2015-08-09
August 10, 2015
Self-Driving Cars Could Destroy Fine-Based City Government. What’s the Downside?
S. Shackford, July 15 “One of the propelling concepts behind self-driving cars isn’t just innovation for the sake of innovation, leading us to our sci-fi Jetsons future. If successfully implemented, it will make ground travel safer, …Local governments have become increasingly dependent on human screw-ups as a way to raise money. Speeding tickets. DUI citations. Parking violations. Those are all big money-makers for municipalities that could very well go away under a regime of self-driving cars….On top of that, if the theory that self-driving cars will lead people to own fewer cars holds up, revenue from registration fees will drop as well…. Read more Hmmm… No downside here! These have to be one of the most regressive tax systems, just behind lotteries and gambling. Governments deserve it, but will save because they will need way fewer police who now waste way too much of their time enforcing traffic laws. Police have much better things to do. Wins all around; No Downside! Alain
Mobileye offers alternative route to Google’s driverless future
July 15 “…Aviram said he doesn’t see Google’s more expensive prototype as a practical rival. Mobileye is already making money with systems that lay the stepping stones toward a driverless future. The company’s revenue – derived mostly from driver-assistance technology – is forecast to grow 53 percent this year to $220 million, according to the average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Seven years from now, the majority of Mobileye’s revenue will come from semi-autonomous and autonomous cars, Aviram says….” Read more Also, August 8:
Mobileye posts Q2 gains on surging demand for automated driving technology
Hmmm…. Safety may finally sell! :-) Alain
Self-Driving Car Manufacturer Google Auto, Revealed
August 7, “Tech giant Google has been running its subsidiary company called Google Auto LLC to fully develop its fleet of self-driving cars in the near future, according to documents obtained by The Guardian.
Google Auto was established in 2011 when Google replaced its self-driving Toyotas (Prius models) with Lexus SUVs, The Verge reported via The Guardian. In the documents presented, Google Auto serves as the official manufacturer of the company’s 23 self-driving Lexus cars. Significantly, this list includes those autonomous cars that were involved in recently publicized accidents. Google Auto was also used to apply for each car’s vehicle identification number or VIN, The Verge restated. Read more
Among the States, Self-Driving Cars Have Ignited a Gold Rush
Aug 6 “Whether it is fuel savings, safer commutes or freed-up time behind the wheel, motorists have many reasons to embrace self-driving cars. But another group is just as eager to see these vehicles on the road: politicians.
Lawmakers from California, Texas and Virginia are wooing the autonomous-car industry, along with the jobs and tax revenue that come with it….The prize: a piece of the estimated $20 billion automakers and other companies will spend globally on development over the next five years, according to an analysis by Gartner…” Read more
Nokia Sells Its HERE Mapping Unit for $3.1 Billion
Aug. 5 “Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has finally agreed to sell its HERE mapping business to a consortium of German automakers, including BMW, Daimler, and Audi for an enterprise value of 2.8 billion euros ($3.07 billion). The deal is expected to help automakers extend their reach into connected cars without the help of U.S. tech giants. Read more Hmmm… Hard to see why computer-vision and radar-centric car companies want to be in the digital map business. High-precision earth-centered digital maps require an un-jamable, always available “GPS” system in order for them to be the primary lane-keeping/collision-avoidance system (You must know precisely where you are if you’re going to rely on precise data on where you should or should not be). Else, you are relegated to being an unreliable backup to a vehicle-centered sensing system (such as cameras, radars & humans) that monitor activity relative to the vehicle itself (rather than the center of the earth). It is infinitely easier for me to determine that I am about 3 feet behind a stop line by measuring the distance between us directly rather than subtracting two earth-centered position vectors; one for the stop line and one for me. (I only have the vaguest of notions of where I am relative to the center of the earth, yet I’ve been able to not bump into too many things. And those that I’ve bumped into, high-precision Here would have been of no help.) Isn’t obvious which is going to win. I don’t get it. Maybe this should be another C’mon Man! Alain
Some other thoughts that deserve your
The Uber-ization of Activism
E. Walker, Aug 6 “The nasty battle between Uber and the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio over New York City’s proposed cap on livery vehicles has ended, at least for now, with the city and the ride-hailing giant agreeing to postpone a decision pending a “traffic study.” There’s no doubt who won, though. The mayor underestimated his opponent and was forced to retreat…leveraging the power of its app to prompt a populist social-media assault, all in support of a $50 billion corporation..” Read more Hmmm… If there is one thing that Uber has done extremely well, it is their App. In my view, it is the poster child for how an App should interface with a mobile user. This feature is simply one of many. No wonder Uber has such a high valuation. It is able to crowd-source political power as well, if not better, than anyone. Alain
Oddly Addictive Game Shows That You Stink at Driving
A. Davies, Aug. 3 “Some benefits of self-driving cars are easy to imagine: Without the ability to get distracted, angry, drunk, or sleepy, they’ll make fewer mistakes than human drivers and save lives. Once we let go of the wheel, we can use our time in the car to do other things, like catch up on work or hone your Snapchat game. There’s another, less obvious upside to giving up control: A drop in congestion.
In an attempt to explain that to the ignorant, Peter Cardwell-Gardner and Mark Backler created Error-Prone (play with it),
a simple, somewhat goofy game that gives players control of 26 cars driving in a circle, each marked with a different letter. Without human intervention, the cars drive at the same speed, with the same distance between each, and all is well. You can take over any car by pressing the corresponding key, and then assume responsibility for driving at the correct speed, without rear-ending the car in front of you, or slowing down those behind…” Read more Also see Hmmm… Have fun! Alain
Tiny Drones That Navigate with Insect Eyes
M. Orcutt Aug 3 “A tiny artificial eye inspired by the vision systems of insects could help small flying drones navigate their surroundings well enough to avoid collisions while buzzing around in confined, cluttered spaces—a key step in making these small autonomous flying vehicles practical…” Read more Hmmm… Application to cars driving down Nassau Street???? Also see Alain
Episodes 170: Children of the Magenta (Automation Paradox, pt.1)
Jume 23, 2015 “On the evening of May 31, 2009, 216 passengers, three pilots, and nine flight attendants boarded an Airbus 330 in Rio de Janeiro. This flight, Air France 447, …” Read more
Episodes 171: JohnnyCab (Automation Paradox, pt. 2)
June 30, 2015 “In 1956, General Motors hosted a car expo called “Motorama.” As with all car expos, Motorama was a chance to show off concept cars and other kinds of …” Read more Hmmm….Very interesting! Alain
Detecting & Locating GPS Jamming
J. Coffed, et al 2015 “The Global Positioning System (GPS) has become a ubiquitous service supporting many critical infrastructures including intelligence and law enforcement missions, transportation, financial applications, civil safety response and Department of Defense capabilities. The GPS signal is susceptible to service outages due to intentional and unintentional jamming. Recognizing this threat, Exelis set out with the objective to develop technology that identifies and locates jamming sources.
This technology provides actionable intelligence, enabling authorities to locate and mitigate the sources of interference thereby assuring safety, efficiency, and revenue. Our methodology includes combining sensors and proprietary software to enable geolocation of interference sources. The resultant data is available in the form of pin mapping of interference allowing the jamming source to be seen through an easy to use web enabled graphical user interface.” Read more Hmmmm…. Issues similar to hacking. Very interesting! Alain
Recompiled Old News:
Peterbilt introduces ‘stepping stone to autonomous driving’
J. Carson, May 29, 2015 “Peterbilt showcased its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) during a Technology Showcase Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. The system is a street capable GPS autopilot that Bill Kahn, principal engineer for Peterbilt, says is accurate to within 5 centimeters. “It’s the stepping stone to autonomous driving,” he says.
The truck uses a sophisticated camera system to guide and center itself within the lane, but the software is also capable of learning a route when such markers are absent. While the truck can adjust its own speed, detect objects in its path and navigate itself toward its destination, Kahn says the outfitted Model 579 test unit – which would be classified as a Level 3 autonomous vehicle – is far from an autonomous truck. Read more See video Hmmm…Much more interesting than platooning. I need to get a progress report on who is trying it and their feedback. Alain
Volvo Buses introduces automatic brake technology
Oct 9, 2014 “Volvo Buses reinforces its safety position by introducing a forward collision warning and emergency braking system. The technology automatically applies full brakes to the bus if a collision with a vehicle in front is imminent and the driver doesn’t react to the initial warning. The solution becomes available on Volvo coaches in 2015…. “ Read more Hmmm… Has any US Transit company bought any of these so-equipped buses? Alain
Assessing the Business Case for Integrated Collision Avoidance Systems on Transit Buses
T. Dunn Aug. 2007 “…This study used the National Transit Database and crash data from 6 U.S. transit operators. The data show that there is an average of 1.5 collisions per transit bus and related annual costs of over $4,000. Of the technologies evaluated, only side object detection systems showed the potential to be cost effective. In general, transit agencies are receptive to in-vehicle safety devices when there is evidence of their effectiveness. Several vendors currently offer products while others are awaiting commitments from the U.S. DOT or coordinated transit industry interest before developing their products. It is recommended that the U.S. DOT pursue operational tests of the side object detection system and other stronger-performing systems in order to validate the findings of this study….” Read more Hmmm… A very detailed study that focused only on warning systems and assumed that they would not be very effective at avoiding collisions. Once that unvalidated assumption is made, the conclusion necessarily follows. Today, that assumption needs to be revisited and either validated or refuted. Alain
Researchers showcase automated bus that uses magnets to steer through city streets
Sept 8, 2008 “The thought of a bus moving along city streets while its driver has both hands off the wheel is alarming. But a special bus introduced today (Friday, Sept. 5), steered not by a driver, but by a magnetic guidance system developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, performed with remarkable precision. Read more Hmmm… Technology left over from AHS didn’t make it transit either. While magnets are inexpensive, they are useful only to those that have the magnet reader. Good paint is likely cheaper and usable by people as well as image processing systems. Alain
Tracking & Hacking: Security & Privacy Gaps Put American Drivers at Risk
Ed Markey, Feb 2015 “…The proliferation of these technologies raises concerns about the ability of hackers to gain access and control to the essential functions and features of those cars and for others to utilize information on drivers’ habits for commercial purposes without the drivers’ knowledge or consent….” Read more
The thought of a bus moving along city streets while its driver has both hands off the wheel is alarming. But a special bus introduced today (Friday, Sept. 5), steered not by a driver, but by a magnetic guidance system developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, performed with remarkable precision.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2008-09-showcase-automated-bus-magnets-city.html#jCp
Ride-sharing forces automakers to rethink how they sell
J. Hirsch July 11, 2015 “For at least 22 hours a day most cars sit parked, sucking up their owners’ money while waiting to be driven. For most people, it’s one of their most underutilized — but most expensive — assets.
Now, some companies are devising ways to help people profit from their vehicles. Startups like RelayRides and Getaround help people rent out their cars during down time. Uber, Lyft and Sidecar connect car owners with people willing to pay for a ride. The rapid growth of these startups is transforming transportation — making it easier than ever before to get around without owning a car — and forcing automakers to devise new strategies to lure prospective buyers. … Read more Hmmm… good quick summary car-sharing, irrespective of the totally misleading title This is about car-sharing, not ride-sharing! There is an enormous difference! Car-sharing is only about vehicle utilization. Ride-sharing does beyond vehicle utilization to infrastructure utilization, energy consumption, environmental impact and mobility to those that can’t drive. In comparison, car-sharing is boring! Alain
Firms Back $10 Million Testing Ground for Self-Driving Vehicles
M Ramsey July 19 “ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Toyota Motor Corp. and a clutch of other companies are backing a $10 million testing ground at the University of Michigan for self-driving vehicles, an investment that could boost Detroit’s ability to compete in the auto industry’s emerging tech war.
The 32-acre facility, dubbed Mcity and opening Monday, will give the auto industry a hub that can be used by anyone researching autonomous vehicles. In addition to being one of the few open-source test centers of its kind anywhere, it is also one of the few situated in a cold climate that could present challenges to self-driving cars. “There is nothing else like it in the world,” said Peter Sweatman, director of the university’s Mobility Transformation Center, a public-private research institute that includes the testing area.. “Read more
Half-baked stuff that probably doesn’t deserve your time:
The TF-X
“TF-X™ is the practical realization of the dream of countless visions of the future; it is designed to be the flying car for all of us. In order to achieve this long-sought-after vision, Terrafugia will focus the TF-X™ program with clear goals that enhance the safety, simplicity, and convenience of personal transportation. We believe these goals are achievable today….”Read more Hmmm… Photoshop!!! Virtual Dream!! Don’t get too excited, yet. Alain
C’mon Man! (These folks didn’t get/read the memo)
University of Michigan to test 3D-printed autonomous cars
Scott Collie, July 10, “As 3D printing techniques improve and the push towards autonomous cars grows stronger, it was only a matter of time before the two technologies were combined to create an autonomous 3D-printed car. That’s exactly what Local Motors has done, putting together an autonomous car to be tested by the boffins at University of Michigan as part of a 12 month trial…” Dont read more Hmmm.. Thank you Scott for giving me something for this section. Truly C’Mon Man! Alain
Trying to Win the Public’s Trust With Autonomous Cars, at 120 M.P.H.
July 16, “Markus Hoffmann, an engineer at Audi, prepared himself for a high-speed run around the Sonoma Raceway here in Northern California. But instead of grabbing the steering wheel, he clutched a button he would release only if something went awry. The car, which he called Robby, was going to negotiate the two-and-a-half-mile Nascar track by itself — at 120 miles an hour….” Don’t read more Hmmm…. What a total waste. Proving that these work at 120 mph does no one, except for a couple of crazies on the autobahn, any good. Get them so that we can safely text @ 0 to 60 and billions will be thrilled. If we can do stuff while we’re getting there, we don’t need to get there fast. C’Mon Man! Alain
Calendar of Upcoming Events:
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http://www.automatedfl.com/our-efforts/florida-automated-vehicles-summit/
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Recent Versions of:
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July 31, 2015
Lipinski Continues Efforts to Keep Cars and Other Transportation Safe from Cyber Attacks in Wake of Fiat Chrysler Recall
July 28 “…These vulnerabilities pose great risks and the federal government must do more to help protect Americans from these risks.”
Late last year, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, originally introduced by Congressmen Lipinski, was signed into law. The Act increases the security of federal networks and information systems, improves the transfer of cybersecurity technologies to the marketplace, trains a cybersecurity workforce, and coordinates and prioritizes federal cybersecurity research and development efforts. Read more Hmmm…
Besides protecting we must also prosecute. There has to be bad consequences and not notoriety to those that do the nasty deed. Alain
July 27, 2015
Center for Automated Road Transportation Safety @ Fort Monmouth is Launched
Monday, July 20, 2015 – “After more than three (3) years of planning and several major meetings the substantive launch the Center for Automated Road Transportation Safety @ Fort Monmouth (CARTS@FM) occurred this week with the establishment of the not-for-profit. (501(c) (6)), New Jersey Corporation. The mission of this Center is to substantially improve safety on our existing conventional roadway infrastructure through the use of inexpensive automated collision avoidance systems installed on individual vehicles operating harmoniously with conventional vehicles throughout most, if not all, existing roadways. The scope of CARTS’s mission is across all modes that utilize the nation’s conventional road system: trucks, buses and cars. ..” Read more
July 13, 2015
Automatic Cars Or Distracted Drivers: We Need Automation Sooner, Not Later
D. Norman 6/4/15 “Imperfect automation, continually getting better? Or distracted drivers, continually getting worse? Choose.
I am fearful of the rapid rush toward full automation and have published numerous articles about the difficulties we will face because of the mismatch of the automation and human behavior. However, I am even more fearful of the rapid rise of distracting devices installed in automobiles, mounted on dashboards, worn on the wrist or body, or carried on seats, pockets, and laps of drivers…Each day seems to bring a new distraction. Heads-up displays (HUDs) that once were aids to minimizing distraction by making it easier for the driver to see navigation aids and speed, are now catching featuritis, that deadly disease which corrupts products….” Read more
Hmmm…. Yup!! Plus more comments from Don… “You might also want to add your traditional sarcasm saying “He saw the light!” or something because up to now, I have been arguing for caution (including my keynote at last years automated Vehicles conference (where I met you) – it’s about to be published in the proceedings. And I have a tech review article about to come out arguing the same caution (except I was just able to add a paragraph saying that all my words of caution are correct, but we still should switch to automation quickly).
The most dangerous part of automated vehicles is when they are partially automated: the better the automation, the less able a person is able to take corrective action. This is a point I have argued for since my early work on aviation safety some 20 years ago but has been part of the human factors literature since long before that (Bainbridge Hmmm…it would not be bad to re-read the 1983 paper.). So we have to skip this stage if at all possible. I have long argued that we should have either all or none. it is the mixture that is dangerous.
Basically, we have not solved the human element yet. By this I mean the pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboards, manually driven cars that will always be an issue. Moreover they will game the system: deliberately ignoring the cars under the assumption that they are programmed not to hit them, so they can do anything they want.
This assumption will both stall traffic, create roadblocks, and also occasionally prove to be false (automated cars cannot overcome the laws of physics).
Another complexity is aggression. Drivers have to be aggressive to get through traffic, but the amount and form of aggression is cultural. Pedestrians behave differently on college campuses (they think they own the place) versus the same people just a few miles away in cities, where they are more lawful. Korean drivers have to be aggressive to merge. And in China or Vietnam or India? Wow.
Milan drivers are the most lawful I have experienced recently, but even they lose their patience.” Alain
July 3, 2015
Rep. Lipinski Introduces Future Transportation Research and Innovation Act
I. Sancken 03/29/15, “Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) has introduced H.R. 2886, the Future Transportation Research and Innovation for Prosperity (TRIP) Act, to support innovative technologies that have the potential to fundamentally alter mobility in America and beyond.
“Surface transportation used to be rather staid and unimaginative, but today the very concept of ‘mobility’ is being reinvented through research, innovation, and entrepreneurship,” said Rep. Lipinski. “Rapidly advancing automation, connectivity, and information technologies are creating incredible opportunities for transportation innovation. We need to develop innovative ways to improve safety, ease congestion, improve personal mobility, and cut energy use…” Read more Hmmm… Excellent! Alain
June 29, 2015
MOSI debuts nation’s first driverless vehicle open to public
D. Dangerfield, 6/12/15 “Imagine a vehicle that can drive on its own. On Saturday, the public will be invited to take a ride in one. The new driverless Meridian Shuttle is part of an exhibit that opens at MOSI on Saturday. The vehicle allows up to eight people to ride around the first floor of the museum. Read more Hmmm… It is all about starting. Congratulations! Alain
June 10, 2015
NTSB Calls for Immediate Action on Collision Avoidance Systems for Vehicles; Cites Slow Progress as Major Safety Issue
6/8/15 “WASHINGTON – In a report released today, the National Transportation Safety Board outlined the life-saving benefits of currently available collision avoidance systems, and recommended that the technology become standard on all new passenger and commercial vehicles.
“You don’t pay extra for your seatbelt,” said Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “And you shouldn’t have to pay extra for technology that can help prevent a collision altogether.”… Read more Hmmm Yea!!!
Finally some semblance of sanity in Washington. Alain
May 29, 2015
John F. Nash Jr., Math Genius Defined by a ‘Beautiful Mind,’ Dies at 86
E. Goodmay, May 24 “…Dr. Nash and his wife, Alicia, 82, were in a taxi on the New Jersey Turnpike in Monroe Township around 4:30 p.m. when the driver lost control while veering from the left lane to the right and hit a guardrail and another car, Sgt. Gregory Williams of the New Jersey State Police said.
The couple were ejected from the cab and pronounced dead at the scene. The State Police said it appeared that they had not been wearing seatbelts…. Read more
See also: John, Alicia Nash Remembered After Fatal Crash
A Beautiful Mind Mathematician John Nash and His Wife Killed in N.J. Car Crash
Hmmm… So tragic!!!
What a crying shame!!! So preventable!!! We will miss them :-(
Unfortunately, the NYT and others tried but missed the fundamental point by following up with “Deaths of Math Genius John F. Nash Jr. and Wife Show Need to Use Seatbelts in Back, Experts Say “. Why do we so easily put up with crashes in the first place? It is as if it is OK to go around crashing, just put on a seat belt. Technology is available to avoid crashes, but there isn’t sufficient public policy focus on avoiding crashes to accelerate its adoption and enhancement.
The fundamental problem was that the taxi was not equipped with available automated stability control, lane keeping and collision avoidance systems. This was not an accident, it was a failed public safety policy that refuses to move beyond crash mitigation and its challenged “V2x” initiatives to embrace forthright automated crash avoidance.
Moreover, there is a failed Taxi regulatory structure that doesn’t even hint that taxis should have electronic stability control, automated lane keeping and collision avoidance. What is the purpose of taxi regulation, to keep “Ubers” out of business?
It is time for the nation’s transportation policy to focus intelligence/automation on the vehicle in support of the driver. Hopefully Congress will restructure the pending transportation legislation to focus automated vehicle technologies that actively assist drivers when they make driving mistakes. We are not perfect. We deserve a public safety policy that is more mindful of our imperfections. Policy that isn’t aimed at just warning and scolding us but actively takes over and does the right thing. We, not the infrastructure, are the cause of most of the highway carnage. It is the driver who needs help and our public policy should focus on delivering that help. Alain
May 21, 2015
The View from the Front Seat of the Google Self-Driving Car
Chris Urmson May 11, 2015 “After 1.7 million miles we’ve learned a lot — not just about our system but how humans drive, too. The most common accidents our cars are likely to experience in typical day to day street driving — light damage, no injuries — aren’t well understood because they’re not reported to police. Yet according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data, these incidents account for 55% of all crashes. It’s hard to know what’s really going on out on the streets unless you’re doing miles and miles of driving every day. And that’s exactly what we’ve been doing with our fleet of 20+ self-driving vehicles and team of safety drivers, who’ve driven 1.7 million miles (manually and autonomously combined). The cars have self-driven nearly a million of those miles, and we’re now averaging around 10,000 self-driven miles a week (a bit less than a typical American driver logs in a year), mostly on city streets. In the spirit of helping all of us be safer drivers, we wanted to share a few patterns we’ve seen. A lot of this won’t be a surprise, especially if you already know that driver error causes 94% of crashes.
If you spend enough time on the road, accidents will happen whether you’re in a car or a self-driving car. Over the 6 years since we started the project, we’ve been involved in 11 minor accidents (light damage, no injuries) during those 1.7 million miles of autonomous and manual driving with our safety drivers behind the wheel, and not once was the self-driving car the cause of the accident. … We’ll continue to drive thousands of miles so we can all better understand the all too common incidents that cause many of us to dislike day to day driving — and we’ll continue to work hard on developing a self-driving car that can shoulder this burden for us.” Read more
Hmmm…. MUST reading; HOWEVER, we need much more information to be released, not just a few examples. Please make your data public! We don’t need to know who but we desperately need to know what so that not only Google, but the rest of us can… “…work hard on developing…” SmartDrivingCars “….that can shoulder this burden for us.” Alain
the first road-legal big rig that can drive itself Sean O’Kane on May 6, 2015 “Last night, atop the Hoover Dam, Freightliner unveiled the Inspiration Truck — a partially autonomous big rig that could save lives, mitigate driver fatigue and stress, and reduce CO2 emissions up to 5 percent. Daimler, which owns Freightliner, says it has done more than 10,000 miles of testing on the truck. And now it’s street-legal, having been officially granted one of Nevada’s “Autonomous Vehicle” license plates (the first for a commercial truck) by Nevada governor Brian Sandoval at a media event before the unveiling.
The Inspiration Truck and Daimler’s underlying “Highway Pilot” technology isn’t meant to replace truck drivers completely. Instead, it’s meant to solve the problem of fatigued driving, something that plagues truck drivers who have to pull long shifts. According to Daimler, 90 percent of truck crashes result from driver error, and in one out of every eight of those cases driver fatigue plays a role…” Read more See also
Driving into the future: CCJ test drives Freightliner’s SuperTruck, self-driving Inspiration By Jack Robert and
Autonomous Freightliner Inspiration truck makes a splash at the Hoover Dam Alain
Hands-Free Cars Take Wheel, the Law Isn’t Stopping Them
Aaron M. Kessler 5/3/15 “Several automakers plan to release vehicles that enable some hands-free driving, but few states have laws to regulate them… Car manufacturers see hands-free technology as the natural next step in driving — an evolution that has gone from cruise control to anti-lock brakes to electronic stability control. None of those innovations required permission from regulators.
And legal experts say the automakers’ positions are most likely correct — that in the absence of specific laws against it, hands-free driving is legal. “Most states don’t expressly prohibit automated vehicles,” said Bryant Walker Smith, a professor of law and engineering at the University of South Carolina…” Read more Especially some of the comments. Alain
event on urban road transport automation in La Rochelle
Press Release April 2015 “…The week started with a meeting of urban transport stakeholders, notably city authorities and public transport representatives, to debate the role and expectations of cities regarding road transport automation. A number of key issues emerged from this meeting, including urban planning and design and business model: How can cities plan for road automation? How will road automation change the shape of our cities? What type of business model can be developed to deliver road passenger transport automation? … Read more Must see the video describing the La Rochelle CityMobil2 Demo. Alain
Guidelines for Safe On-Road Testing of SAE Level 3, 4, and 5 Prototype Automated Driving Systems (ADS)
March 26, 2015 “SAE International has created the first-ever safety guidelines for on-road testing of prototype models of fully automated vehicles.
J3018 Safety Guidelines for the On-Road testing of Prototype Models of Fully Automated Vehicles is an important document as more fully automated vehicles with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will be tested on public roads. Read more
Nissan to launch self-driving car in Japan in 2016, Ghosn says
Nissan Motor Co. will launch a car with self-driving technologies in Japan in 2016, the automaker’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn, announced in New York.
“There will be a Nissan product in Japan, which will carry autonomous drive,” Ghosn said at a news conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second day of the New York International Auto Show. “Obviously when you have this kind of technology, you want also the Japanese market to enjoy it as soon as possible.” Read more
Delphi Successfully Completes First Coast-to-Coast Automated Drive
04/04/15 “Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH) has completed the longest automated drive in North America, traveling from San Francisco to New York in the first coast-to-coast trip ever taken by an automated vehicle. Nearly 3,400 miles were covered with 99 percent of the drive in fully automated mode. Read more See also CBSNews Hmmm … I’d like to hear/read about the 1%. Alain
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