2019-06-29
28th edition of the 7th year of SmartDrivingCars
###
Apple acquires self-driving startup Drive.ai
I. Fried, June 25, “Apple bought Drive.ai, an autonomous driving startup once valued at $200 million, and has hired dozens of Drive.ai engineers, Apple confirmed to Axios on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The deal and hires confirm that Apple hasn’t given up its autonomous driving project.
Details: The deal comes after Drive.ai talked with multiple potential acquirers, but in the end Apple won out. Apple also purchased Drive.ai’s autonomous cars and other assets, sources tell Axios.
Drive.ai ceased
operations
within the last
2 weeks.
Apple's hires
are mostly in
engineering and
product design,
per a source.
The purchase
price was not
disclosed. Apple
was expected to
pay less than
the $77 million
Drive.ai raised
in venture
capital, to say
nothing of the
$200 million it
was valued at
two years ago,
after its Series
B round, Axios'
Dan Primack
reported
recently.
The backdrop:
Drive.ai's
highlighter-orange
vans ferried
workers around a
business park in
Frisco, Tex.,
and shuttled
fans in nearby
Arlington to
Cowboys games.
Drive.ai is
laying off 90
workers in
California, the
San Francisco
Chronicle
reported. And
the company
employed many
more in
Texas."
Read more LHmmmm… ooks like a fire sale. Does this mean that getting to “80% of Driverless” is valued at less than $100m? Ouch! It is going to take deep pockets to get to “99.99% Driverless”. Alain
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 114
###
F. Fishkin, June 28, “With Apple making an autonomous tech acquisition, what plans might it have when it comes to driverless mobility? Join Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the latest from Tesla, Ford, Waymo, BMW and more on episode 114 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast! Tune in and subscribe. “ Just say “Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!” . Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain
The Dispatcher, July 2019
M. Sena, June 26, “The July issue of The Dispatcher contains two articles. The first is about a subject that most car companies have put at the bottom of their ‘need-to-think-about’ list while they figure out how to electrify, how to turn themselves into mobility service providers and how to spin a tale for their investors about when their cars will drive themselves. Unfortunately, if they don’t revise their priorities, their investors will be looking for somewhere else to place their fortunes.
The second
article is
about FCA and
Renault.
Oftentimes,
the back story
is the
important one,
not the story
that is being
played out in
public. I take
a look at
Renault's past
to try to
understand a
little better
what is going
on with the
company today.
It was an
enlightening
investigation
and I'm
pleased to
share the
results with
you..." [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/q44x3up9mwzhbtd/The%20Dispatcher_July%202019.pdf?dl=0) Hmmmm...
Michael,
another great
Dispatcher.
Enjoy
reading. My
take is that
the OEMs
realize that
MaaS and
Driverless
vehicles may
well be a
pipe-dream
that attracts
all the
attention of
the regulators
and keeps them
busy, leaving
the OEMs alone
to monetize
their hundred
year old
business model
with cars that
require a
human
attendant/driver:
Sell to
consumers cars
that now have
affordable
automation (no
need of LiDAR)
that makes
personally-owned
cars safer,
easier and
more
comfortable to
drive. Since
these cars are
fundamentally
no different
than
conventional
cars (a '55
Chevy), there
is no need for
any new
regulatory
oversight.
With an
expanding
world market
of captive
customers
(best mobility
alternative is
to walk) all
of the OEMs
will do just
fine, thank
you! Their
financial
outlook has
never looked
so good.
Alain
Florida’s latest oddity: Semi trucks with nobody inside them
P. Hooey, June 26, “ At first glance, the 18-wheeler, white with green lettering crawling down its side, looked like any other heavy-duty truck on the road. The vehicle merged onto the busy Florida Turnpike earlier this month, smoothly changing lanes and reaching 55 mph before eventually exiting the highway nearly 10 miles later.
The truck
didn't have
any cargo, but
it was
carrying a
closely
guarded
secret: There
was nobody in
the cab..."
[Read more](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/06/26/floridas-latest-oddity-semi-trucks-with-nobody-inside-them/?utm_term=.7f0f4f2d7c86) Hmmmm... We'll believe Starsky that there was nobody is the cab,
so there is
some good
news. The not
so good news
is that there
was an
entourage of
escort
vehicles in
front and in
back just in
case anything
started to
fall apart,
than you! The
more not good
news is that
the whole
concept
entails a
remote
driver. It
also requires
requires continuous high
bandwidth
communications
with low
latency (which
is not
available
today in many
stretches of
the US
Interstate
system, but
will be OK in
the near
enough
future). These
limitations
make the
business case
for this
concept only
marginally
better than
having a
driver
on-board.
However, this
is an
accomplishment
that was done
carefully, not
recklessly,
and is
possible
because of [Florida's welcoming of Driverless technology](https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/florida-self-driving-car-bill-hb311/).
We now need
3 categories
of
Driverless-without-attendant/driver-on-
board
("Driverless_w/o")
accomplishments :
1.
Driverless_w/o
in a highly
controlled roadway/guideway environment (private roads, restricted access by other
users, ...,
example: Olli
@ Ft Myer w/o
attendant;
Morgantown
PRT, Airport
people movers,
rather
common), 2. Driverless_w/o
with remote
operator
(example: this
demo, ~10 VMT
(Vehicle Miles
traveled)
total
world-wide),
and 3.
Driverless w/o
in normal
traffic
conditions on
normal roads
(example: [Waymo's Firefly driving Steve Mahan](https://youtu.be/ArYTxDZzQOM)
around in
Austin Texas
in 2015, and
maybe [few Waymo trip](https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/5/18126103/waymo-one-self-driving-taxi-service-ride-safety-alphabet-cost-app)s
in Chandler AZ
in 2018.
(That's it for
examples from
around the
world! My
guess... <
1,000 VMT
world-wide
since Adam
& Eve).
So
congratulations
Starsky.
Alain
Ford’s Argo AI Invests $15 Million For Robocar Research Center At Carnegie Mellon
G. Gardner, June 24, “Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicle tech company, is investing $15 million to establish a Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research at Carnegie Mellon University to improve self-driving technology.
The grant is
for five
years. The
Autonomous
Vehicle
Research
center will
focus on
improving
sensors'
perception and
algorithms
designed to
improve safety
and
reliability in
a range of
conditions
including
winter
weather,
especially
snow, and
construction
zones.
"We are
thrilled to
deepen our
partnership
with Argo AI
to shape the
future of
self-driving
technologies,"
Carnegie
Mellon
President
Farnam
Jahanian said
in a
statement.
"This
investment
allows our
researchers to
continue to
lead at the
nexus of
technology and
society, and
solve
society's most
pressing
problems."..."
[Read more](https://www.forbes.com/sites/greggardner/2019/06/24/fords-argo-ai-invests-15-million-for-av-research-center-at-carnegie-mellon/#5a14113e1e36) Hmmmm... Congratulations CMU! Great call Argo! Alain
Tesla’s millions of cameras are capturing some crazy things – videos
F. Lambert, June 24, “When Tesla deployed its new TeslaCam and Sentry Mode features, it basically enabled millions of cameras (8 per car) installed on its vehicles to capture videos of their surroundings.
Those cameras
are now
capturing some
crazy things.
Here are some
of the
videos: In
September of
last year,
Tesla released
a software
update to
enable owners
of vehicles
with Autopilot
hardware to
use the
Autopilot
cameras to
record footage
when needed –
like a dashcam
– hence why
they called
the feature:
"TeslaCam".
Building on
its previously
released
dashcam
feature, Tesla
enabled the
use of more
cameras around
the vehicle
and activated
a "stand-by"
parking mode
earlier this
year. The
feature became
Sentry Mode,
which also
includes an
alarm and
notification
system to
deter thieves
even more —
efficiently
creating a
system to
watch over
Tesla vehicles
when their
owners are not
around...." [Read more](https://www.engadget.com/2019/06/25/bmw-vision-m-next-autonomous-concept-unveil/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_morning_after&guccounter=1) Hmmmm.... [See videos](https://youtu.be/AeM37iPkzrQ)
All should be
placed in the
public domain
so that all of
us can learn
from them.
Alain
BMW Vision M Next: An autonomous car for people who love driving
R. Baldwin, June 25, “There’s a fear from some that when cars drive themselves, that’ll be the end of the joy of driving. Why even get behind the wheel if your vehicle can get you to your destination while you sit back and relax? BMW – which boasts the tag line “the ultimate driving machine” – has a concept that’ll appease the future-looking owner that doesn’t want to deal with the horrors of gridlock but needs to feel like they’re in control while carving up mountain passes.
To help shore up its bona fides as a “driver’s car” the low-slung concept offers drivers the choice between all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive. The turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid powertrain outputs 600 horsepower and has a top speed of 186 miles an hour. You know, just in case the carpool lane ever gets supercharged…” Read more Hmmmm… So much for the ultimate riding machine. Alain
June AStuff Newsletter
B. hambrick, June 26, “ We formally launched the Open Autonomy Pilot at the beginning of June in downtown Peoria, Illinois, with the help of Mayor Jim Ardis and a host of other community-minded folks from the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce.
Our automated
research and
development
vehicles are
now
circulating on
a defined
route through
downtown to
gather data
and test
software with
the goal of
refining the
autonomous
capabilities
for partners
and other
research and
development
organizations.
..." [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/5vq4q7zqttamebb/June%20AStuff%20Newsletter%20_%20Newsletters%20_%20AutonomouStuff.html?dl=0) Hmmmm... AutonomuStuff keeps getting better.
Alain
For Mass-Market Cars, Forget L3-L5 Autonomy
C. Barnden, June 24, “Mass-market car OEMs are heading for extinction, right? We all know that they will be killed by Tesla and robo-taxi companies like Cruise, Uber and Waymo, who are just quarters away from deploying perfect “self-driving” technology — aren’t they? Let’s take a look at the 2018 production volumes for an indication of where the power really lies here:
Tesla:
about 250,000
Robo-taxis: 0
Traditional
mass-market
car OEMs:
about 95
million
Does anyone
seriously
believe the
traditional
OEMs will
supply
robo-taxi
companies in
sufficient
quantity to
bring about
their own
demise? No, me
neither.
The threat
from Tesla and
mobility
startups has
been massively
overstated
these last
five years —
media hype and
ambitious
timescales
cannot
disguise the
fact that
"self-driving"
technology
remains firmly
in the R&D
phase and is
nowhere close
to commercial deployment...." [Read more](https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1334845#) Hmmmm... This
has been
obvious for a
very long time
and one
doesn't need
the SAE Level
mumbo jumbo to
make it
obvious to the
most casual
observer.
There are only
two types:
cars that need
a human driver
to be used
safely within
itsoperational
domain and
those that
have an
automated
system that
can drive
safely just as
well or better
without a
human
driver/attendant
within its
operational
domain.
Detroit will
"design/build/assemble/market/sell2consumers"
the former; Silicon Valley will
"design/specOut{build/assemble/operate}
the latter"
Alain
[2019
SmartDrivingCar Summit Videos - Wednesday Morning Before Break](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6YKyzOSJOwAFjcTIfBtbuEvDtgHapwao)
K. Pyle June,
2019, "The
Wednesday
morning
sessions
covered
changing
demographics,
equal
opportunity of
driverless
mobility, ADAS
update, TNCs,
serving the
mobility
disadvantaged
from the
beginning,
inclusive
design and the
Washington
perspective on
driverless.
" [See more](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6YKyzOSJOwAFjcTIfBtbuEvDtgHapwao) Hmmmm... Thank you Ken! Alain
2019 SDC - Wednesday Morning After Break
K. Pyle June, 2019, “ This playlist captures the Wednesday morning comments about ridesharing, its potential impact on greenhouse gas emissions, the effectiveness of existing electronic safety measures, testing of early autonomous vehicles at the University at Buffalo and the important elements required to create AI that people can trust. See more Hmmmm… Thank you Ken! Alain
Mathematics of Transportation
Webinar, June
11, "Professor
[Pascal Van Hentenryck](https://www.isye.gatech.edu/users/pascal-van-hentenryck)
and Alain
Komhauser will
discuss
mathematical
approaches
that inform
transportation
policies and
improve
transportation
networks." [Read more](http://sites.nationalacademies.org/deps/bmsa/deps_183972) Hmmmm... [Slides](https://www.dropbox.com/s/mco6quavohcgwl8/KornhauserMathFrontiers_Mathematics%20of%20Transportation_061119.pptx?dl=0),
video to be
posted soon.
We had only 15
minutes each
so hardly
enough time to
even begin to
scratch the
surface. Alain
Half-baked stuff that probably doesn’t deserve
your time
C’mon Man!(These
folks didn't
get/read the
memo)
##
Simply ClickBait
Calendar
of Upcoming
Events:
September 4-6, 2019 Pocono Manor, PA
###
Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit
evening May 19 through May 21, 2020
On the More Technical Side
http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/
###
##
Recent PodCasts
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 113
###
F. Fishkin, June 21, “With new European and Japanese car maker alliances, is Waymo throwing in the towel on driverless transportation? Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser wonders out loud. That and more on Lexus, Local Motors and others with co-host Fred Fishkin on the Smart Driving Cars podcast. “ Just say “Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!” . Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 112 - J. Hardiman NJM
###
F. Fishkin, June 9, “Should the insurance industry be pushing more safety and autonomous tech in cars? It’s a win, win says Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser. Joining him in the discussion along with co-host Fred Fishkin is NJM’s John Hardiman, a board member of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Also…Fiat Chrysler, Ford and more.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 110 - Lance Elliot
###
F. Fishkin, May 25, “ The untold secrets of driverless car videos. Dr. Lance Eliot joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a liveley discussion. Plus…Waymo brings back self driving trucks, so will Daimler and is the future driverless for Uber and Lyft. Tune in and subscribe!” Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 108 3rd Summit Wrapup
###
F. Fishkin, May 18, “Wrapping up the 3rd annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin zero in on mobility for all and more. It’s just getting started. Plus the headlines from Nissan, Tesla, Uber and Lyft. Tune in and subscribe!”
F. Fishkin, May 18, “In this special edition from the 3rd Annual Princeton Smart Driving Cars Summit, Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by RoboSense VP Leilei Shinohara on the LiDAR’s benefits. And view of autonomous technology from law enforcement with New York State Police
Staff Sergeant
Terence
McDonnell." [Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 106 3rd Summit David Kidd & Cecillia Feeley](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-106)
F. Fishkin, May 18, “From the 3rd Annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, David Kidd from the Highway Loss Data Institute joins Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin and then on site preliminary research results on mobility for all with Cecilia Feeley and Andrea Lubin from Rutgers.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 105 3rd Summit John Eggert & Kurtis Hodge
F. Fishkin, May 18, “At the third annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, Velodyne execs John Eggert and Vidya Devarasetty outline the latest, lower cost LiDAR. And co-hosts Alain Kornhauser and Fred Fishkin hop aboard the autonomous Olli for more with Local Motors Economist Kurtis Hodge.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 104 3rd Summit Anil Lewis & Katherine Freund
F. Fishkin, May 18,, “From the 3rd Annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit, join Professor Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. In this special edition, the summit’s focus on mobility for all with guests Anil Lewis, Executive Director of Blindness Initiatives at the National Federation of the Blind and ITN America Founder Katherine Freund.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 100 - Andrei Greenawalt’99/Via
April 5, F. Fishkin, “The success of on demand transit company Via is proving that ride sharing systems can work. Public Policy head Andrei Greenawalt joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a wide ranging discussion. Also: Uber, Tesla, Audi, Apple and Nuro are making headlines”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 98- Matt Daus
April 5, F. Fishkin, “Here comes congestion pricing in New York City…but what will it mean? Former city Taxi and Limousine Commission head and transportation expert Matthew Daus joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Also…Tesla, VW and even Brexit! All on Episode 98 of Smart Driving Cars.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 97 - Michael Sena’69
March 28, F. Fishkin, “The Future Networked Car? From Sweden, The Dispatcher publisher, Michael Sena, joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for the latest edition of Smart Driving Cars. Plus …the Boeing story has much to do with autonomous vehicles and more. Tune in and subscribe.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 82 -Intel, Sciarappo & Jitsik, Loeb
F. Fishkin, Jan. 9, “One of the top chip makers in the world and a start up. Intel’s strategic marketing director for autonomous driving Jill Sciarappo and the founder of Jitsik, Dr. Helen Loeb join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for Episode 82 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast from CES.” Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 81 -nVIDIA, Shapiro & Local Motors / Olli, Hodge
F. Fishkin, Jan. 9, “How NVIDIA is paving the way for self driving cars and a new OLLI automated transport from Local Motors. NVIDIA’s Senior Director for Automotive, Danny Shapiro and Kurtis Hodge of Local Motors join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for another edition of Smart Driving Cars from CES 2019..”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 75 - PAVE; Nantel, Erlich, Riccobono
###
F. Fishkin, Jan. 9, “From CES in Las Vegas, a new industry organization, PAVE, is formed. Partners for Automated Vehicle Education. And some founding members join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for an on site discussion. Guests include National Safety Council VP Kelly Nantel, Voyage VP Justin Erlich and National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono.”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 71-Nader’55
F. Fishkin, Dec. 13, “When it comes to self driving cars, Ralph Nader says “Not so fast.” The renowned political activist and author takes the government and the industry to task in a super sized Episode 71 of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast. Join Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more!” Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 69 - Chunka Mui
F. Fishkin, Nov 29, “What will it take for driverless vehicles to become a leading form of transportation? Futurist and author Chunka Mui joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 69 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus…Waymo, GM, Amazon and more. Tune in and subscribe! “
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 68 - Dick Mudge
F. Fishkin, Nov 22, “The insurance industry hears about the outlook for automated vehicles. Co-author Dick Mudge joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 68 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus…Uber, GM Cruise, Waymo, VW and more. Tune in and subscribe!” Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 66 - Bishop & Zimmerman
F. Fishkin, Nov 8, “Daimler is partnering with Bosch to bring an autonomous ride hailing service to San Jose next year. In this edition, the Director of Engineering at Bosch joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to outline how it will work. Plus Richard Bishop joins us fresh from an International Task Force on Vehicle Highway Automation in Denmark. And more!” Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 65 - Bernard Soriano, CA DMV
F. Fishkin, Nov 1, “California gives Waymo the green light for fully driverless vehicle testing on public roads and the state’s deputy director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Bernard Soriano, joins the Smart Driving Cars podcast with the no nonsense details. Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin explore that and more. Tune in and subscribe!”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 58-Keith Code, Motorcycles
F. Fishkin, Sept 22 “In this edition of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast, Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by the founder of the Superbike School, Keith Code. Keith is an instructor, coach, author and researcher into motorcycle safety…and a champion racer. Beyond that….he’s an old high school friend of Alain’s! And there’s more on BMW, Apple, VW and more! . Tune in and subscribe!”
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 55-Larry Burns, Autonomy
F. Fishkin, Sept 6, “The coming new world of driverless cars! In Episode 55 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast former GM VP and adviser to Waymo Larry Burns chats with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and Fred Fishkin about his new book “Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car and How it Will Reshape Our World”
Recent Highlights of:
#
###
June 21, 2019
Lexus Moves One Step Closer to a World Without Crashes (Lexus may have pulled the press release???) Press Release, June 19, “…Collisions that result in injury can often be caused by a delay in a driver’s recognition of the situation and his or her ability to react accordingly.
In a move to
help prevent
such accidents
before they
happen, the
Lexus Safety
System+ will
be a standard
feature in all
US Lexus
vehicles
starting with
the 2020 model
year. "We are
working toward
preventing
crashes before
they happen,"
said David
Christ, group
vice president
and general
manager, Lexus
Division."
That's why we
have developed
some of the
most advanced
safety
features on
the road
today, and now
those systems
will be
standard
equipment on
every model we
sell. ..Nice!...
Designed to help protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians, the Lexus Safety System+ is an integrated suite of four advanced active safety packages anchored by automated pre-collision warning and braking. They include:
- Pre-Collison System with Pedestrian Detection
This system is engineered to help detect a preceding vehicle or a pedestrian … why not also a stationary fire truck, or a car stopped at a controlled intersection, or a brick wall, or…??? NotGoodEnough!… Below see Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: The ADAS Road to AV Reality - #SmartDrivingCar… in front of the Lexus under certain conditions . Should the system detect a pedestrian or a potential frontal collision, it’s designed to activate an audible and visual alert while automatically preparing Brake Assist for increased braking response… why not also begin immediately to brake and slow down ? (Hint…“not sure” is not the right answer.) If the situation is sufficient for you to alert the driver why isn’t it good enough to immediately start to reduce the speed of the car. Worse case is that you added a couple of seconds to the trip. The driver can always override the brakes by pushing harder on the gas pedal if the driver insists on tailgating or is committing suicide or ???. NotGoodEnough!…. If the driver does not brake in time,… are you kidding?? You knew a crash was impending, and you waited until it was too late??? NotGoodEnough!… the system is designed to automatically begin braking before impact… and then you’ll slam on the brakes??? NotGoodEnough!… and, in some cases… Not most/many cases; just some cases??? NotGoodEnough!…, can even bring the vehicle to a stop
-
Lane Departure Alert …OK, but not Lane Centering…
-
Intelligent High Beams … Great…
-
Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
This system uses radar and camera technology to help maintain a preset speed and following distance from the vehicle ahead. If driving at highway speeds and the road ahead clears, the vehicle returns to its preset speed. …. Great, but a couple of questions… 1. If the system is on and I tap the brakes, does the system turn off just the acceleration function because it understands that I tapped the brakes because I felt that I was going too fast so the system should not override my explicit signal. Nice!! However, does it also assume that I really know what I’m doing? Consequently, it also turns off the brake function even in situations in which I am not applying enough brake forces and a crash is imminent? Does it again wait until it is too late and and refuse to help me in those critical moments? Then you’ll slam on the NotGoodEnough! (Note… my S Anti-lock Braking ystem explicitly overrides the way that I’m applying the brakes and keeps me from doing the wrong thing. Thank you ABS! What makes the AEB situation different when the system knows better and could really help me in an as critical situation?
2. What happens if the system is on and I’m following a car at my preset distance going 10 mph under my desired speed. The car ahead changes lanes because she sees that a parked fire truck is in our lane ahead. Once her car clears my lane ahead, does the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control system take into account the existence of the parked firetruck ahead and brings me to a smooth stop before hitting the Firetruck? Or, does the system begin to accelerate to my desired speed and simply leave it to the Pre-Collison System with Pedestrian Detection system to try to “save the day” after it is too late?……..”
Read more Hmmmm… Again, very nice that these features will be standard. It is really unfortunate that they are not better. Hopefully, since the limitations that I expressed above are all software related, Lexus will be able to do over-the-air (or otherwise) updates of the software as soon as Lexus has put more effort into the “intelligence” that uses the data streams generated by their cameras and radars Alain June 14, 2019 Hyundai self-driving deal points to industry-wide pattern T. Lee, June 13, “It has been a busy week for Aurora, the self-driving startup founded by veterans of the Google, Tesla, and Uber self-driving programs. On Monday, Aurora announced it had forged a partnership with Fiat Chrysler. On Tuesday, Aurora said it was ending its partnership with Volkswagen. Now Hyundai is deepening its partnership with Aurora with an equity investment.
It's the
latest example
of an
industry-wide
pattern: one
after another,
car companies
have made big
investments in
self-driving
startups. And
these deals
mean that
carmakers are
effectively
entering into
self-driving
alliances with
one
another....
All of the recent deals between car companies and self-driving companies could put Waymo in a difficult position. Waymo has been working on self-driving technology much longer than any of its rivals, and the company aimed to introduce a driverless taxi service long before others came to market. In that scenario, Waymo would have its choice of automotive partners, so Waymo has been keeping its options open.
But the
reality is
that Waymo
will need help
from
automakers to
scale up
rapidly. As
more and more
automakers
commit to
Waymo's
rivals, Waymo
risks becoming
stranded—with industry-leading sensors and software but limited capacity to integrate
the technology
into a large
number of
vehicles...."
[Read more](https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/06/hyundai-self-driving-deal-points-to-industry-wide-pattern/) Hmmmm... Good summary of "self-driving car"
partnerships
but, by
including
Waymo in the
mix, it is
conflating
what I
continue to
contend are
two VERY
different
markets...
Self-driving
and
Driverless.
What makes
them like oil
& vinegar
is that
self-driving
vehicles are
for the
Consumer
market and are
little
different from
conventional
cars.
Driverless
cars are for
the
Fleet/Business
market.
Self-driving cars require a driver in order to deliver any meaningful mobility or value. Their automation stack delivers additional comfort, convenience and safety to the auto industry’s existing customer base. As such it is a “consumer play” and requires no regulations or public oversight other than what exists today. Any safety issues can be handled through standard “product liability” and standard “NHTSA recall” procedures. Its market penetration evolution is like going from manual transmission to automatic transmission, as Tesla is demonstrating with AutoPilot. From outside the car, one can’t tell if it has it or doesn’t. It is a consumer choice at time of purchase.
Tesla is creating its own “automatic transmission”/”AutoPilot stack”. Other OEMs are hedging their bets by partnering with technology provider for their self-driving technology stack. They’ll continue to produce the rest of the car, as they have done for years, and possibly outsource their “automatic transmission” when the time comes.
Driverless cars are “mobility machines” when managed as a fleet delivering mobility to individuals. They are a “business play”. It is all about the economic efficiency/profitability in delivering mobility to individuals. The fundamental value is in the opportunity to provide consistent reliable affordable mobility at scale. The technology stack has taken the inconsistency, unreliability and monetary cost of a human driver out of the loop. Since algorithms, rather than people, tailor the service to meet individual needs, such systems scale attractively. All of this MUST be done safely without a driver/attendant, else the economics/affordability/scalability completely collapses.
From outside the car one can tell that there isn’t a driver in the driver’s seat. Consequently, public oversight at all levels from top to grass roots will need to be comfortable with this thing with no driver in it going down their street and invading their neighborhood and transporting their kids, grandmas, mobility disadvantaged, … . Everyone is going to weigh-in with perceptions and regulations. Consequently, the deployment of the technology is going to need to be “welcomed” . “Uber-like swashbuckling bravado isn’t going to cut is.
Driverless Mobility-as-a-Service is the market that Waymo (and GM/Cruise and Ford/Argo) have been going after. Because of its need to be “welcomed” (or at least not disdained) by the residents and businesses that abut the streets over which these vehicles deliver their mobility, the deployment dynamics for Driverless is very different from Self-driving. All Self-driving needs is for Madison Avenue / “Elon Musk” to convince individuals of the comfort and convenience of being able to have the car drive itself some of the time and they are sold. Driverless requires substantial public relations/education of communities to achieve “welcoming”. A real “ground war”. That is what Waymo (and GM/Cruise and Ford/Argo) needs to conduct to just get started. Once started Waymo need to continue it to scale (Value is achieved only with scale).
Finding OEMs that will sell Waymo cars on which to affix its technology stack will not be the problem. The car is the commodity. The welcoming of the technology stack by communities is the fundamental differentiator. Waymo is sitting on an order for at least 82,000 cars from FCA and Jaguar. The order has been announced, but not executed because insufficient “ground warfare” has even been waged, let alone been successful (except in Arizona). With welcoming environment these 82,000 mobility machines could be serving 4 million person trips per day in communities throughout the country. (Note… our nation’s transit systems today (only) serve an equivalent number of person trips; although they are longer trips taken in much more densely populated areas. The Waymo-served trips would likely be trips that our conventional transit systems can’t effectively serve and thus complement conventional transit. Some of the trips would replace auto trips. The others would be new trips by persons who can’t or don’t want to drive their own car for whatever reason and whose lives have been substantially disadvantaged because their mobility needs aren’t effectively served by either the personal car or conventional mass transit.
The other elephants in the room that aren’t mentioned in the article are SoftBank and Tesla. Today Tesla “owns” the Self-driving market and SoftBank is “involved” with essentially everyone except Tesla and Waymo. Alain June 8, 2019
[What Truck Drivers Think About Autonomous Trucking](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/business/truck-drivers-autonomous-trucking.html) W.
MacNaughton,
June 1, "We've
all heard
about the
advent of
Autonomous
Trucking - but
mostly from
people who
work in the
tech
industry. So
this week,
I've been
visiting (and
sleeping,
eating and
showering in)
truck stops in
Nevada, Utah
and Idaho to
hear what truck
drivers
themselves
have to say
about the
future of the
profession.
..." [Read more](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/business/truck-drivers-autonomous-trucking.html) Hmmmm... This is excellent. One thing that was
missed... If
done
appropriately,
(operative
word here is
appropriately,
not really
what has been
done so
far...) ...
""autonomy"
could help me
drive much
more safely
and really
help me if it
focused on
reducing the
stress or
anxiety that
driving causes
me. It would
really be nice
if I could
relax and
think about
something else
at least some
of the time
when I drive.
Much of
driving is
very simple...
but very
boring. Please
help me do my
job more
safely. I'll
then be fresh
and really be
able to handle
the tough hard
stuff. Do for
me what
automation
does for
pilots. I'm
just as
important."
Alain
Saturday, June 1, 2019
[Uber's First Earnings Report After I.P.O.: $1 Billion Loss](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/technology/uber-stock-earnings.html) K. Conger,
May 30,
"Uber's start
as a publicly
traded company
has gone from
bumpy to
bumpier. In
its first
earnings
report since
listing its
shares on the
stock market
this month,
the
ride-hailing
giant on
Thursday
reported its
slowest growth
in years and
steep losses
for the first
three months
of 2019..." [Read more](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/technology/uber-stock-earnings.html) Hmmmm... In its most basic form, the ride hailing
business has
revenue ($r)
and costs ($c)
proportional
to number of
rides (R).
Let $r = A*R
and $c = B*R.
So
Profitability
(P) { P = ($r
-$c) = (A - B)
* R } is all
about (A - B)
. We know
that at
today's
ridership,
R(now),
(A(now)
-B(now)) is
negative. We
also know that
as ridership
increases, new
drivers will
need to be
paid more (B
gets bigger),
simply because
the demand for
driver
services goes
up. We also
know that to
attract more
riders,
revenue per
ride will
necessarily go
down (A gets
smaller).
Yikes...
Ride-hailing
faces a double
whammy... as
it scales
(gets more
people to
ride) it loses
even more from
the average
rider than it
does today
plus that
bigger
negative
number gets
multiplied by
a bigger
number of
rides.
When each unit incurs a loss, making up losses by increasing volume is known to not be a viable approach. Increasing volume when unit losses increase with increasing volume is really not viable!
The only road to profitability, other than a major pivot, is to be more discriminating in who you serve… Serve fewer riders. Unfortunately, when you finally get Ridership small enough so that A-B is positive, that number gets multiplied by a smaller number of riders such that the gross amount is nowhere near sufficient to justify valuations greater than that of a lemonade stand. Uber serves about 1B trips per quarter, which means today, they loses $1/ride. To be worth $40B they need to make $1 on each of the 4B trips they serve per year. How Uber gets from a history of losing $1/ride to making $1/ride @ 4B rides/year is an open question. As is making $10/ride @ 400M rides/year? As is making $0.10/ride @ 40B rides per year? Alain
May 28, 2019
[June 2019 Issue](https://www.dropbox.com/s/1a9lj7cjgtdzzcz/The%20Dispatcher_June%202019.pdf?dl=0)
M. Sena, May
22," In This
Issue: Third
Annual
Princeton
SmartDrivingCar
Summit ... A fantastic 7 page detailed summary of the 3rd
Annual
Princeton
SmartDrivingCar
Summit. Thank
you!!!...
European Commission is getting it wrong on V2X … A most well-written and well-supported critical assessment of the EU Transport Commission’s recommendation on Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS). Read it carefully, including “There is justice after all”… European Parliament’s reply to the Transport Commission’s recommendation. …
Dispatch
Central
Toyota
backs off IEEE
WAVE in U.S.
...
More details
on Toyota's
evolving
position on
V2X
communication
standards....
Uber: A
Fool's Gold ... Yup!
FCA and
Tesla: Strange
bedfellows .
...
I did not know
that!...
Tesla's
fifteen
minutes of
European fame.
...
March Model 3
sales in EU
of 15k. If
April is
greater than
5k, fame may
have legs....
A Road
Trip Down
Memory Lane ... Read with a smile....
A Dispatcher's
Musings:
Here's looking
at you, kid ... Everything has a downside. I like to tell my
students that
one of the
things that
the human
brain does
very well if
"forget".
"Optimal
Learning"
needs some
"Optimal
Forgetting"
where the
objective
function is
Personal
Privacy.
Sure, observe
all you want
to give me
short-term
convenience/pleasure,
but erase all
the data
before anyone
can use it to
hurt me, where
both the convenience/pleasure and the hurt are from my perspective, not
yours!!
Read more Hmmmm… In the aftermath of the Summit, reading and grading the student’s final projects in my course and awarding final grades, I misses Michael Sena’s early release of the June issue of his Dispatcher. It is so excellent that I put out this special edition focused just on it. Enjoy every word!!! Alain
May 25, 2019
[Speed cameras are coming to Philadelphia's deadliest road](https://kywnewsradio.radio.com/articles/news/speed-cameras-are-coming-philadelphias-deadliest-road) P.
Loeb, May 16,
"...Sponsor
Cherelle
Parker says
the cameras
will
photograph any
car going more
than 11 miles
per hour over
the speed limit..."
[Read more](https://kywnewsradio.radio.com/articles/news/speed-cameras-are-coming-philadelphias-deadliest-road) Hmmmm... I really don't understand. What is the
meaning of the
word [limit](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/limit)
? (Hint.... "the utmost extent")
So for humans a “speed” limit is actually a “Speed +10” limit. That mean I can set my Cruise Control to “Speed Limit” +10 and I’ll be just fine. Does that also mean that I can code my driverless car “to do +10”??? If not, then why does a person capable of getting a driver’s license get to go faster than a person who can’t get a driver’s license who is relegated to be driven by an autonomousTaxi (aTaxi) that is mandated to drive at a slower speed???? (Please don’t tell me it is because the accuracy of the speed sensor is not precise (aka reliable enough). May I use that excuse in my aTaxi code?) This is a serious question! There needs to be a level regulatory (rules of the road/traffic laws) playing field established for aTaxis and human drivers. This is NOT easy (but it could be as simple as:
SpeedLimit(aTaxi) = SpeedLimit (Humans) + 10
StopSign(aTaxi) = SropSign(Humans) +RollOnThrough if no one is around
RedLight(aTaxi) = Redlight(Humans) + 3 more cars after the yellow, except in Boston where 5 more car after the yellow… Alain
May 18, 2019
[Making Smart Vehicles to Improve the Human Condition](https://www.dropbox.com/s/y044kwkcvpsudmj/KenPyleSummary_3rd-SmartDrivingCar%20SummitWithLinks.pdf?dl=0)
K. Pyle, May 17,
"3.5 million and
5+ million
deaths per year
are a couple of
the statistics
that stood out
from the 2+ day,
3rd annual
SmartDrivingCars
Summit at
Princeton. There
are
approximately
3.5 million
individuals in
the United
States who never
leave their
homes and
approximately
1.9M of those
people have
disabilities,
according to
Robbie Diamond,
President &
CEO of SAFE. He
went on to say
that,
"Transportation
is the biggest
predictor of
inter-generational
upward
mobility."
His comments
echoed the
conference theme
of improving
mobility for all
people,
especially the
mobility
marginalized, to
paraphrase
Professor Alain
Kornhauser.
Kornhauser
brought together
participants
from multiple
disciplines and
backgrounds to
an event that is
like no other.
This year, he
introduced a
research element
where there were
a couple
different
opportunities to
gauge the
reactions of
everyday people
of varying
abilities to
various levels
of autonomous
vehicles...." [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/y044kwkcvpsudmj/KenPyleSummary_3rd-SmartDrivingCar%20SummitWithLinks.pdf?dl=0) Hmmmm... Ken, thank you for such an excellent summary
and all of the
help. Alain
May 12, 2019
Self-driving car company Cruise raises $1.15bn S. Bond, May 7, “Cruise, the self-driving division of General Motors, has landed a fresh $1.15bn in funding, boosting its valuation to $19bn including the new funds and giving it additional firepower to launch a planned robo-taxi service this year.
The investment
came from T
Rowe Price,
the mutual
fund manager,
as well as
existing
Cruise
investors
SoftBank's
Vision Fund,
Honda and GM,
the carmaker
said in a
statement.
Including the
latest round,
Cruise has
raised $7.25bn
in equity in
the past year,
following
previous
injections
from Honda and
SoftBank.
.. " [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/m90twzjmbxcwji9/The-Dispatcher_May-2019.pdf?dl=0) Hmmmm... Refer back to [Inside SoftBank's push to rule the road](https://www.autonews.com/technology/inside-softbanks-push-rule-road) .
What if
SoftBank added
Tesla to [this chart](https://www.dropbox.com/s/82mtqv0lkbpk4vg/SoftBankAV_Investments.jpg?dl=0).
That really
creates a
2-person race
with Waymo.
Duopolies
aren't bad.
Alain
May 5, 2019
[VW Inclusive Mobility aims to make sure tech takes care of everyone](https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/vw-inclusive-mobility-initiative/) A. Krok, May
2, "You can't
please all the
people all the
time, but
Volkswagen
wants to make
sure that when
it moves into
the next era
of mobility,
it won't leave
any groups
behind.
Volkswagen this week unveiled its Inclusive Mobility Initiative, which sees the automaker working directly with outside groups to ensure that its future vehicles are capable of catering to people with disabilities…” Read more Hmmmm…This is fantastic and may well be in line with the focus we’ve taken with the Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit 10 days from now. Our focus is on all people who have been marginalized by the unnecessary/non-inclusive/exclusive designs of our current forms of mobility, . These designs are especially irresponsible when one no longer needs a person to drive… to keep the car from crashing while on its way from where people are to where the want to go. What an enormous opportunity to be of service to so many that for what ever reason don’t want or can’t perform that task. Yes, there are situations in which a professional is required. At times, we all need we all need that the help of a professional. But for all of those situations in which a professional is not needed, we have an enormous opportunity to be so much more inclusive by removing the other unnecessary exclusivities that have consciously or unconsciously crept into our cars and transit systems. Our mobility systems no longer need to be big and hold many people to make them affordable, no driver needs to be paid. They no longer need to be constrained to only go between the few places than many want to go between at only certain times. They can readily serve where only a few, even one, want to go between at whatever time. The skill set needed to use and be served diminishes to the skill set needed by the easiest to use elevator. And so on…
Be sure to look VW’s Inclusive Mobility Initiative. Hopefully it encompasses and levels the mobility field for the people that its cars have marginalized for 100 years. Alain May 3, 2019
###
Tesla’s autonomy event: Impressive progress with an unrealistic timeline
April 5, 2019
Congestion Pricing Plan for NYC is Coming!
March 29, 2019
10 Lessons From Uber’s Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash Hmmmm…. New Jersey is now started. Hooray!! Alain%20(1)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl)
March 17, 2019 [Automated vehicles could provide mobility to the 'mobility disadvantaged'](https://planetprinceton.com/2019/03/13/automated-vehicles-could-provide-mobility-to-the-mobility-disadvantaged/)
###
A. Kornhauser, March 13, “The following testimony was provided to the New Jersey State Assembly’s Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on Monday, March 11….
What we need, what my ask is, that we create in New Jersey a “welcoming environment” for the research, testing and demonstration of this technology and work to focusing it on improving the mobility of the mobility disadvantaged…
While such a demonstration is not prohibited in New Jersey, it is not permitted.
Consequently, this provides excuses and hurdles to bringing such mobility to our communities and tarnishes any other welcoming efforts aimed at enabling New Jersey to lead instead of follow in what may well address the fundamental objective of this hearing.” Read more Hmmmm….Seems so simple. I have found it so incredibly hard. Alain%20(1)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl)
March 1, 2019
[FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT Lyft, Inc.](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000119312519059849/d633517ds1.htm) [Autonomous Vehicles](http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/workshops/autonomous-vehicles/?tab=overview)
Feb 25, " This
workshop
brought
together
experts in
cyber-physical
systems,
machine
learning,
transportation
engineering,
and applied
mathematics,
both from
academia and
from industry,
to help bridge
the technical
gaps and to
facilitate
exchange and
collaboration
across
disciplinary
boundaries..."
[Read more](http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/workshops/autonomous-vehicles/?tab=overview)
Hmmmm....
Slides and
videos of the
presentations
are available
[here.](http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/workshops/autonomous-vehicles/?tab=schedule)
In particular,
see..:
-
Andrea Censi: “Liability, Ethics, and Culture-Aware Behavior Specification using Rulebooks” Abstract, Slides, video (via click on Schedule 11:30 Monday;
-
Adam Oberman:”Generalization and adversarial robustness of Regularized Deep Neural Networks “ Abstract, Slides, video (via click on Schedule 11:30 Tuesday);
-
Alain Kornhauser: “Market Forces and Market Potential for SmartDrivingCars (aka Autonomous Vehicles) “ Slides,video, (via click on Schedule 11:15 Tuesday);
-
Hani Mahmassani: “Shared Autonomous Fleet Services and Multimodal Urban Mobility: Optimization, Prediction and Dynamic Network Modeling “ Abstract, video, (via click on Schedule 4:00 Thursday);
Facing opposition, Amazon scraps New York HQ2 plans January 25, 2019
Amazon tests autonomous vehicle for deliveries
Market Framework and Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems R. Mudge, A. Kornhauser, M. Hardison, Nov, 2018 “The surface transportation industry is in the early stages of a series of profound changes, stimulated by the development of increasingly sophisticated driving safety and automation technologies. Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the speed with which these changes will take place and the nature of their impacts on safety, the overall demand for travel, vehicle sales, and vehicle ownership. This report does not attempt to forecast the pace of these changes, instead advancing a list of “trigger points” that might serve as leading indicators of change….
What might
these changes
mean for
actuaries and
the insurance
industry?
Since
Driverless
vehicles will
most likely be
available only
to fleet
operators and
not the
general
public, their
actuarial and
insurance
implication
will differ
substantially
from the
implications
of Safe and
Self
technologies
that will be
on vehicles
purchased by
consumers.
But, will
these vehicles
continue to be
insured in the
same way as
personal
vehicles are
today or will
this practice
change in some
way. For
example, if
the burden of
liability
shifts to the
technology
rather than
the driver,
then should
actuaries
focus on
product
liability
rather than
personal
liability? To
what extent
does
technology
rather than
personal
behavior or
demographics
become the
important link
to liability?
" [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/rbrei4tuxbh7fls/SocietyOfActuaries_market-framework-automated-vehicle2018.pdf?dl=0) Hmmmm....
This is a very
good report.
Listen to [SmartDrivingCar Podcast 68 with Dick Mudge](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-68). (Of
course, I'm
biased. )
Alain
A Green Light for Waymo’s Driverless Testing in California
New Jersey Pending Legislation re: Autonomous Vehicles
Oct 16, Establishes fully autonomous vehicle pilot program A4573 Sponsors: Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14)
Oct 16, EstablishesNew Jersey Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Task Force AJR164 Sponsors: Benson (D14); Zwicker (D16); Lampitt (D6)
Oct 16, [Directs MVC to establish driver's license endorsement for autonomous vehicles A4541](https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A5000/4541_I1.PDF)
Sponsors:
Zwicker (D16);
Benson (D14);
Lampitt
(D6)..." [Read more](https://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/PDFs/NVIDIA-Self-Driving-Safety-Report-2018.pdf) Hmmmm....
Things are
beginning to
move in New
Jersey. Alain
Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM
15, 2018
Waymo’s early rider program, one year in
June 12, 2018
3, 2018
[Waymo's fleet of self-driving minivans is about to get 100 times bigger](https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/31/17412908/waymo-chrysler-pacifica-minvan-self-driving-fleet)
May 25, 2018
PRELIMINARY REPORT: HIGHWAY: HWY18MH010 (Uber/Herzberg Crash)
May 24, “About 9:58 p.m., on Sunday, March 18, 2018, an Uber Technologies, Inc. test vehicle, based on a modified 2017 Volvo XC90 and operating with a self-driving system in computer control mode, struck a pedestrian on northbound Mill Avenue, in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona.
…The vehicle was factory equipped with several advanced driver assistance functions by Volvo Cars, the original manufacturer. The systems included a collision avoidance function with automatic emergency
braking, known
as City
Safety, as
well as
functions for
detecting
driver
alertness and
road sign
information.
All these
Volvo
functions are
disabled when
the test
vehicle is
operated in
computer
control..."[Read more](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/PDFs/NTSBuberPreliminaryMay2018.pdf)
Hmmmm....
Uber must
believe that
its systems
are better at
avoiding
Collisions and
Automated
Emergency
Braking than
Volvo's.
At least this
gets Volvo
"off the
hook".
“…According to data obtained from the self-driving system, the system first registered radar and LIDAR observations of the pedestrian about 6 seconds before impact, when the vehicle was traveling at 43 mph…” (= 63 feet/second) So the system started “seeing an obstacle when it was 63 x 6 = 378 feet away… more than a football field, including end zones!
“…As the vehicle and pedestrian paths converged, the self-driving system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object, as a vehicle, and then as a bicycle with varying expectations of future travel path…” (NTSB: Please tell us precisely when it classified this “object’ as a vehicle and be explicit about the expected “future travel paths.” Forget the path, please just tell us the precise velocity vector that Uber’s system attached to the “object”, then the “vehicle”. Why didn’t the the Uber system instruct the Volvo to begin to slow down (or speed up) to avoid a collision? If these paths (or velocity vectors) were not accurate, then why weren’t they accurate? Why was the object classified as a “Vehicle” ?? When did it finally classify the object as a “bicycle”? Why did it change classifications? How often was the classification of this object done. Please divulge the time and the outcome of each classification of this object. In the tests that Uber has done, how often has the system mis-classified an object as a “pedestrian”when the object was actually an overpass, or an overhead sign or overhead branches/leaves that the car could safely pass under, or was nothing at all?? (Basically, what are the false alarm characteristics of Uber’s Self-driving sensor/software system as a function of vehicle speed and time-of-day?)
“…At 1.3 seconds before impact, (impact speed was 39mph = 57.2 ft/sec) the self-driving system determined that an emergency braking maneuver was needed to mitigate a collision” (1.3 x 57.2 = 74.4 ft. which is about equal to the braking distance. So it still could have stopped short.
“…According to Uber, emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control, to reduce (eradicate??) the potential for erratic vehicle behavior. …” NTSB: Please describe/define potential and erratic vehicle behavior Also please uncover and divulge the design & decision process that Uber went through to decide that this risk (disabling the AEB) was worth the reward of eradicating “ “erratic vehicle behavior”. This is fundamentally BAD design. If the Uber system’s false alarm rate is so large that the best way to deal with false alarms is to turn off the AEB, then the system should never have been permitted on public roadways.
“…The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action. “ Wow! If Uber’s system fundamentally relies on a human to intervene, then Uber is nowhere near creating a Driverless vehicle. Without its own Driverless vehicle Uber is past “Peak valuation”.
“…The system is not designed to alert the operator. “ That may be the only good part of Uber’s design. In a Driverless vehicle, there is no one to warn, so don’t waste your time. If it is important enough to warn, then it is important enough for the automated system to start initiating things to do something about it. Plus, the Driver may not know what to do anyway. This is pretty much as I stated in PodCast 30 and the 24 edition of May 10, 2018
Thursday, April 26, 2018
###
###
###
###
###
###
This startup’s CEO wants to open-source self-driving car safety testing
March 24,
2018
April 17, 2017
Don’t Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto
Extracting Cognition out of Images for the Purpose of Autonomous Driving
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 especially at the 13:12 mark. Compelling; especially after the 60 Minutes segment above! Also see his TipRanks. Alain
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