Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Thursday, April 27, 2023

176th edition of the 11th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter

May 2023 Issue of the Dispatcher

M. Sena, April 26, “I did some spring cleaning of my bookshelves. Before I chucked the ones I had picked out for removal, I leafed through them to be certain I was ready to part with them. Two are in the process of being re-read. One, The Accidental Century, was authored in 1965 by Michael Harrington. He was the founder of the Democratic Socialists of America. The book is a jewel. The second book, The Living End, was written by Roger Starr, a Democratic Realist, a life-long New Yorker, and an avid flyfisher. I have devoted a few pages of Dispatch Central to quotes from these two books.

Another book that has been on my shelves since 1997 is Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma. I found my way back to it as a reference for a book that I am co-authoring with Professor Alain L. Kornhauser titled Mobility for the Non-mobile. Christensen devoted a whole chapter to why the car companies were getting it all wrong with electric cars—in 1997! There are great lessons for why everyone is getting it all wrong with driverless cars, which is the theme of the lead article.

The moral of this story: Don’t be so quick to throw out old books; you never know when you are going to find them, read them, and appreciate what you didn’t get the first time around..….” Read more Hmmmm….. Another enjoyable issue with a very serious message. Alain

SmartDrivingCars ZoomCast 315 / PodCast 315 w/Michael Sena, Editor of The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, April 27, “There’s a new book on the way from Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and Michael Sena, publisher of The Dispatcher. Plus, Alain on what was learned from the SpaceX Starship launch, Cruise is now offering driverless transportation around the clock in San Francisco and more details on this spring’s Princeton Smart Driving Cars Summit.

  • 0:00 open
  • 0:49 Alain thoughts on his being there for the inaugural Starship launch and what was learned
  • 5:55 The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena on new book coming co-authored with Alain on Mobility for the Non-mobile and what will be coming at the May Smart Driving Cars Summit
  • 14:14 Alain experiences lack of mobility in Texas for the Starship launch.
  • 22:20 Changes coming after The Dispatcher reader poll
  • 26:50 New pollution guidelines from the EU and the EPA 40:30 Musings section of The Dispatcher has guest author this month
  • 42:30 Cruise self driving taxis now operating around the clock in San Francisco
  • 44:44 Cruise meanwhile had loss of 561 million dollars in last quarter
  • 48:00 Michael on evolution of buses
  • 56:35 More on the upcoming Princeton Smart Driving Cars Summit
  • 57:30 Motortrend reports BYD says self driving technology “basically impossible”.
  • 0:00 open
  • 1:00 Cruise recall
  • 11:00 Jalopnik report on Waymo problems with San Francisco fog
  • 15:00 Didi Robotaxis
  • 20:45 TWU opposing waiver for Waymo and Aurora
  • 24:12 EPA unveils new standards pushing EVs
  • 32:00 Tesla Daily
  • 32:43 Upcoming Princeton Smart Driving Cars Summit
  • 46:30 SpaceX readies Starship
  • 48:30 Musk launching new AI company
  • 0:00 open
  • 1:10 Helen Pan outlines status of Baidu’s autonomous mobility efforts in China
  • 3:50 Pan says Baidu Apollo has paying customers
  • 11:52 Alain asks how Baidu is operating the services
  • 21:07 What are hours of operation and where are vehicles able to operate
  • 28:14 Pan outlines advantages of autonomous mobility and the business model
  • 50:38 Helen on Apollo going Open Source with Apollo Open Platform
  • 55:00 Apollo’s hardware & software integration + OEM partnerships
  • 58:00 Who will operated the service?
  • 1:01:00 6th Annual Smart Driving Cars Summit is approaching
  • 1:03:20 Alain on object of summit
  • 0:00 open
  • 0:45 Future of Life Institute calls for pause in further development of AI
  • 27:00 EU Big 3 Countries want to freeze the ICE ban
  • 37:00 Mind your own business but know who your customer really is.. railroads, cars.. mobility
  • 1:04 upcoming Smart Driving Cars Summit
  • 1:04:30 Ford CEO says new electric truck will allow you to nap, use phone, on highways in good weather
  • 1:04:57 Bill Gates posts about going for a ride in a self-driving vehicle in the U.K.
  • 0:00 F. Fishkin, March 24, “Where does autonomous mobility go from here? Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin explore…plus Ford’s EV losses, SMART grants fail to fund autonomous mobility, Waymo, drones & more. open
  • 0:35 Princeton basketball
  • 1:25 More thoughts in aftermath of ITU 2023 Future Networked Car Symposium. Where does autonomous mobility go from here?
  • 29:26 SMART grants from DOT fail to fund autonomous mobility
  • 31:55 Ford’s EV losses
  • 32:57 Ford updates on BlueOval City mega site in West Tennessee
  • 34:46 Waymo takes on task of writing the safety case for Avs. Alain emphasizes that companies shouldn’t compete on safety
  • 39:25 The Street headline… Four reasons self driving cars, not drones, will deliver your packages.
  • 0:00 open
  • 0:53 Princeton sports!
  • 1:40 ITU Symposium
  • 4:35 Chat GPT
  • 6:00 Missy Cummings at ITU
  • 9:38 Safety systems not interconnected
  • 13:45 ITU Symposium takeaways
  • 30:40 UN regulations & autonomous vehicles Cruise and more
  • 40:29 National Disability Institute report
  • 45:11 Krogers and Gatik test autonomous trucks in Texas
  • 54:30 Baidu reported offering driverless rides in Beijing
  • 0:00 open
  • 0:40 GM Ultra Cruise Chief Engineer Jason Ditman introduction
  • 1:55 How did development go during Covid?
  • 4:32 Announcement that Ultra Cruise will first arrive on 2024 Cadillac Celestiq
  • 8:45 Alain comments on Super Cruise 9:50 How does Ultra Cruise availability figure into route planning
  • 13:40 Why is hands off is important and not feet off 16:45 If using intelligent cruise control… why does it disengage when brakes are tapped?
  • 25:29 System is separate from automated emergency braking… how do they talk to each other
  • 28:43 Response to Missy Cummings headlines that people using automated systems involved in crashes were speeding more often than people driving without automated systems engaged.
  • 33:24 GM Cruise says focused on cutting costs this year according to Reuters
  • 37:25 NHTSA opens probe, reportedly, into self certification of the test procedures at Zoox
  • 41:08 Embark winding down operations, laying off most employees
  • 44:41 Kudos to GM Ultra Cruise team
  • 49:24 Here comes Alain’s spring break
  • 0:00 open
  • 0:44 Waymo Driver performance report
  • 14:15 More layoffs at Waymo
  • 15:00 Tesla Investor Day- what we learned
  • 16:18 Adam Jonas at Morgan Stanley impressed with Tesla Investor Day
  • 23:05 Ford creates Latitude AI after demise of Argo AI
  • 29:40 Guidehouse Insights research report
  • 34:35 Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association seeks modernization of vehicle exemption process
  • 39:05 Diane Gutierrez Scaccetti to chair Transportation Research Board Executive Committee
  • 0:00 open
  • 1:00 Is it time we admitted the world will change: the de-industrial revolution has begun
  • 21:00 Impact on transportation, automakers
  • 28:40 Run flat tires.. from Michelin and more
  • 35:25 GM’s waits for NHTSA okay for deployment of Cruise Origin autonomous mobility
  • 46:00 Locomation denies reports of its demise
  • 47:08 The Insider report on Tesla… and upcoming master plan. Alain’s comments not what were reported.
  • 0:00 open
  • 1:00 Missy Cumming pushing for limits on autonomous tech
  • 9:30 hands free, feet free driving dangers
  • 15:00 Should tech be used to block speeding and reckless driving?
  • 32:00 Issues with intelligent cruise control
  • 40:30 Is the battle for cars that would forbid speeding winnable?
  • 44:00 Are vehicle safety systems not communicating with each other?
  • 50:00 Is the problem with vehicles identifying stationary objects being addressed?
  • 55:20 Zoox begins carrying passengers on public roads in vehicles without steering wheels
  • 57:17 Rob Mauer’s Tesla Daily
  • 58:30 Ken Pyle’s ViodiTV compiles autonomous round up from CES
  • 59:25 Brad Templeton launches Robocars podcast
  • 59:48 Alain will lead off MIT Mobility Forum series Friday
  • 0:00 open
  • 0:48 Active Driving Assistance Evaluation Report from Consumer Reports
  • 2:53 Ford’s BlueCruise ousts GM as top in ADAS
  • 10:33 What is the value of being able to drive hands free and pedal free
  • 16:40 Why doesn’t the technology prevent speeding and misbehavior
  • 21:08 Are consumers using the safety features..
  • 27:14 Pro active braking assist coming to more vehicles and is a great feature
  • 36:00 Should there be a light or mechanism that shows others whether cars are being controlled by human or automated system?
  • 43:43 Are there things that carmakers are really getting right or really getting wrong?
  • 51:00 Corvette on top in CR report on vehicle owner satisfaction
  • 52:43 Navya
  • 53:00 Axios reports autonomous passenger planes inching closer to takeoff
  • 54:00 a fight against sludge… from NY Times
  • 54:51 Mobileye post advocating simpler language for autonomy levels

  • 56:47 Waymo named Super Bowl officials autonomous technology partner”

  • SafeDrivingCars: Those in which the automated function are explicitly designed to not only substantially reduce driver misbehavior by constraining the performance characteristic such as incorporating speed governors that only permit excessive speeds in geofenced locations such as Watkins Glen International and stretches of the German Autobahn, but also automatically intervene to prevent crashes; thus, extending what is done today with anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control.

  • SelfDrivingCars: Those which allow the driver for some extended period of time to be “feet-off” the brake & throttle, delivering to the driver substantial comfort & convenience, but also “hands-off” the wheel for shorter periods of time providing a little more comfort & convenience. Absolutely required are “eyes & brain” focused the human task of driving, ready to intervene should the automated driver begin to fail.

  • DriverlessCars: Those which serve only passengers and/or goods from trip start, through finish. Luckily, the notion that individuals might own such vehicles for personal use and/or be able to “AirB&B” them for others to get from A to B is now realized by essentially everyone as exceedingly naïve. The Mercedes booth at this year’s CES showed no sign of its [Mercedes Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion LIVE PREMIERE CES 2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eftN0lwNk88). Yea!

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Friday, December 30, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Sunday, December 25, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Saturday, December 17, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Sunday, December 11, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Friday, December 2, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Sunday, November 27, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Saturday, November 19, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Monday, November 14, 2022

Click or tap if you trust this link.”>Sunday, November 6, 2022

Click “>Sunday, October 30, 2022

Hawkins, Oct. 27, “When Ford announced yesterday that it was pulling its support for Argo AI, the autonomous driving startup it had financed since 2017, it cited as one of its reasons a belief that driver-assist technology will have more near-term payoffs…..” Read more Hmmmm… I agree with Andrew, as I stated above. Alain

Click “>Sunday, October 23, 2022

Click or t”>Friday, October 14, 2022

or tap”>Saturday, October 08, 2022

Click or t”>Thursday, September 29, 2022

tap “>Saturday, September 10, 2022

Click “>Thursday September 1, 2022

or tap “>Sunday, August 28, 2022

tap “>Monday, August 22, 2022

Click or”>Saturday, August 6, 2022

tap “>Saturday July 30, 2022

tap “>Monday July 25, 2022

Click or t”>Saturday July 16, 2022

or tap”>Saturday June 11, 2022

Click “>Saturday June 18, 2022

  • These systems outrageously reduce crash probabilities, and/or

  • maybe some, but we’re probably not much luckier.

  • very few of the cars in use during that “10” month period had Level 2 capabilities, and/or

  • unfortunately, the VIN number doesn’t identify these cars and only Tesla announces how many sold (I may have missed the reportings)

  • very few of the drivers of those cars rarely engaged the Level 2 features, and/or

  • likely. Only Tesla releases data on the utilization of its level 2 features but does so only in aggregate terms that don’t allow for correction of sampling bias associated with engagement in “easy” driving conditions versus “challenging” driving conditions.

  • enormous under counting

  • likely, only Tesla has the opportunity to either “know all” or sample effectively because of their OtA monitoring of its vehicles. Everyone else has conveniently kept their heads in the sand. Mercedes didn’t report any; however, during that period I think my Intelligent Cruise Control and Lane Centering were engaged when I hit a deer. Mercedes must not have been watching me, I didn’t report it and I didn’t get the memo that informed me to do anything.

or tap”>Saturday June 11, 2022

or tap”>Saturday May 28, 2022

tap “>Sunday May 15, 2022

tap “>Saturday May 7, 2022

Click or tap “>Friday, April 30, 2022

Click or tap “>Saturday, April 23, 2022

Click or tap “>Thursday, April 15, 2022

  • those that don’t already have a stable full of their own personal mobility options.
  • those for which his aTaxi can substantially change their lives for the better.

or tap”>Thursday, March 31, 2022

PersonTripLength (90%tile): 10 miles

Cost:

or ta”>Friday, February 4, 2022

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