2015-09-08

September 08, 2015Newsletter archive →

M. Richtel & C Dougherty, Sept. 1 "Google, ... has run into an odd safety conundrum: humans.

Last month, as one of Google's self-driving cars approached a crosswalk, it did what it was supposed to do when it slowed to allow a pedestrian to cross, prompting its "safety driver" to apply the brakes. The pedestrian was fine, but not so much Google's car, which was hit from behind by a human-driven sedan.

Google's fleet of autonomous test cars is programmed to follow the letter of the law... Researchers in the fledgling field of autonomous vehicles say that one of the biggest challenges facing automated cars is blending them into a world in which humans don't behave by the book. "The real problem is that the car is too safe," said Donald Norman, director of the Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego, who studies autonomous vehicles. "They have to learn to be aggressive in the right amount, and the right amount depends on the culture."... Read more

N Hughes, Aug 21 "...Tesla senior engineer Jamie Carlson has joined Apple, his LinkedIn profile reveals, as discovered by Reuters. He was joined by at least six others with experience in developing self-driving cars, who are now working for the Cupertino, Calif., iPhone maker.

The news follows last week's revelation that Apple has held discussions with a former naval base in California to use its facilities. Other companies known to be working on self-driving cars have turned to the GoMentum station, though it remains unknown whether Apple's project is indeed a self-driving vehicle...." Read more

AP, Sept 4 "Toyota is investing $50 million with Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in hopes of gaining an edge in an accelerating race to phase out human drivers. The financial commitment announced Friday by the Japanese automaker will be made over the next five years at joint research centers located in Silicon Valley and another technology hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

Unlike some of its rivals in the technology and auto industries, Toyota believes the day when cars are able to drive entirely by themselves is unlikely to arrive within the next decade. The company instead is focusing its efforts on developing technology that can turn a car into the equivalent of an intelligent assistant that recognizes when it should take over the steering when a driver is distracted or automatically play a favorite song when it detects a driver is in a bad mood.... Read more

L. Young Sept 2, "Google's self-driving cars have only seen glimpses of the world outside of the hilly roads in the Bay Area surrounding its home garage Mountain View, Calif. But its latest prototypes will have a second base in Austin, Texas. This past Saturday, at the Thinkery science museum in Austin, Mayor Steve Adler announced that the fully self-driving, egg-shaped pod prototypes, or Koala cars, will arrive this week.

Six of the crossover Lexus RX450h SUV models have already been navigating Austin's roads since late June to create maps of the new testing environment...." Read more

S. Brachmann, July 29, "...We don't normally profile design patents but we came across a couple which highlight Google's involvement in vehicle development, especially for the autonomous vehicle which has been an area of innovation that has seen a lot of activity this year. U.S. Patent No. D734211, which is titled Autonomous Vehicle Exterior, protects the design of a compact car which somewhat resembles a Volkswagen Beetle with a nub that sticks out of the top of the vehicle which could perhaps contain digital communications equipment...." Read more

S. Brachmann, Aug 29, "...The development of robust vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems are needed for the incorporation of self-driving cars on our roads and GM has been working on its own V2V systems, as is evidenced by U.S. Patent No. 8954261, entitled Autonomous Vehicle Positioning System for Misbehavior Direction. ..." Read more

G. Quinn, Aug 30 "...Today we look overseas to take a look at the autonomous vehicle technologies being pioneered by foreign automakers.... These patents reflect practical systems helping autonomous vehicles identify roadway features, such as is described within U.S. Patent No. 8825371, entitled Navigation of On-Road Vehicle Based on Vertical Elements. ..." Read more

T. McIlroy, Aug 30. "Technology for Canberra's light rail line could be superseded by self-driving cars before construction is completed and trams could be more expensive and less effective in dealing with transport demand, new research has shown.

A study by Canberra-based computer programmer and large data expert Kent Fitch has found the development of a fleet of autonomous vehicles for Canberra could help address growing transport problems and provide a universal, on-demand and door-to-door service.

Mr Fitch, who led development of the National Library of Australia's landmark online archive Trove, simulated a self-driving car fleet in Canberra, using international planning and research from cities including Ann Arbor Michigan, New York and Lisbon. His extensive research found, based on conservative forecasts, a fleet of 23,000 cars could service 750,000 daily trips in Canberra at an cost of $3.80 for each average 13km peak hour journey...Read more

A Grant, Sept 4, "Do you see autonomous or driverless cars coming?

Definitely, given the research Google is doing and that most of the major commercial vehicle manufacturers have all started researching investments in autonomous vehicles.

It's not necessarily driverless cars. A lot of the effort is on the commercial vehicle side. One of the concepts being tested right now is where a truck, a commercial vehicle with a driver, is linked to a vehicle following it that doesn't have a driver.

From the turnpike's perspective, we need to understand the legalities of that and the risks. We need to make sure that the research organizations and the manufacturers understand our infrastructure.

Just hypothetically, do we need to use different types of paint? Do we need to install different types of sensors?..." Read more

D. Levinson & K Krizek 2015 "... What is certain in the future is that humans will maintain a desires. Whether for stuff, skills, smarts, esteem, solace, security, salvation, spirituality, space, scenery, love, or socializing, these desires and the way they are accessed change with times. What is paramount for the transport business is the ease by which these desires are achieved – a term that the industry referred to as "accessibility".

Most desires have historically been satisfied by moving stuff while traversing distances across physical geographies. People transport themselves to collect some things; they expect other things to come to them. They seek to access (or possess) things they care about…. Transport systems are being augmented with a range of information technologies…" Read more

A. Rubalcava, Aug 26 "...As an investor in public and private markets, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the future of transportation. At the moment, my portfolio includes a global auto OEM, two materials suppliers to automotive OEMs, and a semiconductor company that sells to auto OEMs. So this exercise is not theoretical for me — there are risks to be avoided, and opportunities to be captured, from understanding what's going to happen in the the world of transportation.

We should start with the points about the future of transportation that are nearly "consensus." I use that word with quotes, because each analyst, consultancy, and forecaster offers opinions that coalesce around these points, though they differ on questions of degree, timeline of adoption, and other details. With that said, the consensus:... Read more

M. Di Caro, Sept 4 " Nine months after Arlington County leaders unexpectedly canceled a long-planned streetcar line along Columbia Pike from Skyline Plaza in Fairfax County to Pentagon City, residents are beginning to ask when they might see Plan B. .. It has invited the backers of an alternative transportation system, known as JPods, to give a presentation to association members later this month...." Read more

Sept 6 "...Verizon's newly launched Hum is a small device that plugs into a vehicle's onboard diagnostic port. It collects and analyzes data on fuel economy, battery charge level, engine error codes, and more..." Read more

Sept 3, "...Based on information from the IHS Power Management Market Share and Supplier Analysis Report, demand for semiconductors by the automotive industry was particularly strong in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems. In the power management semiconductor market, power integrated circuits (ICs) grew much faster than traditional power discrete solutions. The automotive power IC category in 2015 is forecast to grow 8 percent, year over year, while discrete revenue is projected to remain flat during the same time period.... Read more

G. Quinn & S. Brachmann, Jan 14, 2015, "... The Thomson Reuters study also identifies autonomous driving as a "hot topic" area in the current state of global automotive innovation. No single company has been earning more than 25 patents a year in this field, as of yet, but there are certainly many players who are becoming more active in this area. GM had the greatest one-year increase between 2012 and 2013, nearly quadrupling the number of patents it was able to earn in this sector. The number of autonomous driving patents earned in 2013 by GM beat out Toyota, which had held the lead in those patents since at least 2009. Overall, the autonomous driving sector has increased from 73 patents in 2009 to 510 patents in 2013, an incredibly rapid pace of growth...." Read more and see nice figures

R. Read Sept 18, 2014 "Privacy is taking a real beating. Every few weeks, another group of hackers nicks our beloved credit card numbers, or a legion of crafty young gentlemen burrow into the online storage accounts of certain female celebrities, proving that iCloud isn't the Fort Knox of data we were promised.

And as if all that weren't bad enough, at least one technology company is working on a device that tells police not just if you're speeding, but also if you're texting behind the wheel...." Read more

N. Buhayar & P. Robinson, July 30 "...The auto insurance industry is having its Napster moment. Like record companies at the dawn of online music file sharing, Allstate, Geico, State Farm, and others are grappling with innovations that could put a huge dent in their revenue. As carmakers automate more aspects of driving, accidents will likely plunge and car owners will need less coverage. ... Insurers collected $195 billion in auto premiums from U.S. drivers last year. By 2030, consumers could pay 60 percent less." Read more and see also Will driverless cars be the death of the insurance industry?

J. Yosida Aug 10 "...Invented by 26-year old Japanese engineer Kuniaki Sato and his team at Cocoa Motors, the "WalkCar" is billed as the world's smallest electric car. The personal transporter, with a top speed of 6.2 miles per hour, can travel up to 7.4 miles after three hours of charging. At first glance, all I saw here was a glorified electric skateboard. What's the big deal? ...Read more

Sept 2, "Almost three-quarters (72%) of the UK population is anxious over the arrival of driverless cars with safety topping the concerns list..." Read more

November 4-6, 2015

http://www.automatedfl.com/our-efforts/florida-automated-vehicles-summit/

B Simpson, July 19, 2015 "The premise is promising. Develop and market a plug-and-play, forward-avoidance braking system for the heavy vehicle market that can be installed quickly, upgraded regularly, and even transferred from vehicle to vehicle if necessary.

The Autonobox System essentially is a second braking system for heavy-duty vehicles that addresses the long-standing problem of brakes that overheat after intense use like a panic-stop or sustained use while going downhill.... Read more

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

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

Monday, July 20, 2015 – "After more than three 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is 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 Autonomous Freightliner Inspiration truck makes a splash at the Hoover Dam Alain

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2015-09-08

Apple hires senior Tesla engineer as 'Project Titan' evidence mounts

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Lipinski Continues Efforts to Keep Cars and Other Transportation Safe from Cyber Attacks in Wake of Fiat Chrysler Recall