2015-02-13

2015-02-13

to lead development of driverless car technology

The pathway to driverless cars: summary report and action plan

The pathway to driverless cars: a detailed review of regulations for automated vehicle technologies

The above review identifies issues that need to be addressed to enable automated vehicle technology testing on UK roads whilst maintaining high levels of road safety. It covers the best and safest ways to trial vehicles where a qualified individual is present who is capable of taking control of the car. It also looks further ahead, to the implications of potential use of fully autonomous vehicles. Read more Plus read speech Hmmm…

Looks like the UK wants to take the lead. Do we want to watch or help? Plenty for all of us to do. Alain

Sections on automation:

…Third, we must use technologies and better design approaches that will allow us to maximize the use of our old and new transportation assets. Doing so may involve adapting new innovations in vehicle safety and automation, improving federal, state, and local coordination, and adopting best practices in road design. p. iv

…Doing so may involve adapting new innovations in vehicle safety and automation, improving federal, state, and local coordination, and adopting best practices in road design. p5

…Fully and partially automated trucks, ships, and planes, and automatic freight-transfer facilities, may eventually transform the freight industry. Autonomous vehicles will not suddenly appear on our roads, but automated features that promise to improve the safety and efficiency of freight movement are already being introduced. On trucks, these include sensor systems that combine adaptive speed control, automatic braking, lane-departure warning systems, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.

By allowing sensors on one truck to communicate with sensors on another truck, partially automated trucks could soon travel more closely together to improve fuel efficiency, in a practice known as truck platooning or truck trains.

Automation is already affecting ports. At major container ports around the world, the process of transferring containers from ships to docks, trucks, and trains is becoming highly automated, reducing reliance on human operators. Major American container ports will need to invest in automation to compete.

Automation will change the nature of work in the freight industry. Advanced automation will increase productivity in the freight industry and change the skills needed to work in freight. Technologies that affect driving, vehicle maintenance, warehousing, and loading will alter professional development needs, and employment levels—and will affect the average income for transportation workers. Managing and maintaining automated ports and fleets will require advanced mechanical and data analysis jobs that demand higher skills and higher pay than traditional freight work. p69

…Automation has the potential to revolutionize how ports, trains, vessels, and trucks operate. p76 Supporting research into automation technologies. p78

…Robotics and automation research is poised to change much of how transportation functions.

The advent of automated ground vehicles can change the way transportation agencies perform operations and maintenance, and deploy fleets and utility vehicles. p92

…Automation will have a potentially transformative impact across all transportation modes, increasing productivity, improving safety, and enhancing the capacity of existing infrastructure. It may also have a profound impact on the transportation workforce, changing the skills required to manage, operate, and maintain transportation vehicles and systems. The applications and effects of automation and other technological advances on the transportation system are described in further detail below. p 93

…Marine automation is increasing efficiency and decreasing crew size. p9…

…Automated Vehicles

The automation of motor vehicles is likely, and has the potential to revolutionize ground transportation…These policy options are explored in further depth in the conclusion of this report. p101->110 Excellent list of references follow

…Advances in automation of vehicles will lead to continued improvements in safety and enhance the productivity of our transportation system while creating new challenges for planners, regulators and policymakers. p197

…Automated and Connected Vehicles

New technologies will have significant implications for the operations and use of roadways and motor vehicles, including changes to how we drive, how we choose where and whether or not to drive, and how we pay for using roadways. There is a significant opportunity for new technology to expand capacity and efficiency of our roads and other transportation systems, and to also expand the travel options available to us, while also allowing transportation agencies to collect user fees that accurately reflect the cost of the service provided while ensuring the privacy of individuals. Automation, connected vehicles and advancing automotive technologies offers some of the most potentially transformative changes, enhancing safety through obstacle detection systems, and potentially expanding capacity on roads by enabling vehicles to travel more closely together. p206->209

…Driverless vehicles, meanwhile, will improve the productivity of bus transit and potentially allow for the expansion of bus routes. p220

…Encourage automation in ports and on ships that increase efficiency and create jobs for highly skilled workers. -262

…Vehicle automation has progressed incrementally, but because a comprehensive regulatory framework was never established for them, fully automated vehicles are not permitted on public roadways. Only a patchwork of local, regional, and commercial standards and applications exists, yielding a number of technological and operational incompatibilities. p277

…Congestion can also be reduced by reducing the actual amount of roadway needed by drivers. This can take several forms. First, smaller vehicles require less space for parking. Second, an increase in ridesharing would increase the number of passengers per car, reducing the number of cars on the road. Third, just as with airplanes, better technologies, leading to full automation, could make it possible for vehicles to follow one another more closely, without compromising safety. p289

Read more Hmmm… Looks as if the Secretary of the US DoT has discovered automation and is indeed moving beyond connected. Fantastic! Alain

Drone Taxis Will Spark Uber’s Kodak Moment

Chunk Mui 2/6/15 “The CEO of a large insurance company once confided to me that the toughest innovation challenge he faced was that “Every time we try to innovate, the agents turn around and kick us in the nuts.”

The dance between Uber and Google GOOGL +1.51% around Drone Taxis reminds me of that conversation. It might well make strategic sense for Google GOOGL +1.51% to distance itself from Uber. Imagine how Uber’s drivers will react if and when Uber attempts the transition to driverless cars…. Read more Absolutely. Plus the cost of entry will be so low for anyone else that wants to skirt charter regulations that they’ll have competitors everywhere. Alain

Self-driving trucks tested on Dutch highway

Feb 10, 2015 by Taneli Savela “…Swedish heavy truck manufacturer Scania held the first partially autonomous self-driving truck tests on Dutch public roads Monday. During the test, Scania trucks drove themselves in a convoy.

The trucks departed from Scania factories and carried the test out on A28 motorway in a partnership with Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN). The test demonstrated linked driving, in which the lorries are within a fixed distance from each other and linked to other lorries in a way that when the first truck brakes, the others brake simultaneously….” Read more Hmmm Note “partially autonomous” and just platooning but OK, it’s a start. I’m not a big fan of platooning… Applicable to a limited portion of distance traveled, and even then requires high penetration rates across fleets (rare that two trucks from same company are sent along same route at same time). All for marginal fuel savings and potentially very negative public perception. Only good news is that it is relatively easy to do. So have a ball! Alain

Senator Questions Whether Smart Cars Are a Dumb Idea

Stephanie Mlot, Feb. 9, 2015 “Without the right security in place, smart cars might be a dumb idea, according to a Massachusetts senator. A new report from Sen. Ed Markey finds that major auto makers have not yet adequately addressed the possibility of hackers breaching connected cars. …” Read more Hmmm

Well, of course, but… Maybe electronic connectivity should also be minimized and certainly should not be “mission critical”. Connectivity should be largely in the domain of travelTainment and analog to the occupants. The car’s sensors should be vehicle centric so as to minimize the number of hacking targets. There is really no downside on making everything as vehicle-centric as possible. Any advantages of supervisory or centralized control and management of automated cars don’t emerge, if they exist at all, until the penetration rate is extremely high, which won’t happen any time soon. Alain

This simulator wants to solve a big problem with self-driving cars: you

Nick Summers Feb 12 “…The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) is researching this problem as part of its new, government-funded driverless car project. With a simulator called DigiCar, which attempts to recreate the driving experience and record passenger behaviour, it can analyse how people react to autonomous systems when they have to retake control on the road…. Read more

Update On:

Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Half (Jan–Jun) of 2014

DOT HS 812 093 Jan 2014. “A statistical projection of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2014 shows that an estimated 14,950 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This represents a decrease of about 2.2 percent…” Read more Hmmm… Good news! However, fatalities have been essentially flat for the last 3 years even though the crash worthiness of the road vehicle fleet must have improved substantially. Benefits of crash worthiness may have plateaued. Further improvements may have to rest on crash avoidance. Alain

Some other thoughts that deserve your time:

A Seamstress Who Handed Off to the N.F.L. for 48 Years

KEN BELSON JAN. 21, 2015 ADA, Ohio — “The first day Jane Helser went to work sewing footballs at the Wilson Sporting Goods factory in town, Lyndon Johnson was building his Great Society, Johnny Unitas was tossing passes for the Colts, and Apollo 11 was three years from landing on the moon…” Read more Be sure to look at video :-) A fundamental argument against automation. Thank you, Jane for a great career! We should all be so dedicated, happy and proud of our life’s work. Alain

Singapore Restaurant Uses Autonomous Drone Waiters

Feb 11 “…Flying back and forth from the kitchen to a drop-off area, the robots were created to take the brunt work out of having to haul dishes in and out….” Read more

Calendar of Upcoming Events:

Autonomous/Connected Vehicle Summit Concord Hilton, Concord CA March 31, 2015

Call for Papers

http://www.driverlesstransportation.com/event/automated-vehicles-symposium-2015

Job Postings

Recent Versions of:

Germany’s A9 autobahn to become test track for self-driving cars

Tony Borroz, Jan. 27, 2015 “Germany’s Minister of Transport has announced a project that will see a section of the A9 autobahn that connects Berlin and Munich set it up for autonomous vehicle testing.

Hanging digital bells and whistles on the A9 will include infrastructure provisions for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, as well as liberating a chunk of the 700 MHz radio spectrum so the test cars can talk back and forth. The project is expected to get underway later this year….” Read more This is interesting. Alain January 29, 2015

Jan 25 “…US Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced the addition of two automatic emergency braking systems to the recommended list of safety features under the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP)…

Emergency braking systems are slowly becoming the norm in safety evaluations. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety now requires it for a model to earn a Top Safety Pick + rating, and the tech is a must to score five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test.

Be sure to read the included Foxx’s Press Release:

“PRESS RELEASE January 22, 2015, WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to add two cutting-edge automatic emergency braking systems to the recommended advanced safety features included under its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) – the latest step in a half-century of safety innovations that have saved more than 600,000 lives, according to new research NHTSA released today….” Read more Hmmm… this is really good. Especially if the “plan” is actually implemented and if it is extended to buses and trucks. Alain January 22, 2015

State-wide aTaxi Service

Serving New Jersey’s Personal Mobility Needs with the Casual Sharing of autonomousTaxis (aTaxis): Land Use, Personal Travel Demand, Casual Ride-sharing Potential, Fleet Size Requirements and Empty aTaxi Management. Orf 467F14 Student Reports for each of New Jersey’s counties.

Even though these are unedited student reports they contain substantial information and perspectives on the opportunities and challenges for aTaxis to adequately serve the majority of New Jersey’s mobility needs. While there are significant causal ride sharing opportunities during peak hours in peak directions, sufficient to eliminate congestion, and aTaxis can substantially increase the utilization (by a multiple of 5) of NJ Transit’s rail system by providing efficient and high quality “last mile” mobility to/from rail stations, it is unlikely that average vehicle occupancy (AVO = personTripMiles/aTaxiMiles) for all trips, all day could reach a level of 2.0. Moreover, that is before one accounts for empty aTaxi repositioning that enables the sharing of aTaxis. These reports are the first that begin to address the empty aTaxis problem. It is non-trivial especially if one wishes to have multiple sized aTaxis so as to have the size of the serving aTaxi more closely match the number of shared rides that are being served. The spatial-temporal imbalances of the shared-ride demand seem to impose a great deal of empty repositioning.

It may well turn out that having only four passenger aTaxis may be better than having a fleet consisting of 2 and 6 passenger aTaxis. The reduction in empty repositioning of a uniform fleet of aTaxis may well compensate for the extra energy consumed by a larger aTaxi when a smaller two passenger aTaxi could have done the job and the foregoing of some shared riding when two four passenger aTaxis need to be used because a single 6 passenger aTaxis was not available to serve the six travelers. Alain January 4, 2015

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 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