2015-10-02
02, 2015
“60 Minutes” test-rides Mercedes-Benz self-driving car
Oct 2 “As Google’s driverless cars have logged more than a million miles in the past six years, the rest of the auto industry is racing to keep up. Computer scientist Ralf Herrtwich hits the road with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker to demonstrate Mercedes-Benz’s most advanced self-driving prototype. Watch the full story Sunday on “60 Minutes.” Watch video and watch 60 minutes on Sunday Oct 4. This is really becoming mainstream. Congratulations Ralf! Alain
THE AUTONOMOUS CAR 2015: RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE RE/INSURANCE INDUSTRY
Sept 24, “The momentum around self-driving vehicles is astonishing. Rarely does a day go by without another announcement about a new technological breakthrough or a new joint venture. Traditional automotive manufacturers are teaming up with high tech companies; innovative start-ups are seeking and finding investors. The landscape is shifting before our eyes…” Presentations Hmmm… Great set session and PDFs of some very good presentation, See especially Brad Templeton’s Alain
DeepDriving: Learning Affordance for Direct Perception in Autonomous Driving
C. Chen Sept 25 “We propose a direct perception based approach to estimate the affordance for driving. We map an input image to a small number of key perception indicators that directly relate to the affordance of a road/traffic state for driving. Our representation provides a set of compact yet complete descriptions of the scene to enable a simple controller to drive autonomously. To demonstrate this, we train a deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) using 12 hours of human driving in a video game and show that our model can work well to drive a car in a very diverse set of virtual environments. Finally, we also train another CNN for car distance estimation on the KITTI dataset, results show that the direct perception approach can generalize well to real driving images…”
Paper, video, code, and datasets are available at the project website: http://deepdriving.cs.princeton.edu/ Alain
Autoliv joins the Drive Me project
Sept 30 “Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE:ALV) and (STO:ALIVSDB), the worldwide leader in automotive safety systems, today announced it has joined the Drive Me project. The project is a unique large-scale autonomous driving project joining industry, government and academia towards securing future mobility solutions. As part of the project, 100 self-driving cars will be released on public roads in Gothenburg, Sweden under everyday driving conditions. …” Read more
CityMobil2 at ITS World Congress
Oct 6 11:00-12:30 Session: Certification of automated road vehicles for urban public transport
This session will present views and recommendations for handling certification for automated road transport systems (as opposite to “autonomous car”). CityMobil2 project coordinator, Mr Adriano Alessandrini (University of Rome) will provide an overview on the topic referring to CityMobil2 project.
CityMobil2 showcase: Don’t miss the opportunity to test automated vehicles in the framework of a four-day long CityMobil2 showcase. Four electric EasyMile EZ10 vehicles will carry you from the Palais des Congrès to the Hall des expositions.
First driverless pods to travel public roads arrive in the Netherlands
M. Murgia, Sep 21 “The first self-driving electric shuttle for use on public roads has been delivered to the Netherlands. The “WEpod” will take passengers between the two towns of Wageningen and Ede in the province of Gelderland from November.
Autonomous public transportation does exist in other parts of the world, such as the ParkShuttle bus in Rotterdam, the Heathrow Pod in London and the LUTZ Pathfinder in Milton Keynes, which run on special single trajectory lanes, or in pedestrianised areas. The WEpods in Gelderland will drive on regular roads amongst public traffic. Read more
Autonomous driving features in electric vehicles can save $1,800 in battery costs
L. Mearian, Sept 15 “Increasingly available autonomous driving features that boost efficiency can add up to $1,800 in battery cost savings for long-range electric vehicles (EV), a new report finds. Read more
Some other thoughts that deserve your
How Volkswagen Got Away With Diesel Deception
G. Gates, Sept 28 “…The software sensed when the car was being tested and then activated equipment that reduced emissions, United States officials said. But the software turned the equipment off during regular driving, increasing emissions far above legal limits, possibly to save fuel or to improve the car’s torque and acceleration…. Read more See Also: The Study That Brought Down Volkswagen and How Volkswagen Got Busted for Skirting EPA Diesel Emissions Standards
Amazon Flex: The retailer’s Uber-like effort to bring you packages
S. Halzack Sept 29, “Amazon.com said Tuesday that it is building its own network of delivery couriers through a program called Amazon Flex— the latest attempt by the e-commerce giant to bring something close to instant gratification to the process of online shopping. With Amazon Flex, the company says, drivers can make from $18 to $25 an hour ferrying packages to customers that were ordered as part of its one-hour Prime Now delivery service. …“Read more Hmmm… Just think with an autonomous vehicle, the customer can save the $18-25/hour. And since these vehicles do not carry people, their certification to share public roads will come before those designed to carry people. Goodby Drone Delivery! Alain
Uber Has A New Pre-Paid Ride Service Called UberEVENTS
Sept 25 “Uber just announced UberEVENTS, a new service for event organizers to pre-pay rides for their guests. Uber is launching the service first in New York for “select riders” and Uber for Business users. In the coming weeks, Uber will roll out this feature to everyone in New York so that all event hosts can purchase rides, in the form of guest passes, ahead of time for attendees. Event organizers can customize the guest pass with date, time and promotion code…. Read more Hmmm… Great many2one/one2many market that should generate some substantial ride-sharing. Alain
Recompiled Old News :
How Airbags Are Supposed to Work
A. Lafrance, Jun 27 “…But as many as one in seven cars on the roads in the United States may have defective airbags. That’s the scope of the ongoing automotive recall that includes 34 million cars—Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, General Motors, Subaru, Ford, Chrysler, and BMW are all affected. The defective Takata-made airbags explode with shrapnel, spraying motorists with sharp bits of metal, and have caused more than 100 injuries and at least eight deaths in the past decade…Read more Hmmm… Worth reading. Alain
Half-baked stuff that probably doesn’t deserve your time:
VW Scandal Shows a Need for More Tech, Not Less
F. Manjoo, Sept 30, “…In fact, the faster we upgrade our roads and autos with better capabilities to detect and analyze what’s going on in the transportation system, the better we’ll be able to find hackers, cheaters, and others looking to create havoc on the highways…” Read more Hmmm… Yes we can use more tech in vehicles where it instantly begins to deliver value to those who purchase it. However, putting tech in roads doesn’t do anyone any measurable good until it gets implement on a substantial portion of the roadway system. And then, only to the cars that have also implemented the tech. We aren’t rich enough as a nation to afford that. Better to put all of that roadway tech into cars. Alain
Introduction to Hyperloop Technologies Inc.
See video Hmmm… Sorry, I don’t get it. Alain
C’mon Man! (These folks didn’t get/read the memo)
Calendar of Upcoming Events:
###
###
###
http://www.automatedfl.com/our-efforts/florida-automated-vehicles-summit/
Recent Versions of:
###
September 26, 2015
As Volkswagen Pushed to Be No. 1, Ambitions Fueled a Scandal
D. Hakim, Sept 26 “…It is not Volkswagen’s first run-in with regulators over emissions. When the United States began regulating tailpipe pollutants in the 1970s, Volkswagen was one of the first companies caught cheating. It was fined $120,000 in 1973 for installing what became known as a “defeat device,” technology to shut down a vehicle’s pollution control systems. This time, it equipped its vehicles with software that was programmed to fake test results, an action the E.P.A. rebuked in 1998, when it reached a $1 billion settlement with truck-engine manufacturers for doing the same thing…..
Cheating on emissions tests solved several issues at once. Not only were drivers rewarded with better mileage and performance, but the automaker also avoided more expensive and cumbersome pollution-control systems. While Volkswagen cheated behind the scenes, it publicly espoused virtue. This, after all, is the company that used one of the largest advertising arenas in the world, the Super Bowl, to run a commercial showing its engineers sprouting angel’s wings.
…Confronted again, Volkswagen continued to maintain that there was a problem with the testers, not the vehicles…Government officials then increased the pressure on the company, threatening to withhold approval for its 2016 Volkswagen and Audi diesel models. According to the E.P.A., that is what forced Volkswagen’s hand. On Sept. 3, a group of senior engineers admitted what the regulators had suspected: …. Read more Hmmm…So UGLY!!! Alain
September 14, 2015
Automakers Will Make Automatic Braking Systems Standard in New Cars
B. Vlasic, Sept 11 “Federal regulators said on Friday that 10 automakers had agreed to install automatic braking systems, which use sensors to detect potential collisions, as standard equipment in new vehicles.
But the automakers have not set a timetable for the introduction of the systems, …Anthony Foxx, the transportation secretary, said in a prepared statement that emergency braking technology could reduce traffic deaths and injuries.
“We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focusing on preventing crashes from ever occurring, rather than just protecting occupants when crashes happen,” Mr. Foxx said….
The 10 companies “will work with I.I.H.S. and N.H.T.S.A. in the coming months on the details of implementing their historic commitment,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement (Same as the DoT Statement.) Read more Hmmm… This is major because the automakers “had agreed…” rather than “the regulators had required…” (although there seems to be a little push-back in that “…had not set a timetable…” We do know that many are now offering these systems at a modest up-sell. So there may actually be substance in the announcement.) What is clear now is that we should all Invest in insurance companies that are creative in insuring these new vehicles!!! They are going to become so profitable! Insurance gets the cash benefit of the technology without having to pay for it!!! Wow!!! Congratulations Warren Buffett. He must have played a role in this. He stands to benefit so much. :-) While trucks are mentioned, (amazing that buses aren’t; DoT is SO BAD!!), they seem very much the stepchild. SO unfortunate! :-( Alain
September 7, 2015
Google’s Driverless Cars Run Into Problem: Cars With Drivers
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 Hmmm… Much of this is good; however, many of the comments about warning systems being turned off and gaps being too large are a result of poor designs and not the real issue here which is that traffic laws have been written to control human drivers and placed in language that will cause human drivers to achieve the desired behavior most of the time or at the critical times. The law addresses the process to achieve the desired outcome, and not the outcome itself. For example, one might argue that the fundamental objective of a stop sign at an intersection is to ensure that one proceeds through the intersection only at a time when there is no chance of a collision with traffic in the cars traveling in the thru lanes. Because of human information processing limitations coming to a complete stop is the parsimonious way for a human to achieve the desired outcome. (The sight-lines on the approach to the intersection are such that a human driver needs to come to a complete rest so as to be able to “look both ways” and determine that it is safe to proceed.) If, however, the automated technology enables the automated vehicle to determine that it is safe to proceed prior to coming to a complete stop, why should that vehicle be required to come to a complete stop?
Speed limits are also an issue. For many, they have little to do with the maximum “safe” speed and their enforcement is totally whimsical. With automated vehicles we have the opportunity to deliver a safe speed limit which can vary along curves, ramps, time-of-day, school in/out, weather, traffic volume, prevailing conditions, etc.
It would be a shame for the automated driving algorithms to be cloistered by the letters of the existing laws. Each of these traffic laws need to be examined and be re-cast with a view as being implemented explicitly by the automated technology. This may well be the most challenging hurdle facing SmartDrivingCars. Alain
August 28, 2015
Truck Safety Out of the Box from Autonobox
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 Hmmm… A viable after-market retro-fit opportunity. Alain
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
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