thinks Waymo's driverless tech is over-reliant on operating in "geo-fenced" areas that it has fully mapped.

He responded to a Twitter follower who called Waymo’s system “fragile” because of that reliance on maps, saying:

"We barked up that tree for way too long (sigh). Gives a false sense of victory being close — a tantalizing local maximum — but reality is just too messy & weird. Our new system is capable of driving in locations we never seen even once."..."  Read more  Hmmmm...Just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should.  I suspect that the Waymo system is also capable of driving in locations it has never seen before, meaning it doesn't have the HD maps.  It just doesn't need to .  Recall that one of the original motivations for Google's/Waymo's efforts in driverless cars was Street View.  So, in a sense, Waymo is essentially forced to be over-reliant on HD maps.   It is unfortunate because the hard part is  "seeing' and "avoiding" the objects that aren't in HD maps... the transient/moving objects in and around your lane ahead.  The stationary objects represented in the HD maps are relatively "easy" to "see' in time to avoid them.Their velocity is zero making it "trivial" to anticipate where they'll be in the future.  Not so for the moving objects. 

Even though, Elon is correct, in my view, about Waymo's over-reliance on HD maps, what he hasn't done is publicly proclaim and accept the responsibility if anything goes wrong in the use of his system.  He hasn't said that he'll replace the fine print in his manuals that make the driver responsible for any mishap to state that he'll accept the full responsibility for any mishap involving his system.  The meat of the Waymo announcement is "our automated system will take you safely and comfortably from A to B in our Operational Design Domain (ODD).  If anything happens we'll you, the rider, can hold us responsible for any damages that you may have incurred". 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="108" height="22">    Tesla to release self-driving Beta capable of ‘zero intervention’ in a few weeks

J. Klender, Oct. 8. "Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated earlier today that the latest build of FSD software would be released “in a few weeks.”

Musk’s idea of a completely self-driving vehicle has been evident for several years. Obtaining full autonomy is anything but an easy task, and Musk recognizes that other companies have done an efficient job creating driver assistance features to increase safety.

While ARK Invest’s Tasha Keeney described the process and development of self-driving vehicles in a series of tweets on Thursday, Musk stated that Waymo, another company with its sights set on fully-autonomous navigation, is doing an “impressive” job with developing zero-intervention driving capabilities...."  Read more Hmmmm...  Again, not such a big deal.  What would really be news is: "Tesla accepts all liability associated with the use, or mis-use, of FSD".  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="107" height="20">  Amazon unveils its new electric delivery vans built by Rivian

A. Hawkins, Oct 8, "Amazon unveiled its first all-electric delivery van on Thursday. The vehicle, built by EV startup Rivian, will come with state-of-the-art technology, like sensing equipment and an advanced driver-assist system. The e-commerce giant says it expects to have 10,000 vans on the road making deliveries “as early as 2022,” with a total fleet of 100,000 vehicles expected by 2030...."" Read more  Hmmmm... How long before "ZooX" automates these?  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="107" height="20">  Boom Supersonic unveils its prototype for a commercial supersonic jet

A. Hawkins, Oct 7, "Boom Supersonic, an aviation startup, unveiled today a full-scale demonstrator of a supersonic passenger jet that aims to be the next-generation Concorde. The XB-1 demonstrator won’t take flight until 2021, but Boom unveiled the prototype to a group of aviation and aerospace executives at Centennial Airport in Denver.

At 71 feet long, the XB-1 is a scaled-down version of the full production model that Boom hopes to have ready for passengers by 2029. The prototype only has room for the pilot, while the commercial-ready version will eventually hold up to 44 passengers...." Read more  Hmmmm... A start on a long road back.  Alain

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">    Draft Program   4th Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit   Postponed until Evening Dec. 8 through Dec. 10, 2020 (But will likely need to be completely Virtual, possibly in "Second life")
A. Kornhauser, Feb 6, "The focus of the Summit this year will be moving beyond the AI and the Sensors to addressing the challenges of Commercialization and  the delivery of tangible value to communities.  We've made enormous progress with the technology. We're doing the investment; however, this investment delivers value only if is commercialized: made available and is used by consumers in large numbers.  Demos and one-offs are "great", but to deliver value that is anywhere near commensurate with the magnitude of the investment made to date, initial deployments need to scale.  We can't just have "Morgantown PRT Systems" whose initial deployment has been nothing but enormously successful for 45 years (an essentially perfect safety record, an excellent availability record and customer valued mobility).  Unfortunately, the system was never expanded or duplicated anywhere.  It didn't scale.  It is a one-off. 

Tests, demos and one-offs are nice niche deployments; however, what one really needs are initial deployments that have the opportunity to grow, be replicated and scale.  In 1888, Frank Sprague, successfully deployed a small electric street railway system in Richmond, Va.  which became the reference for many other cites.  "... By 1889 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents..." Substantial scaled societal benefits emerged virally from this technology.  It was eventually supplanted by the conventional automobile but for more than 30 years it delivered substantial improvements to the quality-of-life for many. 

In part, the 4th Summit will focus on defining the "Richmond" of Affordable Shared-ride On-demand Mobility-as-a-Service.  The initial Operational Design Domain (ODD) that safely accommodates Driverless Mobility Machines that people actually choose to use and becomes the envy of communities throughout the country. " Read more Hmmmm... Draft Program is in flux.  Consider all named individuals as "Invited yet to be confirmed". Alain

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

Sunday Supplement

Half-Baked

Click-Bait

Calendar of Upcoming Events:s

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[log in to unmask]" class="">

These editions are sponsored by the SmartETFs Smart Transportation and Technology ETF, symbol MOTO. For more information…head to www.motoetf.com 

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 177    Zoom-Cast Episode 177

F. Fishkin, Oct. 2, "New grades for assisted driving systems from Euro NCAP.   But Princeton Professor Alain Kornhauser says the devil is in the details in this edition with co-host Fred Fishkin.  And there's Amazon's success against Covid plusTesla, Uber, GM, Nikola and more.

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 176  Zoom-Cast Episode 176  w/Marc Scribner

F. Fishkin, Sept. 25, "A new government entity to oversee autonomous vehicles? Marc Scribner, Sr. Transportation Policy Analyst at the Reason Foundation on regulation and more with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus...Tesla, Nikola, GM and the California move to ban new gasoline vehicles."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 175   Zoom-Cast Episode 175  w/Michael Sena

F. Fishkin, Sept. 18, "Automobility and the future of car dealers...   "The Dispatcher" publisher Michael Sena offers a different take on how car dealers may battle automakers pushing for direct to consumer subscriptions.  That and more in this edition of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 174  Zoom-Cast Episode 174 w/Kelly Funkhouser, Consumer Reports

F. Fishkin, Sept. 4, "Moving forward with autonomous vehicle testing, the head of safety at Uber's Advanced Technology Group is pledging safety data transparency. Nat Beuse joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the latest mobility headlines." 

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 173  Zoom-Cast Episode 173  w/Nathanial Beuse

F. Fishkin, Sept. 4, "Moving forward with autonomous vehicle testing, the head of safety at Uber's Advanced Technology Group is pledging safety data transparency. Nat Beuse joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the latest mobility headlines."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 172 Zoom-Cast Episode 172  Special Edition w/Danny Shapiro

F. Fishkin ,Sept. 2, "Mercedes unveils the latest S Class with more computing power than 60 average cars...with NVIDIA playing a big role.   NVIDIA's Director of Automotive Danny Shapiro joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more."

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 171 Zoom-Cast Episode 171 w/Henry Greenidge

F. Fishkin, Aug. 30, "What should autonomous mobility companies be doing to win support from black communities? Why is it important? Henry Greenidge…Fellow in residence at the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU joins Princeton's Alain Kornhausere and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus...Uber, Voyage, Tesla and more...."

SmartDrivingCars  PodCast 170  ZoomCast Episode170  w/Michael Sena

F. Fishkin, Aug 20, "Tesla grows while other automakers flounder. And creating standards in an era of mistrust. The Dispatcher publisher joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in a thought provoking episode. Plus...transportation planning during and after the pandemic...NVIDIA...and more."

SmartDrivingCars  PodCast Episode 169  ZoomCast Episode 169   w/Anthony Townsend

F. Fishkin Aug 13, "Ghost Road.. Beyond the Driverless Car author Anthony Townsend brings a unique viewpoint to the debate on the future of mobility...and the impact of the pandemic on ride sharing. Townsend joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and the latest developments from Uber, Lyft, Tesla and more."

SmartDrivingCars  PodCast Episode 168  ZoomCast Episode 168   w/Olaf Sakkers

F. Fishkin Aug 8, "Is Tesla a tech stock? Or a fashion product? Maniv Mobility's Olaf Sakkers authored a piece on Medium with that title and he joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus... GM's would be Tesla challenger Cadillac Lyriq, TuSimple, Uber, Ford and more."

SmartDrivingCars  PodCast 167  ZoomCast Episode167  w/Robin Chase, Carlos Pardo & Daniel Sperling

F. Fishkin July 29, "In the midst of a pandemic, what is the future of ride sharing and mobility? Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by Robin Chase and Carlos Pardo of the New Urban Mobility Alliance and the director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at U C Davis, Daniel Sperling to dig into the challenges ahead."

SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 166 ZoomCast Episode 166 w/Jay Rodgers'95, CEO Local Motors

F. Fishkin 16, "Local Motors announces a partnership with Beep to broadly deploy autonomous electric shuttles. CEO Jay Rogers joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a wide ranging chat. Plus the Waymo-Fiat Chrysler deal, Tesla, AutoX, Ford, Mobileye and more."

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 Episode 005  AmaZooks

F. Fishkin, July 20, "Is Driverless home delivery the fastest route to Affordable Mobility for the Mobility Disadvantaged?  ... "

SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 165, ZoomCast Episode165 w/Michael Sena

F. Fishkin 16, "Is the option to buy a car at a dealership going to vanish? The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena has a provocative perspective in this edition with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..an update on the Amazon Zoox deal, autonomous vehicles and how they can help battle discrimination in transportation, TuSimple, Mobileye, Uber, Tesla and more."  ...  Alain

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast 164 Episode 164,   Zoom-Cast Episode 163 w/Robbie Diamond

F. Fishkin, July 9, "Fostering economic opportunity through autonomous technology is the focus of an upcoming report from Security America's Future Energy. Founder and CEO Robbie Diamond shares details and more in this edition with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus ..are armed police officers really needed for traffic enforcement? And the latest from Tesla, Waymo and more.  ..."  ...  Alain

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 163, Zoom-Cast Episode 163  w/Henry Greenidge

F. Fishkin, July 2, "Transportation, racial injustices and changing the thinking around the future of mobility. NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy & Research fellow Henry Greenidge joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in an eye and mind opening episode of Smart Driving Cars. Plus Amazon, Zoox, Waymo, Tesla & more.  ."   ...  Alain

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 162,  Zoom-Cast Episode 162  w/Cliff Winston

F. Fishkin, June 25, "From the Brookings Institution, Cliff Winston, co-author of Autonomous Vehicles...The Road to Economic Growth? joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..why are fatal crash rates rising in the midst of a pandemic...plus NVIDIA, Didi, Tesla and more."    ...  Alain

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"> DrivingTheDebate Episode 004  Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?

F. Fishkin, June 23, "But the debate is not really about technology nor is it about who delivers the best value for the money or the most privacy. It is about ..."
Listen/Watch more  Hmmm...   We only scratched the surface. Alain

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 161, Zoom-Cast Episode 161   w/Alberto Stochino

F. Fishkin, June 17, "Is less data sometimes more when it comes to driverless vehicle technology? Perceptive Founder and CEO Alberto Stochino joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the DOT's new plan for sharing autonomous safety information, the latest from Tesla, EVs from China and more." ...  Alain

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 160, Zoom-Cast Episode 160  w/Jessica Cicchino

F. Fishkin, June 12, "Insurance Institute for Highway Safety  Research VP Jessica Cicchino co-authored a new study saying self driving vehicles could struggle to eliminate most crashes.   She joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to discuss the study.  Plus the latest on Tesla, Ford & VW, Covid-19 and more.  "   "Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!".  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 159,   Zoom-Cast Episode 159  w/Kara Kockelman

F. Fishkin, June 4, "Prof. Kara Kockelman's focus on smart transportation to save lives, money and the environment has made her a sought after global expert.  The U. of Texas Transportation Engineering Professor joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on the impact of Covid-19 and much more.  Plus Tesla, Uber, Argo AI and the top smart driving headlines.  For more on Dr. Kockelman's work....please visit...  http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman." 

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">  DrivingTheDebate Episode 003  Everyone's for Connectivity; but...

F. Fishkin, June 2, "But the debate is not really about technology nor is it about who delivers the best value for the money or the most privacy. It is about ..."

Listen/Watch more  Hmmm...   We only scratched the surface. Alain

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 158,  Zoom-Cast Episode 158  w/Chunka Mui

F. Fishkin, May 28, "In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, what are the smartest ways to re-build and plan for the future? Futurist and author Chunka Mui joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Amazon, Zoox, Intel Mobileye, Tesla, Uber and more."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 157,  Zoom-Cast Episode 157 w/Grayson Brulte

F. Fishkin, May 21, "Global auto makers must completely re-think their autonomous mobility strategy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. So says innovation strategist Grayson Brulte of Brulte & Company....who joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus...Waymo, Tesla, Uber and more." 

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">  DrivingTheDebate Episode 002  The Future of Public Roadway Transit

F. Fishkin, May 14, "Will the Bus be Thrown Under the Bus?...

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 156,  Cars Zoom-Cast Episode 156  w/Danny Shapiro2

F. Fishkin, May 14, "With new hardware and software capabilities NVIDIA is expanding into new areas of driver assistance technology. Sr. Director of Automotive Danny Shapiro joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that...plus the latest on Waymo, Voyage, Ford and more. listen and subscribe!"   "Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!".  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 155, Zoom-Cast Episode 155  w/Alex Roy2

F. Fishkin, April 29, "The continuing impact of Covid-19 on autonomous vehicle progress. But it may not be all bad news. Alex Roy...host of the No Parking Podcast and Director of Special Operations at Argo AI joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Intel, Lyft, Uber and more. Listen and subscribe!"

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 154, Zoom-Cast Episode 154   w/Dan Sperling

F. Fishkin, April 29, "Can ride sharing rebound after the pandemic? Daniel Sperling, founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Waymo, Ford and more."

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">   DrivingTheDebate Episode 001 The Driverless "New Normal" Debate

F. Fishkin, April 27,

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 153, Zoom-Cast Episode 153   w/Dick Mudge2

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 152, Zoom-Cast Episode 152  w/Brad Templeton

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="77" height="18"> SmartDrivingCars Zoom-Cast Episode 148 w/Richard Bishop

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 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 112 - J. Hardiman NJM

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 110 - Lance Elliot

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 108 3rd Summit Wrapup

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

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

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

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 97 - Michael Sena'69

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 71-Nader'55

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 69 - Chunka Mui

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

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 58-Keith Code, Motorcycles

 Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 55-Larry Burns, Autonomy

Recent Highlights of:

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Friday, October 09, 2020

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  ASSISTED DRIVING GRADINGS

Staff, Oct. 2020  "On this page you will find the gradings of cars tested by Euro NCAP on automated driving technologies.

For its 2020 assessment of Highway Assist systems, Euro NCAP has developed dedicated test and assessment protocols, divided into two main areas: Assistance Competence, based on the balance between Driver Engagement and Vehicle Assistance, and Safety Backup...."  Read more Hmmmm....Look carefully at each component of the rating system.  NCAP has chosen one algorithmic way of "adding apples and oranges" to get their rating.  Unfortunately they don't divulge the secret formula.  To me, it doesn't seem to be sufficiently iweighted on what I consider to be the most important element... "Collision Avoidance".  If the system doesn't do that well, then why bother being good at Consumer Information (unless that information says clearly that the system doesn't work well". 

If NCAP itself did a good job of Consumer Information then it would divulge its algorithm and allow the consumer to edit its weights to trade-off what the consumer believes is more or less important. 

In all fairness, NCAP does divulge the individual  performance values.  With work, this is really valuable information.  This is a must read!  Alain

Friday, September 25, 2020

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="56" height="43">  Proposal for a new UN Regulation on uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regards to Automated Lane Keeping System

UN Economic & Social Council, April 6, "The intention of the Regulation is to establish uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS).
        ALKS controls the lateral and longitudinal movement of the vehicle for extended periods without further driver command. ALKS is a system whereby the activated system is in primary control of the vehicle.
        This Regulation is the first regulatory step for an automated driving system (as defined in ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1140) in traffic and it therefore provides innovative provisions aimed at addressing the complexity related to the evaluation of the system safety. It contains administrative provisions suitable for type approval, technical requirements, audit and reporting provisions and testing provisions.
        ALKS can be activated under certain conditions on roads where pedestrians and cyclists are prohibited and which, by design, are equipped with a physical separation that divides the traffic moving in opposite directions and prevent traffic from cutting across the path of the vehicle. In a first step, the original text of this Regulation limits the operational speed to 60 km/h maximum and passenger cars (M1 vehicles).
    This Regulation includes general requirements regarding the system safety and the failsafe response. When the ALKS is activated, it shall perform the driving task instead of the driver, i.e. manage all situations including failures, and shall not endanger the safety of the vehicle occupants or any other road users. There is however always the possibility for the driver to override the system, at any time.
The Regulation also lays down requirements on how the driving task shall be safely handed over from the ALKS to the driver including the capability for the system to come to a stop in case the driver does not reply appropriately.
Finally, the Regulation includes requirements on the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) to prevent misunderstanding or misuse by the driver. The Regulation for instance requires that on-board displays used by the driver for other activities than driving when the ALKS is activated, shall be automatically suspended as soon as the system issues a transition demand. These measures are without prejudice to driver behaviour rules on how to use these systems in the Contracting Parties as currently being discussed by the Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety (WP.1) at the time of drafting this document (See e.g. Informal Document 4 Revision 1 of the seventy-eight session of WP.1)...." Read more Hmmmm.... A very important read with many very important details and this is just for Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) which is just the 2nd (baby) step, after adaptive cruise control on the way of "finishing" Level 2 and tip toeing into Level 3 and beyond.  Thank you Russ for bringing this to my attention.  Alain

Friday, September 11, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="76" height="18"> Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving Capability' Falls Short of Its Name

M. Monticello.  Sept. 8, The features might be cutting edge, even cool, but we think buyers should be wary of shelling out $8,000 for what electric car company Tesla calls its Full Self-Driving Capability option. Tesla claims every new vehicle it builds includes all the hardware necessary to be fully autonomous, and the company says that through future over-the-air software updates, its cars should eventually be capable of driving themselves.  .... Anytime anyone uses words such as "Full" the one thing that you know that they are "Full" of is ....   "Full" is about a perception, not a fact.  Even the definition of "autonomous" has caveats (or should I say Full of caveats?).  What I interpret Elon to be selling is: sufficient hardware (sensors, memory, compute power and communications bandwidth) that, with more elegant software, may be able to do a way better job in safely driving a car.  What he has never said is that this hardware plus future software is going to be good enough for him to be held responsible if something bad happens when the car is being driven by that hardware and software combination.  That said, lets move on...

But for now, Full Self-Driving Capability, which includes features that can assist the driver with parking, changing lanes on the highway, and even coming to a complete halt at traffic lights and stop signs, remains a misnomer ...Yes!...   Below, we explain each feature in the suite, its intended use, and how each performed in our tests....  "  Read more Hmmmm.... See Video, Watch Zoom-Cast.  Help with parking....  no  one parks a good car into a tight parking place; else, that car's life as a god car rapidly disappears.  Stupid Summon is just stupid... your car is not your dog and certainly not in the WalMart parking lot.  (or should I have said WholePaycheck parking lot)  Here puppy, here puppy!

I really like what Consumer Reports has been doing on this front.  Trying to help consumers understant what is what.  Alain

Friday, September 11, 2020 

Cliff Winston, Aug. 25, "In a world of autonomous vehicles, much of the nation’s policing that is devoted to enforcing traffic safety laws, and the sometimes fatal altercations that result, would not exist. Policymakers should be motivated by this benefit, among many others, to expedite adoption of these vehicles. 

The United States has more than 800,000 state and local law enforcement officers. A large fraction of their work during a given year is spent pulling over some 20 million motorists who appear to be breaking a traffic law, controlling the flow of traffic following many of the 6 million accidents, and filling out endless forms. In addition, more than one officer per week is killed in a highway accident, accounting for nearly one-third of all police officer deaths in the line of duty.

Autonomous vehicles could virtually eliminate the need to use police resources to enforce traffic safety laws and more officers could concentrate on reducing the most serious criminal activity. The reason is that autonomous vehicles obey the speed limit, do not drive erratically, reach a valid final destination, and prevent their occupants from jeopardizing highway safety even if they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs...."  Read more Hmmmm....  Certainly "Autonomous" (aka Driverless) will obey all traffic regulations, but also Safe-driving (aka "Level 2") vehicles can obey most, if not "all", traffic regulations.  Many cars today can "read" speed limit signs (Tesla, Mercedes, Volvo, ...).  The problem is that these manufacturers don't help their customers obey this information.  They prefer to remain neutral,and often implicitly promote the violation of Speed Limits.  ( Google is no better with its Waze app that explicitly encourages its users to share information about the location of traffic enforcement individuals.) Maybe NHTSA should mandate their use, offer "cash for clunker (aka... the cars that don't have technology)" and impose high registration fees on the the non-conforming clunkers that remain in use.   Alain

Thursday, August 20, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="133" height="21">  Creating Standards in an Environment of Mistrust

Saturday, August 8, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  The Biggest Self-Driving Truck Startup Stumbles in Hitting High Goals

A. Efrati, July 22, "In just five years, TuSimple has become the biggest and most visible developer of self-driving trucks, raising more cash and putting more robotic big rigs on the road than any rival. High-profile customers including UPS have contracted to let TuSimple haul their cargo on the highway. Executives have forecast heady revenue and predicted that fully automated, driverless trucks are in sight.

Instead, TuSimple has fallen short of expectations, hampered by the same technological challenges that have afflicted other developers of self-driving vehicles. It had predicted several hundred million dollars of revenue by this year, but instead acknowledges revenue is minimal, according to the company’s financial projections reviewed by The Information. And it has fallen short of its timeline for removing human backup drivers, repeatedly..,"  Read more  Hmmm....  I simply don't understand why they have to be focusing on Driverless right from the beginning.  There is substantial RoI for Safe-driving Trucks... reduced expected liability (~$10/truck/year); improved comfort, quality of work place, reduced anxiety, ... of drivers yielding improved driver recruiting and retention;  improved on-time deliveries; ... continue to yield very attractive RoIs for just for Safe-driving truck technology, aka "Level 1/2". Why isn't tuSimple starting with this technology to build its advanced distribution network????  Alain

Thursday, July 16, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="133" height="21">   Car OEMs Driving Toward Relevance or Perdition

Thursday, July 9, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="125" height="35"> Fostering Economic Opportunity through Autonomous Vehicle Technology

July 8, "SAFE invites you to join us for the release of “Fostering Economic Opportunity through Autonomous Vehicle Technology”, our new paper that addresses how autonomous vehicles (AVs) and autonomous transit can redress imbalances for low-income communities, whose options are limited by inadequacies in today’s transportation.

To mark the launch of the paper, SAFE is holding a panel event on July 16 at 2:00pm ET. Alisyn Malek, SAFE, will be moderating a conversation between:

- Courtney Ehrlichman, CEO, Ehrlichman Group
- Dr. Richard Ezike, Senior Policy Associate, The Urban Institute
- Dr. Alain Kornhauser, Director of the Program in Transportation, Princeton University

SAFE would appreciate you joining us for what we expect will be an illuminating discussing on transportation’s role in limiting economic opportunities for millions of Americans, and how AVs and autonomous transit can be part of the solutio..."  Read more  Hmmm.... Watch today's PodCast and join in on July 16.  Alain

Thursday, July 2, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Announcing 2020-2021 Fellow-in-Residence Henry L. Greenidge, Esq.

Press release, June 24, "The McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University has announced transportation policy expert Henry L. Greenidge, Esq. as a 2020-2021 Fellow-in-Residence. ...

“As New York City and cities around the nation reopen amid COVID-19, there is an important conversation to be had about the intersection of transportation policy with poverty, race and class. In a field where there are too few thought leaders of color, Henry Greenidge’s industry expertise and distinguished track record of public service make him an invaluable addition to the NYU McSilver team,” says Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH, Executive Director of the institute.

“Race and transportation have been inextricably linked since the first slave ship crossed the Americas,” says Henry Greenidge. “As our nation continues to grapple with institutional racism, which serves as the fabric for every facet of the United States, the inequities of transportation policies must be at the center. I am humbled and excited to be working with the McSilver Institute to unpack how transportation, race, and poverty intersect.."  Read more  Hmmm....  In no uncertain terms, we must make sure that inequities and racism are not explicitly nor even implicitly baked into the SmartDrivingCar r/evolution.  We are still at the very beginning, so it shouldn't be hard nor expensive but so far it doesn't look good.  The emphasis has been on giving those that already have fantastic ways to get around one more way.  The focus hasn't been on the mobility disadvantaged and certainly not on the Black community.  Just look where the testing has been taking place and the folks that take part in the focus groups and those that are given rides.  Look at who designs and writes the software and the investors.  Sure, one can and should serve them, but if public policy is going to play a role, then it can't bake in more inequities.  Moreover, the private sector can also step up and realize that these systems can readily serve everyone.  The technology that makes SmartDrivingCars possible is not inherently racists.  It can respect and serve everyone.  Henry and others can help make sure that the designers and deployers of SmartDrivingCars don't explicitly nor implicitly bake in racism and bias.   Alain

Thursday, June 25, 2020 

  Motor Vehicle Fatality Rates Jump 36.6% in April Despite Quarantines, Says National Safety Council

Thursday, June 18, 2020 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces First Participants in New Automated Vehicle Initiative to Improve Safety, Testing, and Public Engagement 

Friday, June 12, 2020 

Thursday, June 4, 2020 

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="134" height="21">  Two-way Vehicle Connectivity is a Three-sided Coin That Everyone Wants to Own

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

Friday, April 24, 2020

  What Negative Oil Prices Mean and How the Impact Could Last

Friday, March 27, 2020 

  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

Saturday, February 15, 2020 

J. Hughes, Feb 2020, "Even more so than the nation, the broad fourstate, 35-county metropolitan region centered on New York City (figure 1) is becoming afflicted by a condition of demographic stagnation.  While the United States has been experiencing the lowest population growth rates since the Great Depression, the region has only recently (2016–2018) slipped into absolute population decline, spawned by domestic outmigration. The major counterforce forestalling a demographic catastrophe has been positive international migration.  Immigration has become the primary source of population growth—the demographic locomotive.  Without it, the region would have to bear fully the economic consequences of what has become a virtual domestic population hemorrhage—a vast exodus of regional residents moving to the rest of the country. This is just one dimension of endemic demographic change that has swept the post–Great Recession world....

The second new reset is a turnaround of the pattern evidenced in the 2010–2016 period, when population growth in the “urbs” surpassed that of the “burbs.” After dominating growth early in the decade (2010–2016), the core—the urban heart of the metropolitan region encompassing New York City and three adjacent counties in New Jersey—suddenly slipped into decline post-2016, causing the region as a whole to lose population. This is the latest transformation in what has become a transmillennial demographic roller coaster ride... "   Read more Hmmmm... Most interesting Demographic Dynamic.   A must read.   Alain
Friday, January 31, 2020 

 2020 Hyundai Sonata stars in Super Bowl ad all about 'Smaht Pahk'

S. Szymkowski, Jan 27,  "Hyundai is going all in on Boston accents and the 2020 Sonata for its Super Bowl advertisement. As is often the trend these days, the ad made its debut on Monday less than a week before the big game, but it's quite a clever spot...."  Read more Hmmmm...  This is as irresponsible of Hyundai as StupidSummon is for Tesla.  It may even be more irresponsible because Hyundai hasn't included the over-the-air-information system that allows them to monitor its use.  Having the car do stuff without an alert and attentive driver in the driver's seat implies liability on them (their system) if something bad happens.  Plus, squeezing a car into a parking place when the people can't get into the adjacent cars is not the smartest move unless you've also made the Hyundai key proof.  There will be retaliation.  Alain

Sunday, 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

G. Zetino, Nov. 25, ""It’s about to get easier for self-driving cars to drop off and pick up passengers in Chandler.   The city of Chandler, in partnership with Waymo, on Friday unveiled the nation’s first drop-off and pick-up zone for autonomous ride-hailing 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

Saturday, November 16, 2019

 PyTorch at Tesla

Friday, November 1, 2019

An Update on the Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems

Saturday, September 28, 2019

[log in to unmask]" class="" width="116" height="32">Public forum will explore possibility of transit on demand in Princeton

[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’

 [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)

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]" 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".  

"...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

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

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

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

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