10.05-Invitation-020422

Why Self-Driving Isn’t a Race, It’s a Game

A. Roy, Jan 28, “People often ask me who is winning the self-driving car race: Is it Tesla? GM? Google? Nvidia? You guys at Argo? Some of the folks asking are investors. Some are looking for a job. All of them are trying to evaluate the state of the self-driving sector.

But all of them are using the wrong framing device.

If you want to predict a winner, you’ve got to know what kind of race is being run, or if it’s even a race at all. The first person to build a new kind of plane isn’t necessarily going to build a successful airline. They may not even survive in the plane-building business.

So why do people keep trying to call things races that aren’t really races? I get that simplifying complex things makes them easier to talk about, and it can generate traffic. But if something isn’t a race, then calling it a race makes it harder to understand, and that can have all sorts of negative consequences.

For example, Nokia thought they had won the cellphone race in late 2007. A lot of people did, and they all missed that Nokia wasn’t in a cellphone race, but actually in the bigger, longer, portable devices game….” Read more  Hmmmm… Read on… Fantastic article.  Also see our PodCast / ZoomCast.  Alain

  Welcome, Riders

K. Vogt, Feb. 1, “Today we are opening up our driverless cars in San Francisco to the public.

I’m still surprised I can even write those words — this moment really snuck up on me. I work on these cars every day, and I’ve seen every inch of progress. Just 3 months ago I took the first-ever fully driverless ride in a major US city, and it was incredible. When Sourdough arrived, with no one inside, and took me for a quiet ride through the streets of SF, it became clear to me that we’ve built something very special. Now it’s time for us to share it.

We’re opening a sign-up page on our site today so you can get a driverless ride soon — and free, for now! We’re starting with a small number of users and will ramp up as we make more cars available, so sign up now to lock in an early spot….”  Read more  Hmmmm… Kyle, Congratulations!!!!! Kirsten Korosec’s & Andrew Hawkin’s take. Alain

  Tesla recall: ‘Full Self-Driving’ software runs stop signs

T. Krisher, Feb. 1, “Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.

Documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators say that Tesla will disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update. The “rolling stop” feature allows vehicles to go through intersections with all-way stop signs at up to 5.6 miles per hour….

Alain Kornhauser, faculty chair of autonomous vehicle engineering at Princeton University, said the recall is an example of NHTSA is doing its job as the nation’s road safety watchdog. The recall “shows that they can be effective even if Tesla should have been more responsible in the first place,” he said….” Read more  Hmmmm… All good, even though, some say that rolling stops are actually good for the environment because of reduced energy use

So, if, and only if, Elon guarantees that he and Tesla will more than make whole/fix any damages incurred in crashes, involving “rolling stops” then rolling stops could continue.  But the “if, and only if” is a fundamental clause!  He nor Tesla are no where near taking responsibility for anything, let alone any liability consequences associated with rolling stops, 

So, for now, he has chosen the correct way forward and will make all Teslas come to a complete stop at all stop signs.

I also hope that he doesn’t empower the driver to game the system by pressing on the accelerator so as to over-ride the stopping process and enable the driver to roll through the stop sign.  If the driver does hit the accelerator, then the whole system should immediately turn off, just like intelligent cruise control turns off, if the driver hits the brake.  Here, it the driver hits the gas, then the whole system turns off and a voice might remind the driver… “you are on your own now and are responsible for all driving tasks. Alain

  We took a ‘self-driving’ Tesla for a spin in Boston. Here’s how it did.

P. Verma, Feb 3, “I will confess: Until this week, I’d never sat in a Tesla. So imagine my excitement on Wednesday, when I got invited to ride in one. For all the wrong reasons….”  Read more  Hmmmm…To borrow a quote from Bryant Walker Smith… If you are holding an umbrella that someone sold to you and just happened to call it a parachute, but the fine print of the owner’s manual clearly described the workings of an umbrella, why are you not testing  and reporting on how it is working as an umbrella?  You’re an intelligent guy.  Seems like a little sandbagging.

Plus, I’ve been behind human drivers who seem to stop in the middle of roads and drive into snow banks for no apparent reason.  Is this just more click-bait? Alain

  Tesla owners complain about ‘phantom braking.’ Federal safety regulator considers a probe

C.  Isidore, Feb. 5, “Federal safety regulators are mulling a probe after Tesla owners complained that their cars were stopping for no reason.

The issue may stem from Tesla’s automatic braking feature hitting the brakes when there is no need to do so. A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the agency “is aware of complaints received about forward collision avoidance and is reviewing them through our risk-based evaluation process.”
“If the data show that a risk may exist, NHTSA will act immediately,” the spokesperson said.
Although automatic braking features can help prevent accidents, they can also cause problems or even rear-end collisions if the system stops the car unnecessarily when falsely detecting an obstacle….”  Read more  Hmmmm…  One needs to be extremely careful here.  The SAE has “always” warned about phantom braking (aka “false positives”) and tended to side on being against it, “causing” designers to disregard objects detected on the road ahead until “1.6 seconds to collision”.  Or, what’s worse, totally disregarding them so as to not inadvertently hit the brakes. 

I seem to often suffer from this “false positives” syndrome because my wife often questions me as to “why did you hit the brakes”. 

Luckily, I recover quickly from my “senior moment” and end up just tapping the brakes and call it driving defensively/cautiously.  I certainly don’t let a false positive or my confusion make me come to a complete stop. 

Similarly, cars ahead of me seem to often have their brakes lights come on for short instances and I wonder… “why in the … did that jerk hit his brakes…”  

My point is that inadvertent taps of brakes are common in the unautomated world .  We shouldn’t be tailgating such that these occurrences lead to rear-end crashes.

My view is that AEB systems need to be mandated ASAP to be on all the time and NOT be turn-offable and that the SAE designers of these systems, including Tesla, need to “up their game now” so that “false positives” become much more rare; else the buying public will return them to the showrooms as lemons. 

IIHS is now grading these systemssytems and hasn’t found the need to have a grade above a Good.. which should be telling the SAE that it needs to really up its game.  Alain

Leveraging autonomy, batteries to shift freight from road to rail

A. Sporrer, Feb 2, “Bolstered by a $49.55 million series A funding round it completed in January, autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles company Parallel Systems aims to reduce emissions by making rail transportation more efficient and competitive and moving freight from roads to rails.

The Culver City, California-based company is testing an autonomous rail system that includes two battery-electric rail vehicles that can attach to different-sized intermodal containers and move containers individually or in a “platoon.”…” Read more  Hmmmm…  I continue to be of the opinion that they are missing the point.  The opportunity is not to form a long train/series of these things that in the end have no hope (my opinion) of being better (financially, environmentally, operationally), than the intermodal trains operated today. I’m also not a fan of platooning, certainly not .  The process of forming and un-forming platoons adds unnecessary complexity when in the end, each/most entity/ies has/ve to be able to lead as well as follow.  Recall…  for computer controlled things.. . if one can lead, it is way easier to follow….  If you can follow, you may well not be able to lead.

The opportunity is to be able to run economically and environmentally responsibly short (even 1 “car”) consists, demand-responsively, to/from/between many more locations thus substantially increasing rail’s share of the “truckload” market.  Now that would be something worth writing about!! (Maybe?) Alain

  Tesla releases new Full Self-Driving Beta software update (10.10) to remove ‘rolling stop,’ address some edge cases and more

F. Lambert, Feb. 2, “Now Tesla is releasing the new v10.10 of FSD Beta and it includes several improvements, including the ability for the vehicle to use an upcoming lane to try to avoid an object on the road if it is deemed safe.

This shows that Tesla is increasingly venturing into making sure that FSD can not only tackle regular driving maneuvers but that it is also prepared for some rare corner cases.

The 10.10 FSD beta update also rolls back the “rolling stop” feature as part of the NHTSA safety recall announced yesterday.

Here are the full release notes:….” Read more  Hmmmm…  Good.  Elon & Tesla are becoming more responsible.  Still a very long way to go.  Alain

  My Big Fat Self-Driving Road Trip

F.  Manjo, Frb. 4, “I was not prepared to fall head over heels for the Cadillac Escalade. It’s not my kind of car — or, at least, it’s not supposed to be. The Escalade is one of the largest, heaviest, least efficient and most expensive S.U.V.s on the road. It is also among the most unembarrassedly decadent — the ride of choice for Manhattan bigwigs and reality-TV housewives, the sort of car that rappers, movie stars and professional athletes buy for their mothers after making it big.

 

Aesthetically, financially, environmentally and perhaps even morally, everything about the Escalade felt poorly suited to someone like myself, the bookish newspaper columnist who frequently rails against the cultural dominance of cars and so on.  … Why did you write this column and why did the NT Times print it??  …   So bad!!!! …  …

… But if you’re going to be on one road for a long while, you can turn it on and, for the most part, do nothing while it keeps chugging…. NOT true… You MUST pay attention and be alert to take over.  You are responsible for its safe operation.  Didn’t you read the manual???   So bad!!! Are you trying to be Elon????   … 

 

I’d chosen to keep driving in potentially dangerous conditions.… If this is what the system did to you, NHTSA needs to recall all of them immediately.  This is crazy stuff.  Doesn’t the NY Times review what is printed n its Opinion pages.  Read more  Hmmmm…  And people complain about what Elon Tweets.  This is a NY Times Opinion page encouraging.  Totally irresponsible! 

 

More Hmmmm… Did the NY Times change the Title of this article???  Who complained??? Alain

  This is not a self-driving car

A. Hawkins, Feb. 4, “…  Case in point: New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo recently wrote about his experiences driving the 2021 Cadillac Escalade with Super Cruise. And while Manjoo has done a lot to advance ideas around car-free living and public transportation, he, unfortunately, fell into the common trap of conflating advanced driver-assist features with autonomous vehicles….”  Read more  Hmmmm… Thank you Andrew.   The NY Times needs to look to you to write Opinion pages.  The previous post is just bad.  Was it written by GM’s add agency? Was a placement paid? Alain

  Seat Belt Statistics: 2022

B. Breiner, Jan. 31, “One in 10 people don’t wear seat belts in the front seat, despite estimates that seat belts saved 14,955 lives in the last year for which complete data was available. Drivers and passengers who don’t buckle up account for 43% of deaths in traffic accidents.

ValuePenguin compiled a full picture of seat belts statistics in the U.S. This roundup highlights the dangers of not wearing a seat belt, who’s complying with seat belt laws and much more….  Read more  Hmmmm… Interesting. Alain

  May Mobility Cozies With Toyota, Targets Japan After Latest Funding

D. Buss, Jan. 31, “May Mobility sees itself as a combination of team manager and pit crew for Toyota in the growing global jockeying for position in an autonomous-vehicle derby that has gotten more active again as the pandemic has waned.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based startup just announced the initial closing of its Series C round of funding with an investment of $83 million led by Mirai Creation Fund II, with Toyota Ventures among several investors returning to boost their stakes in May. Total funding has been $166 million….”  Read more  Hmmmm… Interesting. Alain

  Self-drifting Toyota Supra gets sideways to avoid on-track obstacles

C. Weiss, Feb 2, “… Who says that autonomous cars won’t be as thrilling as regular cars? As you can see in the video, Toyota’s driver flips the autonomous switch on the Supra test car, takes his hands off the wheel and lets the car get to work throwing itself into tire-screeching drifts around corners and planted obstacles. Toyota Research Institute (TRI) made the successful autonomous drift run on the West track at California’s Thunderhill Raceway….” Read more  Hmmmm…  This is so insulting to the SmartDrivingCar community.  Doesn’t Toyota have anything better to waste its time on.  C’mon Toyota! 

Do something that has some chance of benefiting society and isn’t so exclusively focused on misbehaving 1%of1%ers.  Toyota should be totally embarrassed that it had its “research institute” develop this click-bait.  Shame on you.  Alain      

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Making it Happen:  Trenton MOVES… a Framework for the Deployment of Safe, Equitable, Affordable, Sustainable, High-quality Mobility

A. Kornhauser, Jan 11 TRB, ” A slide deck describing the framework fora phased deployment of high-quality mobility in Trenton New Jersey that is envisioned to have wherewithall to naturally scale beyond Trenton in a fashion that can be replicated the more than 100 communities across the US that have similar demographic and travel demand characteristics.”  Read more  Hmmmm… Go through the slides in presentation mode to take advantage of the animations.  See… SmartDrivingCars  Zoom-Cast Episode 251 /A. Kornhauser: Making it Happen:  Trenton MOVES… a Framework for…  Alain

Saturday, December 11, 2021

  Press Release… REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: Trenton MOVES

P, Murphy, Dec. 6, “The New Jersey Department of Transportation (“NJDOT”), an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, has issued a Request for Expression of Interest (“RFEI”) to identify experienced firms capable of introducing a safe, equitable, affordable, sustainable, and efficient on-demand
automated vehicle mobility systems in and beyond Trenton, NJ.

NJDOT is soliciting written Expression of interest from qualified and experienced vendors to gain valuable insight from the private industry regarding the goals set forth in the Trenton MOVES (Mobility & Opportunity: Vehicles Equity System) potential project and assess its viability.

If and when NJDOT elects to proceed with a potential project, NJDOT may issue formal Request(s) for Qualifications or Proposals.
The RFEI is available to be downloaded at https://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/procurement/ems/current.shtm…

1. Potential Project Summary
The State of New Jersey is exploring a transportation equity and sustainable energy opportunity within the capital city of Trenton. Trenton MOVES (Mobility & Opportunity: Vehicles Equity System) will be led by the Governor’s Office, NJ Department of Transportation, the City of Trenton, and one or more institutions of higher education.

Trenton MOVES is exploring the feasibility of deploying ~100 AVs to serve as lowcapacity (4-8 passenger), high-quality (on-demand, kiosk-to-kiosk) shuttles to serve the 90,000 residents who live in the City of Trenton’s 8 square miles. The effort will be phased in over two (2) years and will serve the population of New Jersey’s capital city, a population where 70% of households have one or fewer cars. A proof-of-concept Operational Design
Domain (“ODD”) is described in Section 3.1. …  “Read more  Hmmmm… How fantastic is this!  Plus, Governor Phil Murphy’s Press Release announcing Trenton MOVES.  All substance!!  I also presented relevant testimony to NJ’s Assembly Transportation Committee Thursday morning.  An ALK trifecta this week😁.  The “welcoming environment” now exists in New Jersey.  We are no longer tied for last with Mississippi as was reported at last week’s Florida AV Conference. We’re looking like “first in the world” focused on substantive deployment to real customers.  We’ve built the “Field of Dreams” and awaiting the technology “to come”.  We only need one!  Or we’ll assemble volunteers (and not hostages as Mike Tomlin would put it) and build a winning team ourselves.😎 Alain

  Orf 467F21 Symposium: Evolutionary Deployment of a State-wide aTaxis system starting from MyVillage

J. Woll’22, A. Lau’23, M. Wasserman’22, C. Larson’22, J. Sun’23, Dec. 10, “Slides of: Making It Happen”: Hawaii – California – Washington – Florida – Connecticut” Read more  Hmmmm…  Video of Presentation, Slides, Report Format.  I couldn’t be more proud. Also check out Pod-Cast Episode 246, Zoom-Cast Episode 246 w/Jack Woll’22, Jason Sun’232, and Connor Larson’22😁  Alain

Trenton MOVES: Community Engagement Update

J. He, Dec. 15, “Vignettes from Community Engagement “focus groups”.  Read more  Hmmmm… Why Trenton!  Alain

5th Annual SmartDrivingCars Summit:  Deployment of Safe, Equitable Affordable, Sustainable,  High Quality Mobility throughout New Jersey

Date Change:   Thursday evening, May 5, through Saturday May 7, 2022.  Live in Trenton, New Jersey. 

“Everything” was going well wrt the 5th Summit Nov 18->20; however…

Time is very short, we must focus on the election and the realities of where we remain with Covid really put cold water on some aspects of our vision for November.

Consequently. I’ve become convinced that it is very much better, that we take our time and reschedule for the first week on May 2022 rather than rush for what isn’t as good as could be. 

By May we will have received responses to our Trenton MOVES RfEI   for “Equitable … Mobility in Trenton”.  We will thus have a better idea on “Who”,  from the “What & How” communities, “Want & Can” Deploy “Safe, Equitable … Mobility” starting in Trenton with real expectations of scaling throughout New Jersey.

In May the 5th Summit can better achieve its fundamental purpose by allowing all of us in New Jersey to better learn from others around the world  the “Whats & Hows” and have the possible “Whos” get a better appreciation of the “Equitable … Mobility” desires of Trentonians and other New Jersians. 

Rescheduling the Summit to be between the RfI and the RfP steps of our Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Deployment Process, will better enable our Community Engagement initiative to shape our ultimate  deployment.  We’ll thus deliver even better mobility equitably and best improve quality-of-life in Trenton and throughout New Jersey.   

Please pencil into your calendar the new dates of  May 5 (Thursday evening) though May 7 (Trenton Mobility Festival Saturday). 😎   Please let me know if these dates work for you.

Sorry about the delay, but many will be relieved by this change. Plus, early May is really nice in NJ.😁

Alain