2015-01-04

2015-01-04

All the best for 2015
January 4, 2015

A lot is happening this month.

See Calendar of Upcoming Events Below

New York Bus Driver Arrested After Fatally Striking Pedestrian

MARC SANTORA DEC. 24, 2014 “A Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus driver was arrested on Wednesday after his bus struck and killed a 78-year-old man on Tuesday night in Brooklyn. The driver, Reginald Prescott, was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian and violation of highway law, the police said.

Mr. Prescott, 57, was driving a B44 bus eastbound on Farragut Road in East Flatbush when he made a turn onto New York Avenue around 6 p.m., according to the police. As he was making the turn, Jean Bonne-Annee was crossing the street and was struck by the bus, the police said…” Read more

Hmmm… Tragic for everyone. Such accidents would be largely avoidable if transit buses were equipped with pedestrian detection and automated collision avoidance systems that are almost at hand. These systems are close to being ready for “prime time”. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA, whose main mission is safety!) could substantially accelerate the effectiveness and adoption of such technology by focusing some of its research budget on this technology.
Alain

CES Preview: Self-Driving Cars, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Integration to Debut

by Michael Walker 1/2/2015 “Confirming the relentless convergence of cars and technology, a record 10 auto manufacturers will be on hand at the 2015 International CES show in Las Vegas next week. Mercedes-Benz chief Dieter Zetsche and Ford CEO Mark Fields are scheduled to deliver two of the show’s five keynote addresses.

What compelled Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Mazda, Toyota and Volkswagen to ship hundreds of cars to Las Vegas, construct elaborate sets and field flashy presentations at a convention dedicated to consumer and entertainment technologies — only a week prior to the Detroit Auto Show, the industry’s most important annual trade event?

The answer lies in the fact that car buyers — particularly millennials — are no longer as susceptible to the industry’s traditional marketing tropes of styling, horsepower and handling. Instead, they see the car as an extension of their digital lives, and increasingly demand that it mesh seamlessly with their smart phones, tablets and other personal tech. A Compass Intelligence survey of smart phone-owning drivers released in December concluded that “the primary needs and wants out of technology … is the enhancement of the driving experience….” Read more

Hmmm… The real “enhancement of the driving experience” is though the provision of choice between the ultimate driving experience and the ultimate riding experience afforded by “Level 3” and above SmartDrivingCars, and by recognizing that Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto enhance the accident propensity of the driving experience. They compete with the road ahead for the attention of the driver. :-( Alain

NCHRP RFP

Impacts of Connected Vehicles and Automated Vehicles on State and Local Transportation Agencies–Task-Order Support Posted Date: 12/11/2014 “… Connected vehicles and automated vehicles are conceptually different approaches, though some of the challenges they present to transportation agencies will be similar. These two technologies may converge or diverge from each other based largely on developments in the private sector (e.g., vehicle manufacturers, third-party vendors). While some actors envision a completely autonomous vehicle that does not require communication with other entities, others see synergies between the two technologies. This project will address both approaches (including the combination) under the umbrella term of CV/AV. The individual tasks that compose the project will clearly identify which technologies are to be addressed….” Read more

Why is it CV/AV not AV/CV??? Shouldn’t AV at least get it alphabetically??? See also “…Report to the CV Pooled Fund Study”. Alain

Some other thoughts that deserve your time:

Cities Target Elevated Levels of Pedestrian Deaths

Andrew Tangel Dec. 19, 2014 “After a variety of safety efforts have successfully reduced deaths from car crashes, transportation officials around the country are now focusing on another traffic-related problem: a general increase in pedestrian deaths since 2009.

The U.S. saw 4,735 pedestrian deaths in 2013, a slight decline from the previous year but still 15% higher than in 2009, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data released Friday. That compares with the overall 32,719 traffic deaths the U.S. saw in 2013, a 3.1% decline from the previous year and continuing a long-term downward trend. …” Read more

Hmmm… Focusing on the commercialization of “pedestrian detection and automated collision avoidance technology” would help. Alain

Half-baked stuff that probably doesn’t deserve your time:

More Teasers Released For Mercedes Concept Debuting At 2015 CES

Viknesh Vijayenthiran “…The automaker is hoping the concept’s introduction will drive the social discourse on mobility and the design of the urban environment ahead—primarily in the area of autonomous cars. Along with the teaser shots, Mercedes said, “The future will be bolder than you’ve ever imagined.”…” Read more Only the title is the teaser. Nothing there. Alain

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

Editorial California isn’t ready for driverless cars

“…There are larger questions, too, about how driverless cars will affect the transportation landscape. The vehicles could allow greater mobility for the elderly and the disabled, who may not drive or have access to mass transit. But they may also have a big impact on how California spends its transportation dollars. There might be renewed demand to build more road lanes to accommodate driverless cars, and less demand to build public transit….” Read more

Hmmm … How is it that the LA Times Editorial Board is clueless that driverless cars only make sense as “the Dream come true” to public transit. Once the cost of labor is removed from the delivery of mobility, transit entities, both public and private, will be able to offer inexpensive on demand mobility to everyone. Share the ride, the expense is halved. Share it with two others, the expense is shared among 3. Consequently, transit will be able to command a decisive price advantage while providing a competitive level-of-service. Relief of the burden of driving is “icing on the cake”. That is a real business case for driverless transit SmartDrivingCars. Alain C’mon Man

The One Mistake Google Keeps Making

Gene Marks 12/29/14 “… It’s Google assuming that someday someone will actually buy a driverless car. Not a hobbyist or an eccentric millionaire. But a customer who actually needs or desires a driverless car. Someone who, given the choice of spending $30K on a car that they fully control and can go anywhere they want at any speed they want – or another, likely more expensive buggy that will only travel on certain routes at slower speeds and with less options. Hmm, which car would you buy?

For driverless cars to work, to decrease congestion, increase safety, reduce lawsuits and lower our insurance premiums everyone would have to be driving one. Every road and car in the country would have to accommodate some sort of technology or sensor…” Read more (actually, don’t) ….So wrong in so many ways. Gene has completely mixed up Connected Vehicles with Automated Vehicles. Also, “you” won’t buy either. Some fleet owner will buy the Google Cars and you’ll consume the mobility services that she fashions for you. Alain

The conundrum of connected cars

TED KRITSONIS Dec. 26 2014 “Auto makers have embraced in-car infotainment as a way to offer a connected experience for drivers, but without any standardization, these systems have struggled to resonate…” Read more

Hmmm… Their conundrum is not standardization. They command attention away from the road ahead and are thus a safety menace without “Level 3” or better automation. Alain

Calendar of Upcoming Events:

January 6 - 9, 2015
Las Vegas, NV
Daimler Chairman Keynote on Evening of January 5
“Level 4” Mercedes “Research Car” @ Daimler Booth on January 6 ONLY

ATrA Technix 2015

Advanced Transit Workshop
U of Maryland
Near College Park Metro Station

Saturday, January 10, 2015

January 11-15 Sessions of Note:

    1. Sunday, 9:00am- Noon Workshop 132 Findings from 2014 AV Symposium

  2. Sunday 9:00AM- 5:00PM Workshop 146D Design Principles for Highly Automated Driving: Practical Lessons from Research

  3. Monday 1:30PM- 3:15PM Session 329 The Future Is Here: Autonomous Vehicles and Us

4a. Monday 3:45PM- 5:30PM Session 412 National Road Vehicle Automation R&D Programs from Around the World

4b. Monday 3:45PM- 5:30PM SubComm Meeting Emerging Ridesharing Solution

  1. Monday 7:30PM- 9:30PM Poster Session 470 Current Projects and New Developments in Vehicle-Highway Automation. (Half Baked, Alain)

  2. Tuesday 8:00AM- 9:45AM Session 504 Progress Toward Resolving Institutional Challenges to Deployment of Automated Driving Systems

  3. Tuesday 10:15AM- Noon Session 564 Alternative Deployment Strategies for Using Vehicle Automation to Produce Transportation Benefits

8a. Tuesday 1:30PM- 3:15PM Session 624 Hazards, Crashes, and Automated Driving

8b. Tuesday 1:30PM- 3:15PM Session 621 Pathways to Automated Transit and Shared Mobility (Weird..Session description doesn’t match the speakers. Hopefully the description is wrong; slated speakers are excellent. Alain)

8c. Tuesday 2:00PM- 3:45PM Session 657 Automated Transit Systems

  1. Tuesday 5:30PM- 7:30PM+ Princeton TRB Banquet Tony Chen’s Seafood Restaurant

  2. Tuesday 7:30PM- 9:30PM Session 75 Automated Transit System Experiences Abroad

  3. Wednesday 10:15AM- 12:00PM Session 818 The Vision and Potential Impacts of Automated Transit Systems in the United States

12a. Wednesday 2:30PM- 4:00PM Comm Meeting Automated Transit Systems Committee

12b. Wednesday 2:30PM- 4:00PM SubComm Meeting Human Factors in Road Vehicle Automation

  1. Thursday 8:00AM- 12:00PM SubComm Meeting Challenges and Opportunities of Road Vehicle Automation

2015 Princeton University TRB Banquet

Tony Chen’s Seafood Restaurant RSVP @ http://doodle.com/rhgt5sqp65sgtgmh

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Invitation ONLY

Automated Vehicle Founder’s Meeting @ Fort Monmouth
Bringing together the Region’s Decision Makers to Cooperatively Accelerate the Research, Certification and Commercialization of SmartDrivingCars Trucks & Buses

Save the date (Invitation only)

Tuesday, January 27, 2015 @ Ft. Monmouth, NJ

Call for Papers

Recent Versions of:

December 21, 2014

Daimler Chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche to Deliver Keynote Address at 2015 CES

Arlington, VA – 10/06/2014 – “The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today announced that Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, will deliver a 2015 International CES® keynote address focused on the latest advances in autonomous vehicle technology. Owned and produced by CEA, the 2015 CES, the global gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, will run January 6-9, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dr. Zetsche will discuss autonomous vehicle technology and its impact on society, mobility and environment, as well as raise ideas and questions for the future. In addition to his insights on the future of Daimler Intelligence Drive, Dr. Zetsche’s 2015 CES keynote will feature the world-debut of a new car concept. His address is slated for 8 PM Monday, January 5 at the Chelsea Theater within the Cosmopolitan.” Read more Daimler will have a Level 4 Research Car at their booth on January 6 ONLY! Alain

December 12, 2014

2014 Florida Automated Vehicle Summit

Florida DOT is blazing the trail for the integration of automated vehicles into existing traffic operations and leading by example with pilot projects, research projects, and open dialogue to ensure that Florida serves as a fertile proving ground for these exciting new technologies. Agenda Register

November 22, 2014

A Road Test of Alternative Fuel Visions

Hydrogen Cars Join Electric Models in Showrooms

By KENNETH CHANG NOV. 18, 2014 “… Hydrogen fuel cells readily scale up, even to trucks and buses.

A kilogram of hydrogen contains as much chemical energy as a gallon of gasoline, but fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engines, so fuel-cell cars like the Mirai have a 300-mile range, comparable to present-day gasoline cars. Filling up at a hydrogen pump takes about the same few minutes as filling a tank of gas, instead of hours plugged in to an outlet. Even Tesla’s high-powered superchargers need 20 minutes to give a Model S half a charge….

…Not surprisingly, the strategy has its critics, particularly from competing Tesla. Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of Tesla, mocks fuel cells as “fool cells” that will lose in the marketplace to battery electric cars like his. Battery electrics are more efficient than fuel cells and are cheaper to operate. And there are currently many more places to plug in than places to top off a tank of hydrogen….” Read more Looked into this in the 70’s. Is the “Hydrogen Economy” emerging from its “40 year” gestation in the desert”. :-) Alain

November 14, 2014

Tesla’s Autonomous Car Claims More Hype Than Reality

Maryanna Saenko “…Given the bold claims, it is likely that in 2015 Tesla will be backpedaling from its CEO’s comments. Perhaps Tesla has a partnership in the works and its ADAS features are being developed by outside developers, but nonetheless, Tesla has notoriously been delayed in product deployments. Still, marketing and PR are a true strength of Tesla, and conversations in our automotive network indicate frustration that Tesla is viewed as so advanced while in reality numerous OEMS have technologies equal to or more advanced than what Tesla is claiming. Clients should expect Tesla to continue to drive the conversation, but expect the rapid innovation in ADAS and autonomous vehicles to progress quickly – and much of it outside of Tesla’s walls.” Read more Hmmmm.. Amen! Alain

November 7, 2014

Fujitsu Laboratories develops lower-cost millimeter-wave radar for automobiles

Oct 08, Technology/Engineering “Fujitsu Laboratories today announced that it has produced a transceiver chip for millimeter-wave radar in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) implementation, which is a semiconductor process that enables costs to be reduced, while at the same time successfully boosting the short-range detection performance of the transceiver….To make the driving experience safer and more pleasant, cars are increasingly being equipped with technologies that can detect obstacles nearby and even control the brakes or accelerator in response. Technologies used for obstacle-detection include millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR, and stereoscopic cameras. Compared to LiDAR and stereoscopic cameras, which both use the visible wavelengths of light, millimeter-wave radar is relatively unaffected by rain, fog, and reflections, giving it an important role to play as an onboard sensor. The value that sensors such as these bring to cars creates an impetus to develop technologies for implementing these sensors at lower costs. …”. Read more Hmmm… Very interesting. Do reads the whole article. Very promising, but not really available until 2018.

October 31, 2014

N.J. Senate panel paves way for self-driving cars

Matt Friedman Oct 27 “…The bill (S734), which was approved by the state Senate Transportation Committee 5-0, would require the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to establish a program to allow people to obtain endorsements on their driver’s licenses to operate and test “autonomous vehicles,” which aren’t on the consumer market yet but have been under research and development by tech companies and institutions for years.

“This legislation sends a strong message to innovators and job creators that New Jersey is not afraid of being the home to new thinking and the way of the future,” Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union), said in a statement. “…this legislation is essential to attract and retain new jobs, innovation and entrepreneurship in New Jersey, as driverless vehicle efforts here continue to progress.”..” Read more…and my lead testimony, that of Michael Scrudato of Munich Re, Newsworks and CBS.com video interview.

Progress! (only negative testimony came from Honda which was so bad it ended up helping. C’mon Honda!) Alain

October 22, 2014

Request for Comment on Automotive Electronic Control Systems Safety and Security

Volume 79, Number 194 (Tuesday, October 7, 2014); FR Doc No: 2014-23805: ACTION: Request for comments:

SUMMARY: This notice presents the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s research program on vehicle electronics and our progress on examining the need for safety standards with regard to electronic systems in passenger motor vehicles. The agency undertook this examination pursuant to the requirements of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) Division C, Title I, Subtitle D, Section 31402, Subsection (a). In addition, and in accordance with MAP-21, we are seeking comment (through this document) on various components of our examination of the need for safety standards in this area. As MAP-21 also requires this agency to report to Congress on our findings pursuant to this examination, we intend to submit a report to Congress based in part on our findings from this examination and public comments received in response to this document.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that Docket Management receives them no later than December 8, 2014. Read more

October 10, 2014

Inaugural Automated Vehicle Summit @ Fort Monmouth

Press release. Oct 9, 2014 Princeton, NJ “New Jersey’s first summit meeting on creation of a center for research, certification, and commercialization of automated vehicle technology took place on October 3 at former Army base Fort Monmouth in Oceanport. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together stakeholders with a vested interest and the wherewithal to place New Jersey at the forefront of research into potentially life-saving technology.

More than 60 invited participants to the summit included representatives of: the insurance industry, automakers, wireless communications industry, motor vehicle regulators, public transit industry, and universities. State Senators Jennifer Beck, Thomas H. Kean, Jr., Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr., and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Jr. represented New Jersey’s legislative bodies…” Read more Hmmm..Progress! Alain

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