2016-08-28

2016-08-28

August 28, 2016

Prepare to be Underwhelmed by 2021’s Autonomous Cars

                                                T. Simonite, Aug 23,
                                                "BMW, Ford, and Uber
                                                have all recently
                                                said they plan to
                                                have "fully
                                                autonomous" cars
                                                ready to drive
                                                themselves on the
                                                road in 2021 (see
                                                "2021 May Be the
                                                Year of the Fully
                                                Autonomous Car").
                                                Ford says its fleet
                                                of vehicles will
                                                lack steering wheels
                                                and offer a robotic
                                                taxi service.

                                                But don't expect to
                                                toss out your
                                                driver's license in
                                                2021. Five years
                                                isn't long enough to
                                                create vehicles good
                                                enough at driving to
                                                roam extensively
                                                without human input,
                                                say researchers
                                                working on
                                                autonomous cars.
                                                They predict that
                                                Ford and others will
                                                meet their targets
                                                by creating small
                                                fleets of vehicles
                                                limited to small,
                                                controlled areas.

                                                "Probably what Ford
                                                would do to meet
                                                their 2021 milestone
                                                is have something
                                                that provides
                                                low-speed taxi
                                                service limited to
                                                certain roads—and
                                                don't expect it to
                                                come in the rain,"
                                                says Steven
                                                Shladover. ...Alain
                                                Kornhauser, ... "By
                                                then we may be able
                                                to define [a]
                                                'fenced' region of
                                                space where we can
                                                in fact let cars out
                                                there without a
                                                driver," he says.
                                                "The challenge will
                                                be making that
                                                fenced-in area large
                                                enough so that it
                                                provides a valuable
                                                service."...Jeffrey
                                                Miller, ...says
                                                figuring out how
                                                sensors limit the
                                                situations a vehicle
                                                can reliably handle
                                                on its own is one of
                                                the most crucial
                                                challenges for
                                                companies working on
                                                autonomous driving.
                                                [Read more](https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602210/prepare-to-be-underwhelmed-by-2021s-autonomous-cars/)  Hmmm...Achievable

                                                    reality.  Alain

World’s First Self-Driving Taxis Hit the Road in Singapore

J. Watts, Aug 25, “Singapore became the first country in the world to launch a self-driving taxi service on Thursday, beating ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. by mere days to public road tests of a technology that could revolutionize the transport industry….Singapore’s nuTonomy, founded by two researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Thursday it began testing a free taxi-hailing service in a small business district in Singapore called one-north, a campus-like space dominated by tech firms and biotechnology companies. Other tech companies including Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc. have been testing self-driving cars on the roads for years, but this is the first time the vehicles have been open to public use….

NuTonomy’s test vehicles, a Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car, will have a computer engineer and backup human driver during the trial phase in case anything goes wrong, and can be hailed by select members of the public using a smartphone app, the company said. The one-north district is a self-contained area of about 0.8 square miles accessible by trunk roads but much quieter than most public roads in Singapore. NuTonomy said it would test its vehicles on a 6 kilometer (3.7 mile) route….”  Read more Hmmm… A very important start. “Geo-fenced” area not very large and not yet driverless, but another very important starting hurdle going a little faster than CityMobil2. Alain

Oh You’ll Get Used to Robo-Cars—Uber Will Make Sure of It

                                                  M. Rhodes, Aug 19,
                                                  "...Today, Uber
                                                  finds itself in a
                                                  position where it
                                                  makes more sense
                                                  to develop an
                                                  interface that
                                                  behaves like a
                                                  trusty chauffeur,
                                                  rather than a
                                                  co-pilot. It's a
                                                  situation that
                                                  semi-autonomous
                                                  car manufacturers
                                                  may not find
                                                  themselves in for
                                                  years to come—but
                                                  Uber has a chance
                                                  to start
                                                  experimenting now.
                                                  ...

                                                  Designing that
                                                  interface will
                                                  require a delicate
                                                  balance. It should
                                                  present passengers
                                                  with enough
                                                  information to put
                                                  them at ease, but
                                                  not so much that
                                                  they feel
                                                  responsible for
                                                  the car's
                                                  behavior. A town
                                                  car driver
                                                  wouldn't overwhelm
                                                  you with data and
                                                  graphics, and
                                                  Uber's backseat
                                                  tablets shouldn't
                                                  either.

                                                  This is out of
                                                  step with
                                                  conventional
                                                  wisdom surrounding
                                                  interfaces in
                                                  semi-autonomous
                                                  vehicles. For
                                                  instance: Audi's
                                                  autonomous
                                                  concepts feature a
                                                  dash-mounted
                                                  screen that
                                                  communicates to
                                                  the driver not
                                                  only that the car
                                                  sees the world
                                                  around it, but
                                                  also what the car
                                                  thinks about that
                                                  world and how it
                                                  plans to navigate
                                                  it safely. This
                                                  information serves
                                                  to put you, the
                                                  driver, at
                                                  ease—but not too
                                                  at ease. Because
                                                  this system's
                                                  other job is to
                                                  keep you informed.
                                                  After all, these
                                                  systems are only
                                                  semi-autonomous.
                                                  There's no telling
                                                  when you might
                                                  have to resume
                                                  control of the
                                                  vehicle.

                                                  But that system
                                                  won't work for
                                                  Uber. "Passengers
                                                  going on this ride
                                                  for the first time
                                                  are going to
                                                  wonder, am I
                                                  expected to
                                                  monitor each and
                                                  every move?" says
                                                  Nandita Mangal,
                                                  who led the design
                                                  on Delphi
                                                  Automotive's
                                                  autonomous car
                                                  concept earlier
                                                  this year. If
                                                  you're Uber,
                                                  that's the last
                                                  thing you want.
                                                  Not only does this
                                                  defeat the entire
                                                  purpose of a
                                                  personal
                                                  chauffeur, it's
                                                  potentially
                                                  stress-inducing. A
                                                  passenger in the
                                                  rear seat of an
                                                  autonomous car
                                                  can't take control
                                                  of the wheel, even
                                                  if she wants to.

                                                  Uber's interface
                                                  will need to
                                                  convey a tone of
                                                  cool, confident
                                                  decision-making.
                                                  ..." [Read more](https://www.wired.com/2016/08/oh-youll-get-used-robo-cars-uber-will-make-sure/)  Hmmm...Very

                                                      interesting
                                                      and
                                                      important!
                                                      Alain

Tesla Raises Price of Autopilot Option by $500

                                                J. Stoll, Aug 26,
                                                "Tesla Motors Inc.
                                                raised the price of
                                                its driver-assist
                                                Autopilot option by
                                                20%, or $500, the
                                                latest move by the
                                                Silicon Valley auto
                                                maker to adjust
                                                prices and options
                                                on its electric
                                                vehicles.

                                                The move comes the
                                                same week that the
                                                company made a more
                                                capable battery pack
                                                available for its
                                                Model S sedan and
                                                Model X
                                                sport-utility
                                                vehicle. The new 100
                                                kilowatt-hour
                                                batteries will
                                                enable the sedan to
                                                achieve as much as
                                                315 miles on a
                                                charge and
                                                significantly
                                                increase
                                                acceleration times,
                                                the company said on
                                                Tuesday. It also
                                                takes the price of
                                                the car to $134,500.

                                                Earlier in August,
                                                Tesla began offering
                                                a two-year, $593 a
                                                month lease on its
                                                base Model S
                                                sedan. ...Analysts
                                                consider features
                                                like automatic
                                                braking or adaptive
                                                cruise control to be
                                                among the most
                                                profitable
                                                components of a new
                                                vehicle sale
                                                ....Honda Motor
                                                Co.'s system is
                                                considered less
                                                capable then
                                                Tesla's, but is
                                                about half the
                                                price. Volvo Car
                                                Corp. recently began
                                                selling its new S90
                                                sedan with a
                                                standard "Pilot
                                                Assist" feature...."
                                                [Read more](http://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-raises-price-of-autopilot-option-by-500-1472228951) Hmmm...Glad

                                                    to see the
                                                    recognition of
                                                    value in the
                                                    marketplace. [Tesla complaints reported to NHTSA](http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults;jsessionid=QnrgXXhbvhYJn6rTcSt5s2MNLLtVLK6Ldg9vzXBTBGpMGNtlvq0J%21-1700228322?prodType=V&searchType=PROD&targetCategory=A&searchCriteria.model=MODEL+X&stats=2000792%2C1%2C0%2C2%2C0%2CMODEL+X&makeStats=&jsonBaseURL=%2Fdownloads%2Ffolders%2F&searchCriteria.model_yr=2016&searchCriteria.make=TESLA&searchCriteria.prod_ids=2000792).
                                                    Alain

Want to invest in self-driving cars? Check out the chips

                                                T. Poletti, Aug 27,
                                                "... Instead of
                                                rushing into the
                                                Sierra Foothills
                                                with all of the
                                                miners who in 1849
                                                were seeking their
                                                fortunes panning for
                                                a limited vein of
                                                gold a lot more
                                                money was made by
                                                San Francisco
                                                entrepreneurs who
                                                sold supplies..."  [Read more](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/want-to-invest-in-self-driving-cars-check-out-the-chips-2016-08-26)Hmmm...OK.

                                                    Alain

Tesla News: Owner Blames Himself For Autopilot Crash This Time

J. Ong, Aug 21, “Finally, there is one  Tesla car driver who crashed his car and said he is at fault instead of the Tesla Autopilot.

                                                  On August 7, Tesla
                                                  driver Mark
                                                  Molthan was
                                                  driving his Model
                                                  S along highway
                                                  175 near Kaufman,
                                                  Texas when the car
                                                  suddenly swerved
                                                  into a cable
                                                  guardrail. At the
                                                  time of the
                                                  incident,
                                                  Molthan's car was
                                                  on Autopilot.
                                                  Unlike other
                                                  drivers who blamed
                                                  the Tesla
                                                  Autopilot system
                                                  for their crashes,
                                                  Molthan readily
                                                  admitted he had
                                                  not bee paying
                                                  close attention to
                                                  his own driving
                                                  around the time of
                                                  the accident. In
                                                  fact, he had
                                                  reached into the
                                                  glove compartment
                                                  to get a piece of
                                                  cloth and was busy
                                                  cleaning the car's
                                                  dashboard before
                                                  the crash had
                                                  taken place.."I
                                                  used Autopilot all
                                                  the time on that
                                                  stretch of the
                                                  highway. But now I
                                                  feel like this is
                                                  extremely
                                                  dangerous. It
                                                  gives you a false
                                                  sense of
                                                  security."..." [Read more](http://www.morningnewsusa.com/tesla-news-owner-blames-autopilot-crash-time-2399091.html)Hmmm...Very
                                                      important to
                                                      figure out
                                                      what was
                                                      different this
                                                      time.
                                                      Reliability is
                                                      absolutely
                                                      necessary.
                                                      Not
                                                      necessarily
                                                      every-where,
                                                      but absolutely
                                                      at
                                                      some-wheres.
                                                      Alain

###

If you hate auto insurance, you’ll love driverless cars

                                                A. Glenn, Aug 27,
                                                "Nobody likes
                                                shelling out for
                                                auto insurance. But
                                                given the greater
                                                financial burden of
                                                a car wreck, most of
                                                us simply grin and
                                                bear it, minus the
                                                grin. After all,
                                                mistakes happen and
                                                drivers are only
                                                human — for now.

                                                But as we hurtle
                                                into the age of
                                                computer-operated,
                                                fully autonomous
                                                vehicles, car
                                                insurance as we know
                                                it is about to
                                                change — including
                                                how much we need to
                                                buy.... [Read more](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2016/08/27/auto-insurance-driverless-cars/89429700/)Hmmm...Not

                                                    only will you
                                                    buy less, you
                                                    will lessen
                                                    substantially
                                                    the
                                                    self-insurance
                                                    that everyone
                                                    assumes, largely
                                                    unknowingly.
                                                    Insurance covers
                                                    at best 50% of
                                                    the direct
                                                    dollars
                                                    spent to fix
                                                    crashes (car
                                                    repairs,
                                                    personal injury
                                                    repairs, burial
                                                    cost, etc.) and
                                                    0% of the
                                                    societal costs
                                                    (bereavement,
                                                    lost
                                                    productivity,
                                                    refocusing,
                                                    etc.) which are
                                                    estimated to be
                                                    twice the direct
                                                    dollars.  In the
                                                    end insurance
                                                    that we buy only
                                                    pays for about
                                                    16% of the cost
                                                    of crashes.  So
                                                    if we are
                                                    excited about
                                                    how much less
                                                    insurance we are
                                                    going to have to
                                                    buy, we should
                                                    be 5 times
                                                    more excited
                                                    about how our
                                                    lives are going
                                                    to be improved.

                                                    Alain

Delphi and Mobileye to Produce System for Self-Driving Cars

N. Boudette, Aug 23, “The race to build self-driving cars is becoming an increasingly crowded field. There are carmakers like Ford Motor intent on doing it themselves. There are ones like General Motors that are acquiring the technology companies they hope can make it happen.

                                                  And then there are
                                                  suppliers, like
                                                  Delphi Automotive
                                                  and Mobileye, that
                                                  intend to develop
                                                  turnkey
                                                  self-driving
                                                  systems that
                                                  automakers could
                                                  build into their
                                                  vehicles..."  [Read more](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/business/delphi-and-mobileye-to-produce-system-for-self-driving-cars.html?ref=business)Hmmm...Not

                                                      much new here
                                                      except the
                                                      MobilEye-Delphi
                                                      relationship and...
                                                      " Not

                                                  all carmakers
                                                  predict that
                                                  self-driving cars
                                                  will proliferate
                                                  rapidly. Honda
                                                  Motor argues that
                                                  more advanced
                                                  technology is
                                                  needed ... said
                                                  Jim Keller, chief
                                                  engineer at
                                                  Honda's research
                                                  center in
                                                  Southfield,
                                                  Mich.... Honda
                                                  also says it
                                                  believes cars need
                                                  vehicle-to-vehicle,

                                                  or V2V,
                                                  communication
                                                  devices that allow
                                                  them to transmit
                                                  their position and
                                                  speed to other
                                                  vehicles.  "Radar
                                                  or a camera can
                                                  only see what it
                                                  can see," he said.
                                                  "But what's around
                                                  the corner or
                                                  behind a building?
                                                  You need V2V for
                                                  that." Hmmm...What???

                                                      Honda today
                                                      somehow
                                                      justifies
                                                      selling cars
                                                      to drivers
                                                      that can't see
                                                      around a
                                                      corner or
                                                      behind a
                                                      building.  Is
                                                      he implying
                                                      that these
                                                      cars are safe
                                                      only if driven
                                                      by Superman!
                                                      ??? Alain
                                                      See also
                                                      similar: [Lazy Automakers Can Just Buy Self-Driving Cars From Delphi](https://www.wired.com/2016/08/lazy-automakers-can-just-buy-self-driving-cars-delphi/)

Research explores how road sign alternatives might affect driver safety

 Summer 2016, “The idea of fewer—or no—roadside signs holds appeal for highway departments (less maintenance) and drivers (less visual clutter). But if the information typically conveyed on signs—such as the speed limit—is given to drivers in another way, would it be safer? And how would drivers respond?

                                                      Researchers at
                                                      the University
                                                      of Minnesota's
                                                      HumanFIRST
                                                      Laboratory
                                                      recently
                                                      tested how
                                                      in-vehicle
                                                      signing could
                                                      warn drivers
                                                      of changes in
                                                      the
                                                      environment
                                                      and influence
                                                      their
                                                      behavior....
                                                      At the moment,
                                                      our on-chip
                                                      lidar system
                                                      can detect
                                                      objects at
                                                      ranges of up
                                                      to 2 meters,
                                                      though we hope
                                                      to achieve a
                                                      10-meter range
                                                      within a year.
                                                      The minimum
                                                      range is
                                                      around 5
                                                      centimeters.
                                                      We have
                                                      demonstrated
                                                      centimeter
                                                      longitudinal
                                                      resolution and
                                                      expect 3-cm
                                                      lateral
                                                      resolution at
                                                      2 meters.
                                                      There is a
                                                      clear
                                                      development
                                                      path towards
                                                      lidar on a
                                                      chip
                                                      technology
                                                      that can reach
                                                      100 meters,
                                                      with the
                                                      possibility of
                                                      going even
                                                      farther." [Read more](http://www.roadwaysafety.umn.edu/publications/news/2016/03/study/index.html) Hmmm...Interesting
                                                      research, but
                                                      we are so far
                                                      away from
                                                      being able to
                                                      accommodate
                                                      the traveling
                                                      public with
                                                      "no roadsigns"
                                                      renders that
                                                      part of the
                                                      research as
                                                      largely irrelevant.

                                                      Alain

MIT and DARPA Pack Lidar Sensor Onto Single Chip

C. Poulton, Aug 4, “Our lidar chips are produced on 300-millimeter wafers, making their potential production cost on the order of $10 each at production volumes of millions of units per year. These on-chip devices promise to be orders of magnitude smaller, lighter, and cheaper than lidar systems available on the market today. They also have the potential to be much more robust because of the lack of moving parts. The non-mechanical beam steering in this device is 1,000 times faster than what is currently achieved in mechanical lidar systems, and potentially allows for an even faster image scan rate. This can be useful for accurately tracking small high-speed objects that are only in the lidar’s field of view for a short amount of time, which could be important for obstacle avoidance for high-speed UAVs….” Read more Hmmm… Very interesting. Alain

Get Under the Hood of Parker, Our Newest SOC for Autonomous Vehicles

Aug, 2016, “NVIDIA today took the cloak off Parker, our newest mobile processor that will power the next generation of autonomous vehicles.

                                                      Speaking at
                                                      the Hot Chips
                                                      conference in
                                                      Cupertino,
                                                      California, we
                                                      revealed the
                                                      architecture
                                                      and underlying
                                                      technology of
                                                      this highly
                                                      advanced
                                                      processor,
                                                      which is
                                                      ideally suited
                                                      for automotive
                                                      applications
                                                      like
                                                      self-driving
                                                      cars and
                                                      digital
                                                      cockpits. [Read more](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/08/22/parker-for-self-driving-cars/) Hmmm...
                                                      Very
                                                      interesting.
                                                      Alain

Some

                                                    other thoughts
                                                    that deserve
                                                    your attention

###

As La Guardia Is Overhauled, the Check-In Line Starts at the Highway

P. McGeehan, Aug 27, “Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s bleak assessment of La Guardia Airport as “third-world” propelled a complete reconstruction. But the path to a modern La Guardia was not supposed to include travelers dragging luggage through gridlocked traffic on a highway to catch their flights.

                                                Now it does.   The
                                                most ambitious
                                                airport project in
                                                the country, an
                                                eight-year, $8
                                                billion plan to turn
                                                La Guardia into a
                                                first-class travel
                                                hub, has barely
                                                begun, but social
                                                media has already
                                                been flooded with
                                                tales and images of
                                                taxis and buses
                                                mired in traffic
                                                jams, unable to get
                                                anywhere near
                                                terminals to pick up
                                                and drop off
                                                passengers....The
                                                Port Authority, Mr.
                                                Honig noted, has
                                                been advising
                                                travelers to use
                                                public
                                                transportation to
                                                get to the airport,
                                                but the only options
                                                are buses that have
                                                also been getting
                                                trapped in
                                                traffic..."[Read more](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/nyregion/la-guardia-airport-reconstruction-drop-your-bags.html?_r=0)Hmmm...So

                                                    bad!  Beyond
                                                    comment!
                                                    Alain

One Star Over, a Planet That Might Be Another Earth

K. Chang, Aug 24, “Another Earth could be circling the star right next door to us.

                                                Astronomers
                                                announced on
                                                Wednesday that they
                                                had detected a
                                                planet orbiting
                                                Proxima Centauri,
                                                the closest neighbor
                                                to our solar system.
                                                Intriguingly, the
                                                planet is in the
                                                star's "Goldilocks
                                                zone," where it may
                                                not be too hot nor
                                                too cold. That means
                                                liquid water could
                                                exist at the
                                                surface, raising the
                                                possibility for
                                                life....Guillem
                                                Anglada-Escudé, an
                                                astronomer at Queen
                                                Mary University of
                                                London and the
                                                leader of the team
                                                that made the
                                                discovery [reported in the journal Nature](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7617/full/nature19106.html), said,
                                                "We know there are
                                                terrestrial planets
                                                around many stars,
                                                and we kind of
                                                expected the nearby
                                                stars would contain
                                                terrestrial planets.
                                                This is not exciting
                                                because of this. The
                                                excitement is
                                                because it is the
                                                nearest one."..."[Read more](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/science/earth-planet-proxima-centauri.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news)Hmmm...Not

                                                    surprising.

                                                    Alain

On the More Technical Side

http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/

Learning to Recognize Distance to Stop Signs Using the 2 Virtual World of Grand Theft Auto 5

A. Filiowicz, J. Liu, A Kornhauser, Aug 1 Read more

The Interplay between Fleet-size, Level-of-Service, and Empty Repositioning Strategies in Large-scale, Shared-ride autonomousTaxis Mobility-on-Demand Scenarios

S. Zhu, A. Kornhauser, Aug 1 Read more

Synthetic Generation of Individual Vehicle-borne Person Trips That Characterize Individual Mobility Across the United States on a Typical Day

K. Marocchini, A. Kornhauser, Aug 1 Read more

Half-baked

                                                      stuff that
                                                      probably
                                                      doesn't
                                                      deserve your
                                                      time:

Hackers Fool Tesla S’s Autopilot to Hide and Spoof Obstacles

A. Greenberg, Aug 4, “…Tesla owners shouldn’t swear off autopilot yet—at least not for fear of sensor-jamming hackers. The demonstrations were performed mostly on a stationary car, in some cases required expensive equipment, and had varying degrees of success and reliability…” Read moreHmmm…Houdini, PT Barnum, Bernie Madoff and countless used car salesmen have spoofed us to buy “snake oil”. It is not news nor nor ground-braking research to find that AutoPilot’s obstacle detection can be spoofed. At least the researchers point out…“…Overall we hope people get from this work that we still need to improve the reliability of these sensors….” Alain

Older

                                                      stuff that I
                                                      had missed:

C’mon Man!

                                                  (These folks
                                                  didn't get/read
                                                  the memo)

Calendar

                                                    of Upcoming
                                                    Events:

Sept 15 & 16, 2016 Arlington, VA

   Sept 19-21, 2016 Antwerp, Belgium

F1/10 Autonomous Racing Competition

Oct 1-2

Wean Hall, Carnegie Mellon U.

Recent

                                                  Highlights of:

#

###

Ford Promises Fleets of Driverless Cars Within Five Years

N. Boudette, Aug 16, “In the race to develop driverless cars, several automakers and technology companies are already testing vehicles that pilot themselves on public roads. And others have outlined plans to expand their development fleets over the next few years.

                                                But few have gone so
                                                far as to give a
                                                definitive date for
                                                the commercial debut
                                                of these cars of the
                                                future.  Now Ford
                                                Motor has done just
                                                that.  At a news
                                                conference on
                                                Tuesday at the
                                                company's research
                                                center in Palo Alto,
                                                Calif., Mark Fields,
                                                Ford's chief
                                                executive, said the
                                                company planned to
                                                mass produce
                                                driverless cars and
                                                have them in
                                                commercial operation
                                                in a ride-hailing
                                                service by 2021....

                                                "That means there's
                                                going to be no
                                                steering wheel.
                                                There's going to be
                                                no gas pedal.
                                                There's going to be
                                                no brake pedal,'' he
                                                said. "If someone
                                                had told you 10
                                                years ago, or even
                                                five years ago, that
                                                the C.E.O. of a
                                                major automaker
                                                American car company
                                                is going to be
                                                announcing the mass
                                                production of fully
                                                autonomous vehicles,
                                                they would have been
                                                called crazy or nuts
                                                or both."...

                                                Ford also said it
                                                had acquired an
                                                Israeli start-up, [Saips](http://www.saips.co.il/), that specializes in computer
                                                vision, a crucial
                                                technology for
                                                self-driving cars.
                                                And the automaker
                                                announced
                                                investments in three
                                                other companies
                                                involved in major
                                                technologies for
                                                driverless
                                                vehicles....." [Read mor](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/business/ford-promises-fleets-of-driverless-cars-within-five-years.html?_r=0http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/business/ford-promises-fleets-of-driverless-cars-within-five-years.html?_r=0)e  Hmmm...This

                                                    is significant
                                                    because it
                                                    implies that
                                                    Ford, (or an
                                                    entity under its
                                                    control) will
                                                    operate and
                                                    deliver on a
                                                    day-to-day basis
                                                    MaaS (Mobility
                                                    as a Service).
                                                    In other words
                                                    it will both
                                                    build/assemble
                                                    and operate
                                                    mobility's
                                                    "Cloud".  The
                                                    scale economies
                                                    of such a
                                                    mobility "cloud"
                                                    are arguably
                                                    much more
                                                    substantial than
                                                    that of the data
                                                    storage &
                                                    computing
                                                    "cloud".  Think
                                                    about it!  Alain
                                                    8, 2016

Latest to Quit Google’s Self-Driving Car Unit: Top Roboticist

J. Markoff, Aug 5, “ A roboticist and crucial member of the team that created Google’s self-driving car is leaving the company, the latest in a string of departures by important technologists working on the autonomous car project.

                                                Chris Urmson, a
                                                Carnegie Mellon
                                                University research
                                                scientist, joined
                                                Google in 2009 to
                                                help create the
                                                then-secret effort.
                                                ...Mr. Urmson has
                                                been unhappy with
                                                the direction of the
                                                car project under
                                                Mr. Krafcik's
                                                leadership and
                                                quarreled privately
                                                several months ago
                                                with Larry Page over
                                                where it was headed,
                                                according to two
                                                former Google
                                                employees....

                                                Mr. Urmson said he
                                                had not decided what
                                                he will do next. "If
                                                I can find another
                                                project that turns
                                                into an obsession
                                                and becomes
                                                something more, I
                                                will consider myself
                                                twice lucky," he
                                                wrote. [Read more](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/technology/alphabet-google-autonomous-car-chris-urmson.html)Hmmm...Very

                                                    unfortunate.
                                                    What a great job
                                                    he has done. All
                                                    the best. Alain

Mobileye Ends Partnership With Tesla

M. Ramsey, July 26, “ A key supplier of semiautonomous car technology ended a supply agreement with Tesla Motors Inc. following a high-profile traffic fatality in May involving one of the Silicon Valley company’s electric vehicles.

                                                Mobileye NV said it
                                                would no longer
                                                provide its computer
                                                chips and algorithms
                                                to Tesla after a
                                                current contract
                                                ends due to
                                                disagreements about
                                                how the technology
                                                was deployed.
                                                Mobileye provides
                                                core technology for
                                                Tesla's Autopilot
                                                system, which allows
                                                cars to drive
                                                themselves in
                                                limited
                                                conditions....[Read more](http://www.wsj.com/articles/mobileye-ends-partnership-with-tesla-1469544028)Hmmm....Very

                                                    interesting!!
                                                    Alain

                                                And in [Mobileye's Short Trip with Tesla](http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/07/26/mobileyes-short-trip-with-tesla/)
                                                : D. Gallagher, July
                                                26, "In the emerging
                                                business of
                                                autonomous driving,
                                                even the safer road
                                                isn't free of
                                                potholes....In
                                                explaining its move,
                                                Mobileye suggested
                                                that protecting its
                                                reputation was at
                                                least part of the
                                                rationale. Below is
                                                what the company
                                                said on the call:...
                                                [Read more](http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/07/26/mobileyes-short-trip-with-tesla/)Hmmm....And

                                                    why in all of
                                                    this isn't there
                                                    a discussion of
                                                    Automated
                                                    Emergency
                                                    Braking (AEB)
                                                    technology/suppliers??
                                                    There must be no
                                                    consumer/regulatory

                                                    appeal to AEB?
                                                    Alain
                                                    2016

Master Plan, Part Deux

Lessons From the Tesla Crash

                                            Editorial Board, July
                                            11, "A recent fatal
                                            crash in Florida
                                            involving a Tesla Model
                                            S is an example of how a
                                            new technology designed
                                            to make cars safer
                                            could, in some cases,
                                            make them more
                                            dangerous. These risks,
                                            however, could be
                                            minimized with better
                                            testing (Hmmm....Yes!)
                                            and regulations (Still

                                                too early, we don't
                                                know enough, yet)...

                                                      July 5, 2016

                                                7 Crash

Hmmm…What

                                                  we know now (and
                                                  don't know):

1.

                                                  On May 7, 2016 at
                                                  about 4:40pm EDT,
                                                  there was a crash
                                                  between a Tesla
                                                  and a Class 8
                                                  Tractor-Trailer.
                                                  The accident is
                                                  depicted in the [Diagram from the Police Report](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/TeslaCrash050716/PoliceReportDiagramTeslaCrash050716FrmNYT.JPG): HSMV
                                                  Crash Report #
                                                  85234095. [(1)](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/self-driving-tesla-fatal-crash-investigation.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FNational%20Highway%20Traffic%20Safety%20Administration&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0)
                                                  [Google Earth images from the site](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/TeslaCrash050716/CrashSceneGoogleEarth.pdf).

 2.

                                                  The driver of the
                                                  Tesla was [Joshua Brown](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ohio/obituary.aspx?pid=179994314).  "No citations have been issued, but the initial accident
                                                      report from
                                                      the FHP
                                                      indicates the
                                                      truck driver
                                                      "failed to
                                                      yield
                                                      right-of-way.""
                                                      [(2)](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-autopilot-dvd-idUSKCN0ZH5BW)

                                                  .  Hmmm....No
                                                  Citations??? Did
                                                  the truck have a
                                                  data recorder?
                                                  Was the truck
                                                  impounded, if so,
                                                  how is the truck
                                                  driver making a
                                                  living since the
                                                  crash?

Extracting Cognition out of Images for the Purpose of Autonomous Driving

                                                  Chenyi Chen PhD
                                                  Dissertation ,
                                                  "...the key part
                                                  of the thesis, a
                                                  direct perception
                                                  approach is
                                                  proposed to drive
                                                  a car in a highway
                                                  environment. In
                                                  this approach, an
                                                  input image is
                                                  mapped to a small
                                                  number of key
                                                  perception
                                                  indicators that
                                                  directly relate to
                                                  the affordance of
                                                  a road/traffic
                                                  state for
                                                  driving....." [Read more](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/Theses/chenyiPhDfinal_ExtractingCognitionOutOfImagesForThePurposeOfAutonomousDriving.pdf)  Hmmm..[FPO 10:00am, May 16 , 120 Sherrerd Hall](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/Presentations/ChenyiFPO.pdf),
                                                      Establishing a
                                                      foundation for
                                                      image-based
                                                      autonomous
                                                      driving using
                                                      DeepLearning
                                                      Neural
                                                      Networks
                                                      trained in
                                                      virtual
                                                      environments.
                                                      Very
                                                      promising. Alain

Hearing focus of SF 2569 Autonomous vehicles task force establishment and demonstration project for people with disabilities

                                                  March 23 Hmmm...

                                                      [Watch the video of the Committee Meeting](http://mnsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=235).

                                                      The testimony
                                                      is Excellent
                                                      and very
                                                      compelling!
                                                      Also see [Self-Driving Minnesota](http://www.selfdrivingmn.org/)
                                                      Alain

U.S. DOT and IIHS announce historic commitment of 20 automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new vehicles

Motor Vehicle Deaths Increase by Largest Percent in 50 Years

Adam Jonas’ View on Autonomous Cars

                                                  Video similar to
                                                  part of Adam's
                                                  Luncheon talk @
                                                  2015 Florida
                                                  Automated Vehicle
                                                  Symposium on Dec
                                                  1.  [Hmmm ... Watch Video](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/Videos/AdamJonas10T_MorganStanley.mp4)  especially

                                                      at the 13:12
                                                      mark.
                                                      Compelling;
                                                      especially
                                                      after the 60
                                                      Minutes
                                                      segment
                                                      above!  Also
                                                      see his [TipRanks](https://www.tipranks.com/analysts/adam-jonas).
                                                      Alain

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