10th edition of the 8th year of SmartDrivingCars
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alt="" class="" width="43"
height="31"> Call
to Action on Children in
Autonomous Vehicles
AVs must be developed, regulations upgraded and laws passed to ensure children will be properly restrained, have the highest level of protection in a crash, and can be appropriately supervised during a trip. This panel believes it is imperative that minor children never be transported without appropriate supervision by a parent, guardian or caregiver until best practices are adopted.
We’re asking developers to commit to the following actions: ... " Read more Hmmmm... Given that one of the largest mobility marginalized groups are individuals that are too young to drive, including the very young that require supervision as well as those that are old enough to ride alone, this focus group is very important and very pertinent. Alain
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Smart Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 145 - L. Walker
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Smart Driving Cars
Podcast Episode 144 - L.
Shinohara
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alt="" width="38"
height="30"> World’s
First Smart LiDAR Sensor
Will Be Demonstrated at
CES2020 with On-Vehicle
Public Road Test
Press release, Jan. 3, "RoboSense, the world’s leading autonomous driving LiDAR perception solution provider, announced today that the solid-state LiDAR RS-LiDAR-M1Simple(Simple Sensor Version) is now ready for customer delivery, priced at $1,898. The new RS-LiDAR-M1Simple is less than half the size of the previous version, with dimensions of 4.3” x 1.9” x 4.7” (110mm x 50mm x 120mm), and is equipped with enhanced hardware performance virtually equal to the serial production version provided to OEMs. The main body design of this automotive-grade solid-state LiDAR is finalized and ready for shipment...." Read more Hmmmm... Listen to Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 144 above. Alain
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alt="" class=""
width="133" height="21">
The
U.S. and EU Can Still
Save Their Car
Industries
M. Sena, March 2020,
"What does the
incarceration of car
industry executives have
to do with Tesla selling
367,000 cars in 2019, 50%
more than in 2018? And
what do both of these
facts have to do with the
U.S. and the EU
governments unwittingly
reducing the
competitiveness of their
automotive companies
compared to their
competitors in China that
are receiving maximum
financial and political
support? I will de-scribe
the connections, how we
arrived at where we are
today and where we are
headed unless Western
vehicle manufacturers’ and
politicians take
concerted, coordinated and
effective action. It’s not
too late—yet.... " Read
more
Hmmmm...
Another absolutely
wonderful and most
well written expose
on the fate of the
traditional auto
industry. Michael
will welcome your
feedback. Alain
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alt="" class=""> Introducing
the 5th-generation Waymo
Driver: Informed by
experience, designed for
scale, engineered to
tackle more environments
S. Jeachandran, Mar. 4
"... In order to navigate
the complexities of
driving - from the biker
weaving and speeding
through traffic on a foggy
San Francisco morning, to
the family pet rushing
into the street to greet
you at night - the Waymo
Driver uses a
comprehensive view of its
surroundings and a
detailed understanding of
its environment to
accurately reason about
its next move. No one type
of sensor on its own can
provide that level of
detail in all operating
conditions; therefore,
we've spent over a decade
developing a single
integrated system
comprised of complementary
sensors to give our Driver
this comprehensive view of
the world so that it can
safely navigate complex
environments.
Over the past few months,
people have begun to
notice more of our latest
Waymo Driver cruising in
the San Francisco Bay
Area, especially since our
all-electric Jaguar
I-Paces look a little
different thanks to our
latest hardware sensor
suite. Informed by 20
million self-driven miles
on public roads and over
10 billion miles of
simulation, engineered to
tackle an even more
diverse range of complex
driving environments with
unparalleled capabilities,
our completely redesigned
fifth-generation hardware
sensor suite will enable
the scaled deployment of
the Waymo Driver.
Here’s a look at each of
the sensors that form the
latest generation to
inform the Waymo
Driver...." Read
more
Hmmmm... A must
read. See also Andrew
Hawkin's
comments on this
announcement.
Alain
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alt="" class=""
width="56" height="30">
CONGESTION
AT THE CURB
H. Campbell & B.
Schlecter, Jan 2020, "An
Analysis of Ride-Hailing
at LAX and
recommendations to
Optimize the TNC System
at Airports. What
started as a novel way to
hail a ride with an app is
now a multi-billion dollar
industry with millions of
drivers and hundreds of
millions of passengers
worldwide. While many have
enjoyed the comfort and
ease of hailing a
Transportation Network
Company (TNC) ride, cities
are now dealing with the
negative effects of tens
of thousands of extra cars
on the road.
Airports have always been
one of the most
challenging arenas for
TNCs. We’ve come a long
way since the days of
unregulated pick-ups and
drop-offs, and while
nearly all major airports
now have agreements with
Uber and Lyft, the volume
of passengers being
dropped off and picked up
on an hourly basis often
exceeds airport capacity.
Combine that with more and
more flights every year,
and aging infrastructure,
and you have a recipe for
serious problems when it
comes to getting people in
and out of airports.
Airports around the
country are attempting to
deal with the sudden
influx of ride-hail
passengers, but Los
Angeles International
Airport (LAX) was one of
the first to implement an
off-terminal pick-up site,
a major structural change
to the TNC pick-up
process. This report aims
to examine the change,
provide recommendations to
optimize the system, and
analyze how other airports
around the country can
learn from this process to
ensure a smooth transition
when it comes time for
them to face their own
ride-hail problems.... "
Read
more
Hmmmm... This
is a very important
report that is
certainly relevant
to the
infrastructure side
of creating
Operational Design
Domains (ODDs) that
include a safe and
welcoming interface
for large volumes of
customers.
Unfortunately, this
report's Allow
Pickups for Shared
Rides at the
Terminals
section doesn't go
far enough
emphasizing sharing
rides. There is no mention of the opportunity to have users who
are going in
the same
direction to
match
themselves up
dynamically in
real-time.
Same thing
doesn't happen
at the taxi
line at Las
Vegas airport,
even on the
first day of
CES. The
attendant at
the head of
the taxi line
outside of
Union Station
has been doing
(or maybe had
been doing
before
Uber/Lyft
showed up)
this most
effectively
and
efficiently
since at least
1975, using
only his
brain.
The report's Recommendation section has 3 focused on enhancing ride-sharing, but fails to recognize the opportunity to dynamically assemble shared rides right up to the point at which customers get into the vehicle. People wait outside the terminal to get into these vehicles. The priority line (the shortest line) should be composed of those who are willing to share a vehicle. The opportunity to ride together should exist right up to the time the vehicle is boarded (have "Re-Match" operate all the way up to the time that the car is ready to leave the priority line). Create the perception, and the reality, that "if you are willing to share you'll get out of the airport faster than if you don't" (and cheaper, but airport user's most valued commodity is time. They are typically spending someone else's money, but time is theirs!) Make ride-sharing a virtue rather than burden.
People
aren't assembled
into a shared
elevator as they
enter a building, or
before they leave
their room in a
hotel. They
assemble at the
elevator bank (and
they do it
themselves.)
Ride
sharing is the most
important
environmental and
de-congestion opportunity afforded by LAX-it and
it needs much more
emphasis and
attemtion. Alain
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alt="" class=""
width="110" height="23">
Tesla
Autopilot is going to
detect potholes and make
mini-maps to remember
them
F. Lambert, Feb 5,
"Tesla’s Autopilot, which
the automaker is trying to
turn into a self-driving
system, is going to detect
potholes and make
mini-maps to remember
them, according to a new
comment from CEO Elon
Musk. In order to achieve
full self-driving, a
system would have to be
able to handle a wide
range of different
scenarios, including
different weather and road
conditions. These
conditions, like potholes,
can sometimes be difficult
for human drivers to
handle, and some people
find it improbable that
self-driving systems will
be able to appropriately
navigate them.... " Read
more
Hmmmm...
Given NTSB's
findings in the Huang
Tesla crash,
instead, or in
addition to
classifying and
geo-coding potholes,
Tesla should
classify and
geo-code poor/bad
paint stripping
locations, including
all of the gore
areas that don't
have zebra striping
as well as all
locations where
autoPilot has
challenges with lane
striping. They then
could use this
information to
assist, alert Tesla
drivers, but more
importantly, help
all human drivers by
making this
information
available to DoTs so
that they could
properly paint these
locations to help
everyone drive more
safely.
If they don't wish to perform this public service, then they should release their data so that I or someone else can do this. Alain
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alt="" class=""
width="156" height="24">
GM
plunges deeper into the
EV market with a
$20-billion spending
plan
Chief Executive Mary Barra said GM would spend $20 billion on its electric and automated vehicle programs over the next five years, at which point it intends to be selling a million EVs a year in the U.S. and China. Key to the strategy is a joint venture with South Korea’s LG Chem that aims to boost driving range to 400 miles or more while reducing costs. “We believe climate change is real,” Barra said. The company’s aggressive move into EVs, she said, “will dramatically change the future of this company and our industry.”
California, and the coastal states in the U.S. in general, has proved more amenable to EVs, giving GM the opportunity for faster growth beyond its base in mid-America. “We sell the most vehicles in the country right now,” she said. “We’re unrepresented on the coasts. It’s a huge opportunity for us.”" Read more Hmmmm... Interesting. Alain
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width="38"
height="42"
border="0"> Draft
Program 4th
Annual
Princeton
SmartDrivingCar
Summit
evening May 19 through
May 21, 2020 (Tickets are
limited, register
before May 1)
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alt="" class=""> Waymo
rakes in $2.25 billion
in self-driving unit’s
first external
fundraising
A. Hawkins, Mar. 2, "aymo just announced a significant milestone: its first external fundraising round. The self-driving division of Alphabet raked in $2.25 billion in a funding round led by Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi. Additional investors include Magna International, Andreessen Horowitz, and AutoNation, as well as Alphabet. To date, Waymo has been an outlier in the world of self-driving cars, relying almost exclusively on the largesse of its corporate parent. That changes with today’s announcement, shifting Waymo into an uncertain but potentially lucrative new phase.
Waymo CEO John Krafcik framed it as an expansion of the roster of automakers, fleet logistics firms, transit agencies, and delivery companies with which Waymo already has partnerships. “We’re expanding that team, adding financial investors and important strategic partners who bring decades of experience investing in and supporting successful technology companies building transformative products,” Krafcik said in a statement. “With this injection of capital and business acumen, alongside Alphabet, we’ll deepen our investment in our people, our technology, and our operations, all in support of the deployment of the Waymo Driver around the world."
...Waymo only provides its fully driverless rides (i.e. no safety driver) to customers who have signed NDAs with the company and not as part of its consumer-facing Waymo One service. The comparison to San Francisco is noteworthy because that is where Cruise is testing its self-driving cars in the hopes of eventually launching a similar ride-hailing service (which it argues is more complex than suburban Phoenix). The fifth generation of Waymo’s self-driving system is expected to roll out this year as part of its new fleet of Jaguar I-Paces. And to my knowledge, this is the first time Waymo is giving a name to its self-driving truck and delivery pursuits: Waymo Via...." Read more Hmmmm... Very interesting, informative and important. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="116"
height="20"> Under
the Hood of Uber
ATG’s Machine
Learning
Infrastructure
and Versioning
Control Platform
for Self-Driving
Vehicles
Y. Guo, Mar. 4, "As Uber
experienced exponential
growth over the last few
years, now supporting 14
million trips each day,
our engineers proved they
could build for scale.
That value extends to
other areas, including
Uber ATG (Advanced
Technologies Group) and
its quest to develop
self-driving vehicles.
A significant portion of
this work involves
creating machine learning
(ML) models to handle
tasks such as processing
sensor input, identifying
objects, and predicting
where those objects might
go. The many models needed
to solve this problem, and
the large team of
engineers working on them,
creates a management and
versioning issue in
itself.
We initially address this
problem by defining a
five-step life cycle for
the training and
deployment of ML models in
our self-driving vehicles.
This life cycle begins
with data ingestion and
goes all the way to model
serving, with steps along
the way to ensure our
models perform well. This
process lets us
effectively accelerate the
iteration of our
self-driving vehicle
components, continually
refining them to perform
to the highest
standards...." Read
more
Hmmmm... Very
worth reading and
pondering. Alain
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alt="" class=""> This
cheerful Waymo ad
highlights all the ways
we’ll use self-driving
cars in our daily lives
A. Hawkins, Mar. 3,
"Waymo came out with a new
ad today that presents a
cheerful, very
Google-esque look at how
the self-driving company
plans to eventually make
money: ride-hailing,
delivery, trucking, and
logistics. The ad comes on
the heels of the
announcement that the
Alphabet-owned company
has, for the first time,
raised $2.25
billion in outside
investment....." Read
more
Hmmmm... All
part of the early
deployment strategy
that has the
opportunity to
scale. Be sure to
see the video.
Alain
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alt="" class=""> Uber
driver reclassified as
employee in France
R. Dillet, Mar. 4,"France’s
Court of Cassation, a court
of last resort, has ruled
that a former Uber driver
should have been considered
an employee instead of a
self-employed partner. As
the Court of Cassation is
the supreme court of appeal
in that case, Uber can no
longer appeal the decision.Back in June 2017, an Uber driver filed a lawsuit against Uber because their account had been deactivated. A labor court first refused to look at the case, saying that the court couldn’t rule on that case as it didn’t involve an employee and an employer.
Another court in Paris then took care of the case and ruled that there was an employment relationship between that Uber driver and Uber itself. According to the court, there was a relationship of subordination between the company and the driver — in other words, the driver was following orders from Uber.
In particular, the Paris court said that the driver couldn’t build their own customer base and couldn’t set prices. The driver also argued that Uber was overseeing their work, as they would receive a message that said “Are you still there?” after declining three rides...." Read more Hmmmm... Typical French. Now the cost of the driver will make Uber even less affordable and effectively precludes Uber from becoming anything more that your father's taxi service. (Are taxi drivers in France employees?)
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alt="" width="103"
height="17"> What
European Consumers Think
about Connected Car Data
and Privacy
L. Rosner, March 2020,
"... In 2018, we
commissioned Edison
Research to field a
consumer survey in the
United States. In that
survey, we saw significant
interest among consumers
for new services based on
connected car data and a
high willingness to share
car data in order to
access these services.
However, these same
consumers expressed
general concerns about
sharing their data with
apps and services—a
finding that did not
surprise us, since the
survey was fielded just a
few months after the
Facebook-Cambridge
Analytica scandal had
broken and just as the
European General Data
Protection Regulation
(GDPR) was coming into
e ect.
But we also wanted to
find out what European
consumers think and were
excited to be able to
collaborate with SBD
Automotive on this
research, which was
fielded in December 2019
and January 2020. We were
encouraged to see clear
signs of a budding
ecosystem with growth
potential, but we also saw
the need for OEMs and
service providers alike to
provide more evangelism
and more transparency
about their data
practices. This report
will delve into our
findings and provide
actionable takeaways to
stakeholders in the
connected car ecosystem.
Enjoy the read!..." Read
more
Hmmmm... An
interesting read.
Alain
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alt="" class=""> Lyft
ramps up self-driving
program
K. Korosec, Feb 28, "...
“Lyft Inc. did not operate
any vehicles in autonomous
mode on California public
roads during the reporting
period,” the letter read.
“As such, Lyft Inc. has no
autonomous mode
disengagements to report.”The 2019 data tells a different story. Lyft had 19 autonomous vehicles testing on public roads in California in 2019, according to data released earlier this week by the CA DMV. Those 19 vehicles, which operated during the reporting period of December 2018 to November 2019, drove nearly 43,000 miles in autonomous mode....
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alt="" class=""> GM
unveils a new electric
vehicle platform and
battery in bid to take
on Tesla
A. Hawkins, Mar. 4,
"General Motors laid out its
electric vehicle strategy on
Wednesday, showcasing
roughly a dozen products as
part of a broader attempt to
convey to investors how
serious it is about
embracing its electric
future.In addition to showing off some of its upcoming vehicles, GM revealed an all-new modular electric vehicle platform with an improved battery pack called Ultium. Much like Volkswagen’s so-called MEB platform, the GM platform is intended to be flexible and multifaceted, with the goal of eventually undergirding a variety of vehicle types and shapes.
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alt="" class=""
width="134" height="25">
Waymo's
Self-Driving Jaguars
Arrive With New,
Homegrown Tech
A. Davies, Mar. 4, "If
you’re in Mountain View
and you spot a
self-driving car, the
smart money says it’s one
of Waymo’s modified
Chrysler Pacifica
minivans. If you see an
electric car, it’s most
likely a Tesla. But the
odds on both are set to
change. Waymo is rolling
out its new fleet of
roboticized, all-electric
Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, a
robotic armada that over
the next two years will
grow to as many as 20,000.
At first glance, the newly
outfitted I-Paces don’t
look much different from
the mocked-up version
Waymo showed off nearly
two years ago, when it
announced a partnership
with Jaguar. A closer look
reveals a bigger shift
offering hints about the
future of autonomous
vehicles. The two rooftop
lidars on the Pacificas
have been compressed into
one unit that can handle
both medium- and
long-range sensing. The
perimeter lidars near the
wheels have been joined by
“perimeter cameras.” A
lidar and camera sit on
the grille, where you’d
normally see Jaguar’s
roaring cat logo. And so
on.
To borrow an auto industry
phrase, this is more than
a “facelift,” a package of
minor changes designed to
refresh a stale model.
Over the past several
years, hundreds of Waymo
engineers have rebuilt
most of the company’s
self-driving hardware,
chiefly the cameras,
lidars, and radars that
perceive the world around
the car. They did almost
all of the work in-house
and from scratch. Now the
electric Jaguar (which
Waymo, inexplicably,
declined to dub the I,
Robot-Pace) is the first
vehicle to benefit from
the company’s fifth
generation hardware
suite...." Read
more
Hmmmm... Nice
information here.
Hopefully Waymo will
bring a few hundred
of these to central
Jersey giving Waymo
the opportunity to
provide valuable
mobility to many and
really demonstrate
that all of their
efforts can
substantially
improve the lives of
many rather than be
yet another toy for
those that already
have too many. Alain
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alt="" class=""> Uber
and Lyft generate 70
percent more pollution
than trips they
displace: study
A. Hawkins, Feb. 25, "Uber
and Lyft have weathered
criticism about
pollution and traffic
congestion for years, but
it’s been difficult to get
an exact gauge about how
much ride-hailing
contributes to daily
emissions. A new
study released today
claims to have a more
precise answer to this
question.“However, those strategies alone will address neither the increases in vehicle miles traveled nor rising congestion concerns,” the report says. “For ride-hailing to contribute to better climate and congestion outcomes, trips must be pooled and electric, displace single-occupancy car trips more often, and encourage low-emissions modes such as mass transit, biking, and walking.”.." Read more Hmmmm... I emphasized parts of the last sentence above. Unfortunately, unless driverless, Uber/Lyft can't pool effectively because the drivers don't like pooling. With drivers that don't pool, Uber/Lyft can't be affordable and thus can't scale to displace a meaningful number of single-occupant car trips Alain
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alt="" class=""
width="90" height="28">
Should
we design for
self-driving cars — or
for people?
TEDxMidAtlantic, March 2019, "Sam Schwartz, the traffic engineer who literally invented the word "gridlock," offers an overview of the last 100 years of cars and traffic. And he offers the sobering warning that if we don't alter our ideas about autonomous vehicles, we may find ourselves living in a future designed for cars rather than the people they are intended to serve." Read more Hmmmm... See video. Alain
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alt="" class=""
width="109" height="38">
Issues
in Autonomous Vehicle
Testing and Deployment
B. Canis, Feb. 11,
"Autonomous vehicles have
the potential to bring major
improvements in highway
safety. Motor vehicle
crashes caused an estimated
36,560 fatalities in 2018; a
study by the National
Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) has
shown that 94% of crashes
are due to human errors ... I
prefer to say "due to
human misbehavior"...
...."
Read
more
Hmmmm... Read but
this seems antiquated
in that it is focused
on cars owned by
individuals rather
than mobility
machines
operated in a fleet to
provide mobility as a
service. AlainC'mon Man! (These folks didn't get/read the memo)
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alt="" class=""
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Tesla Autopilot is going
to detect potholes and
make mini-maps to remember
them
F. Lambert, Mar. 4, "Tesla could soon release its “Reverse Summon” feature, which could enable owners to have their electric car drop them off and go find their own parking spots..... " Read more Hmmmm... Yipes!! Tell me it ain't so. What is this Stupid Summon Squared??? Please stop Elon. Just because it can do something cute and impresses a 4th grader doesn't mean that you actually put this capability in the hands of lazy individuals. How entitled and potentially irresponsible are your customers? Be prepared for another grand appearance before the NTSB. Owners of parking lots... if you don't place signs forbidding this practice on your property, then you're also going to be dragged into court and in front of the NTSB. This is CRAZY! C'mon Elon! Alain
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
Click-Bait
[log in to unmask]"
alt="" width="38"
height="29"> What
Would You Do In A
Self-Driving Car?
Mar 4, "...We asked more
than 2,000 drivers from
around the world that very
question. Here’s what we
learned....
" Read
more
Hmmmm... Don't we
already know what
passengers do in cars
that we drive? We
aren't always by
ourselves, are we?
Whatever! Alain
Calendar of Upcoming Events:
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.5&filename=lmjdiniodjkflpia.png"
class=""
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border="0">
On the More Technical Side
http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/[log in to unmask]">
Recent Podcasts
Smart
Driving Cars Podcat Episode
144 - L. Shinohara
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
143 - T. Bolat
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
142 - J. Hughes
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
141- A. Roy
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
140 - C. Mericli
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
139- Randal O'Toole
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
138-Nick Zart
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
136
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
135 - with Jim Atkinson
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
134 - With Stephanie Lemcke
GoKid
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
133
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode
130 with Dick Mudge &
Michael Sena
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 126 - Sturges
& Caudill
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 123 - K. Kolodge
JD Power
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 121 - Ken Pyle
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 118 - Michael Sena
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 116 - Jerome Lutin
F. Fishkin, July 20, "Can technology dramatically improve the safety of bus transportation for pedestrians, riders and drivers? The lead investigator in a national study, Jerry Lutin, joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on episode 116 of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast. Plus...Tesla's new safety report, the latest from Lyft, Aptiv and a NY Times report on why driverless cars are taking longer than expected. Tune in and subscribe!."
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!"
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast
Episode 107 3rd Summit
Leilei Shinohara &
Staff Sergeant Terence
McDonnell
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
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 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:
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.2&filename=hejedgabmgkdglfj.png"
class=""
src="cid:[log in to unmask]"
width="115" height="69"
border="0">
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="156"
height="24">
NTSB
slams Tesla,
Apple and
regulators
over a fatal
Autopilot
crash
The National Transportation Safety Board said 38-year-old Walter Huang, an Apple software engineer, had Autopilot engaged in his 2018 Tesla Model X and was playing a video game on his iPhone when the car crashed into a defective safety barrier on U.S. Highway 101.The board also blamed the highway safety arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation for failing to properly regulate rapidly evolving robot-car technology.... The board adopted a long list of measures meant to reduce such accidents as “partially automated driving” technologies become more popular in new vehicles....
Friday, February 21, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="32"
height="33">
Motor
Vehicle Deaths
are Estimated
to Have
Dropped 2% in
2019
[log in to unmask]"
alt=""
class=""> “Urbs,”
“Burbs,” and
the
Immigration
Locomotive
Friday, February 7, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="86"
height="22">
NHTSA
Grants Nuro
Exemption
Petition for
Testing
Low-Speed
Driverless
Vehicle
Press
release, Feb
6, "NHTSA
announced
today that it
granted Nuro’s
request for a
temporary
exemption from
certain
low-speed
vehicle
standard
requirements.
The exemption
will allow the
company to
deploy its
low-speed,
occupantless
electric
delivery
vehicle, the
“R2.” Unlike
a conventional
low-speed
vehicle, the
R2 is designed
to have no
human occupant
and operates
exclusively
using an
automated
driving
system.
“Since this is
a low-speed
self-driving
delivery
vehicle,
certain
features that
the Department
traditionally
required –
such as
mirrors and a
windshield for
vehicles
carrying
drivers – no
longer make
sense,” said
U.S. Secretary
of
Transportation
Elaine L.
Chao... " Read
more
Hmmmm...
this is: One
small step.
The bigger one
will be for
the GM/Cruise
vehicle. Be
sure to read
the Supplemental
Information.
Details
matter. Alain
Friday, January 31, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> 2020
Hyundai Sonata
stars in Super
Bowl ad all
about 'Smaht
Pahk'
S. Szymkowski,
Jan 27,
"Hyundai is
going all in
on Boston
accents and
the 2020
Sonata for its
Super Bowl
advertisement.
As is often
the trend
these days,
the ad made
its debut on
Monday less
than a week
before the big
game, but it's
quite a clever
spot...." Read
more
Hmmmm...
This is as
irresponsible
of Hyundai as
StupidSummon
is for Tesla.
It may even be
more
irresponsible
because
Hyundai hasn't
included the
over-the-air-information
system that
allows them to
monitor its
use. Having
the car do
stuff without
an alert and
attentive
driver in the
driver's seat
implies
liability on
them (their
system) if
something bad
happens.
Plus,
squeezing a
car into a
parking place
when the
people can't
get into the
adjacent cars
is not the
smartest move
unless you've
also made the
Hyundai key
proof.
There will be
retaliation.
Alain
Friday, January 24, 2020
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""
width="30"
height="31">
The
Disengagement
Myth
Kyle
Vogt, Jan 17,
"In a few
weeks the
California DMV
will release
disengagements
data from
Cruise and
other
companies who
test AVs on
public roads.
This data is
really great
for giving the
public a sense
of what’s
happening on
the roads.
Unfortunately,
it has also
been used by
the media and
others to
compare
technology
from different
AV companies
or as a proxy
for commercial
readiness.
Since it’s the
only publicly
available
metric, I
don’t really
blame them for
using it. But
it’s woefully
inadequate for
most uses
beyond those
of the DMV.
The idea that
disengagements
give a
meaningful
signal about
whether an AV
is ready for
commercial
deployment is
a myth. ..."
Read
more
Hmmmm...
Amen! This
is a MUST
read. As with
everything, details
matter. It is
true that
figures don't
lie, but but
it is easy to
game systems
such that
figures,
without the
underlying
details, do
lie. As Kyle
points out,
there are
important
details
associated
with
disengagements.
These need to
be well
understood for
disengagements
to be a proxy
for safety and
market
readiness. The
when, where
and associated
details of
each
disengagement
is critically
important if
the objective
is safety and
market
readiness.
What is also most important here
is the
underlying
objective of
the companies
doing the
tests and
reporting the
data. As has
happened in
our secondary
education
where students
are taught
what is in and
how to take
the SATs
rather than
just learn.
The objective
is not
learning , but
getting 800s
on the SATs so
that they can
get into
'Princeton'.
This is
perpetuated by
the
'Princetons'
of this world
that don't
look into the
details of the
student's
academic
qualities and
capabilities.
In the
academic
world, we know
these students
as 'box
checkers',
gamers of the
college
admission
process. The
gaming is
continued by
the 'banks and
med schools'
that use
simplistic GPA
(Grade Point
Average, aka
'disengagements')
cutoffs. The
'box checkers'
then take
'underwater
basket
weaving'
courses and
become grade
grubbers. It
is lazy and
irresponsible
to use
simplistic
measures as
proxies to
very complex
concepts such
as
intelligence,
creativity,
compatibility,
and all the
other details
that make a
good student,
a good
employee, a
good citizen,
a good
mobility
system.
In our case, testing is assumed to be about safety and market readiness; however, for some, it may be about trying to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" or "putting lipstick on the pig". It is easy to game the metric 'Disengagements' by simply testing in easy places, under easy conditions, instead of really trying to find the corner/edge cases that you don't know in places and conditions of the Operational Design Domain that you are actually going to serve and make a business out of all of this technology; rather than just trying to get good press, or flipping it to someone else or putting it on an academic self. The details would readily divulge the real objective of the company doing the testing.
I hope that Kyle, in his next post, will divulge what he, GM's lawyers and GM's board are requiring of his system for each of them to sign off and begin to operate an economically viable mobility service to the general public in some ODD. Each will demand that it be safe. The board will also demand that it be profitable. What details are they requesting that will make each comfortable signing on the bottom line? AlainFriday, January 18, 2020
[log in to unmask]">
Intel’s
Mobileye has a
plan to
dominate
self-driving—and
it might work
T. Lee, Jan. 10, "...In a Tuesday speech at the Consumer Electronics show, Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua made clear just how big of a strategic advantage this is. He laid out Mobileye's vision for the evolution of self-driving technology over the next five years. And he made it clear that he envisions Mobileye staying at the center of the industry...
In
his Tuesday
speech,
Mobileye's
Shashua calls
ADAS systems
with
high-definition
maps, like
Super Cruise,
"Level 2+"—a
small step
above regular
ADAS systems
that are
called "level
2" in the
five-level SAE
framework. A
number of
carmakers have
developed
similar
systems.
Shashua says
Mobileye is
supplying the
technology for
70 percent of
them,
including
systems from
Nissan,
Volkswagen,
and BMW..." Read
more
Hmmmm...
This is all
about
Self-driving
just like
Tesla's
AutoPilot. It
is not Driverless.
A lot is made about HD maps that I
simply don't
appreciate. "...
The company
uses all this
data to
generate
detailed,
high-definition
maps of the
areas where
the cars
drive..." HD maps don't have any info on
the other
cars,
pedestrians
and ... that
are moving
around you
when you
drive. Nor do
they have the
"stopped
firetrucks" in
your lane
ahead. Call
these thing
"half" of the
things that
you don't want
to hit while
driving down
the road. You
and I need
something
(cameras,
radars) to
sense these in
real time as
we move down
the road.
These things
need to "see"
everything
around you
(especially in
front of you),
which likely
include the
things that
are NOT in the
HD maps.
Moreover, by
sensing them
relative to
"my nose", I
only need "10
cm" accuracy,
especially
when I do this
in real time
20 to 30 a
second.
Also, I don't really need to know
where I am. I
only care
about objects
relative to
where I am.
(Since I only
care about my
position
relative to
the static map
data, I need
to take the
difference
between my
position and
the position
of the objects
in the map
data. The
accuracy of
that
difference in
those two
values (my
location and
the object's
location in
the map data)
is the
inferior
accuracy of
those two
values. Good
luck at
independently
knowing to
centimeter
accuracy your
position every
20th or 30th
of a second.
So
"centimeter'
accuracy in
the HD data is
totally
useless and
need not be
any more
accurate than
your
independent
positional
accuracy.
What is easier
and better is
to simply
directly
measure the
relative
positions (and
velocities and
accelerations
and...) of
everything
every/many
time steps in
(near)
real-time and
disregard any
of the
"precision" in
the map data
that isn't
complete and
latent.
So, please, explain to me why I
need super
accurate info
about the
stationary
things. Seems
like an
enormous
amount of
overhead to
carry around
when it is
still p to the
real-time
sensing system
to spot the
stopped
firetruck in
the lane
ahead. (Also,
most folks, if
they pay
attention and
behave, they
drive very
safely without
HD maps and
just
Rand-McNally
fold out
maps.)
Also, can you imagine how useless much of the real-time image data are (data is plural). Everything that is moving in each frame is unique, never to happen precisely again. All of that needs to be purged. Also all of the non-"permanent" stuff like parked cars and "stopped firetrucks". One thing that our brains do very well is to forget, (especially those of Steelers fans). In addition to "Optimal Learning" algorithms, we need some "Optimal Forgetting" algorithms. Alain
Sunday, January 12, 2020
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width="30"
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Hmmmm... Reflections
A. Kornhauser, Jan 12, Hmmmm... Self-driving cars are hot and the OEMs are responding. I'm about to buy a new Subaru Outback and EyeSight is standard. It is no longer just AutoPilot or expensive options that car salesmen don't sell. Car companies, as reflected in what is in showrooms and what was promoted at CES, have realized the comfort and convenience of Self-driving technology (cars that have a lot of the Safe-driving car features but also enable you to take your feet off the pedals and hands off the wheel at least for short periods of time. These technologies are really becoming the 'chrome and fins' that sell cars to individuals in the 2020s. The momentum is all behind that happening and there is little Washington or Trenton or Princeton Council can do about it. Hopefully part of that momentum will be to make these systems actually work well, especially the Automated Emergency Braking Systems (MUST quit assuming that all stationary objects in the lane ahead can be passed under and consequently each is disregarded. As Tesla is finding out, sometimes those objects are parked firetrucks.) and begin to put hard limits on over-speeding, tailgating and use while driver is impaired. Self-driving cars are unfortunately going to lead to substantial urban sprawl, increased VMT, increased congestion and do nothing to help the energy and pollution challenges of our addiction to the personal automobile. Only 'Waymo-style Driverless' (autonomousTaxis, (aTaxis)) tuned to entice ride-sharing can potentially stem the tide of ever more personal car ownership and ever expanding urban sprawl. Alain
Monday, January 6, 2020
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width="27"
height="30">
Hmmmm...I'm Back
A. Kornhauser, Jan. 6, Hmmmm... I'm in rehab and hope to go home on Wednesday morning. Thank you to so many of you for all the good wishes and prayers. They each helped. I'm looking to making a full recovery. Remember, if you don't feel well, get evaluated by a doctor. I was totally clueless about what hit me from out of nowhere. Alain
[log in to unmask]"
width="25"
height="26">
The
Fate of
Self-Driving
Cars Hangs on
a $7 Trillion
Design Problem
Saturday, November 30, 2019
[log in to unmask]"> Chandler
unveils
drop-off,
pick-up zone for
self-driving
cars
Read more Hmmmm... The iconic image:
[log in to unmask]"
width="84"
height="148">
autonomousTaxi (aTaxi) stop facilitating true ride-sharing to any destination within the autonomous transit system's Operational Design Domain. The first of what may well become a half million or so others. Each strategically located to be less that a 5 minute walk from essentially any of the billion or so person trip ends that are made on any typical day in the USA (outside of Manhattan (whose subway stations provide the comparable accessibility). Twenty million or so aTaxi vehicles could readily provide on-demand, share-ride mobility from these ~0.5M aTaxi stops. Provided would be essentially the same 24/7 on-demand level-of-service as we do for ourselves with our own conventional automobiles; however, this mobility would be affordably achieved using half the energy, creating half the pollution, eliminating essentially all the congestion, doubling conventional transit ridership and making such improved mobility available to those who today can't or wish not to drive a conventional automobile. This is a MAJOR 1st. Alain
Saturday, November 23, 2019
[log in to unmask]" width="110"
height="19"> Self-driving
car capital? One
senator thinks
it can be
Florida
R.
Wile, Nov 22,
"Sen. Jeff Brandes
(R-St. Petersburg)
had just finished
serving in the
Army, and was
looking to make a
name for himself
in Tallahassee as
a junior
representative. He
came across a talk
given by the
founder of
Google’s
driverless car
project.
He quickly
realized the
potential of
self-driving cars
to transform many
aspects of daily
life. Ever since,
he has made it his
mission to turn
Florida into what
he calls “an angel
investor” in
automation policy.
“We want to have
policies in place
for this
technology to
flourish,” Brandes
said in an
interview at the
7th Annual Florida
Automated Vehicles
conference in
Miami, which
concluded Friday.
Among the state’s advantages Brandes points to that he believes makes it ideal for AV companies: no snow, which makes lane markings more visible. That also means less road construction in general...." Read more Hmmmm... Congratulations Jeff!!! It was a great AV Summit and congratulations on creating such a Welcoming environment and intelligently shaping the birth of this technology. What you've done is enable Florida to begin to enhance mobility and the quality of life for all in Florida and especially those who can most benefit from these mobility machines. It was most impressive to witness the enthusiasm for nurturing the many aspects of this technology from Florida's Governor, Miami's Mayor, Fl DoT's Commissioner, the heads of the toll road authorities, planning agencies and educational institutions. Most impressive was Ford's comment that their autonomousTaxi efforts are focused on developing driverless technology and intend to operate it to deliver Mobility-as-a-Service in Florida, rather than sell the technology to individual consumers. I applaud that approach and hope that Ford will look to also bringing some of those vehicles to New Jersey so that we can begin to reap the benefits of this technology. What you've accomplished in Florida is THE "best practice" for us to emulate in New Jersey. Congratulations. Alain
Saturday, November 16, 2019
[log in to unmask]"> PyTorch
at Tesla
Friday,
November 1,
2019[log in to unmask]"
width="94"
height="29"> An
Update on the
Outlook for
Automated Vehicle
Systems
Friday, Oct 25, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
width="110"
height="23"> Elon
Musk: Tesla Full
Self-Driving in
early access this
year, without
supervision next
year
Friday, October 18, 2019
[log in to unmask]" width="48" height="25">
Waymo
to customers:
“Completely
driverless Waymo
cars are on the way”
[log in to unmask]"
width="156" height="24">
Your
Tesla Can Now Pick You
Up
R. Mitchell,
Oct. 4, " Smart Summon is
for parking lot use. But
drivers have other ideas.
Tesla unleashed the latest twist in driverless car technology last week, raising more questions about whether autonomous vehicles are outracing public officials and safety regulators.
...Using a
smartphone, a person can
now command a Tesla to
turn itself on, back out
of a parking space and
drive to the smartphone
holder's location - say at
a curb in front of a
Costco store.." Read
more Hmmmm....
Russ, great article.
A must read!
Elon, please stop. StupidSummon was a bad
Valley-entitled
idea before
you released
it. Now that
it is out
there it will
ruin all that
is good about
Tesla,
AutoPilot and
Driverless
cars. The
shorters are
going to have
a field day.
While you are at it also remove all of the
DistractTainment
add ons or
limit their
use when
AutoPilot is
NOT on and
drivers are
engaged in
driving. Just
go back to
V09! Along
the way also
get the
Automated
Emergency
Braking (AEB)
system to work
properly (See
NTSB
below).
To do that,
maybe you
should take a
serious look
at Velodyne's
new
Tesla LiDAR.
It may be able
to tell you if
the stationary
object in the
lane ahead is
high enough
above the road
surface before
your AEB
system decides
to disregard
it. Then
Tesla's may
stop decapitating
drivers.
If
you don't remove
StupidSummon then at
least be sure to
limit its use to the
Tesla owner's own
private property by
responsible users.
(You know the GPS
coordinates of where
each owner lives, so
you can geofence
it. You also know
each irresponsible
use (You get the
videos).
Irresponsible use
(use in the
violation of the
conditions spelled
out in the user's
manual) should void
its future
availability in that
car unless proper
amend are made. If
not, then insurance
companies should
clearly state that
insuring the use of
this feature
requires a
substantial
additional premium;
else, you're not
covered. Courts
should view that use
of this feature
implies premeditated
harm and
demonstrates an
extreme indifference
to human life.
Parking Lot owners
should install signs
forbidding the use
of this feature on
their property to
protect themselves
from being dragged
into the claims
process.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
width="116"
height="32">Public
forum will explore
possibility of transit
on demand in Princeton
K. Knapp, Sept 22, "What
would it take to make
Princeton an accessible
community for all, even
those who cannot or choose
not to own or drive a car?
Princeton Future will
explore the question at a
public forum from 9 a.m. to
noon on Sept. 28 in the
community room at the
Princeton Public Library.Princeton Future is a non-profit community group that studies issues related to planning, development, and affordability. Speakers will discuss the capabilities of a transit-on-demand system where small, driverless shuttles could be summoned by a smart phone app to a location within walking distance of a resident’s home...." Read more Hmmmm.... Listen to a summary of the event in Episode 126 of the SmartDrivingCars PodCasts. See below for other info. Alain
Friday, September 20, 2019
[log in to unmask]">
Waymo’s
robotaxi pilot surpassed
6,200 riders in its first
month in California
[log in to unmask]"
width="107" height="19">Autonomous
Vehicles: A View from
Seniors
Friday, August 9, 2019
[log in to unmask]">
Cruise
postpones plan to launch
driverless taxi service in
2019
[log in to unmask]">
Tesla’s
autonomy event: Impressive
progress with an
unrealistic timeline
Friday, March 29, 2019
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width="116" height="32">Automated
vehicles could provide
mobility to the ‘mobility
disadvantaged’
Friday, March 1, 2019
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width="35" height="38"> FORM
S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Lyft, Inc.
[log in to unmask]">Autonomous
Vehicles
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
Hmmmm.... Slides
and videos of
the
presentations
are available
here. 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);
Friday,
February 15, 2019
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Facing
opposition, Amazon scraps
New York HQ2 plans
Thursday,
November 22, 2018
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width="94" height="29"> Market
Framework and Outlook for
Automated Vehicle Systems
Thursday,
November 1, 2018
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A
Green Light for Waymo’s
Driverless Testing in
California
Wednesday,
October 24, 2018
New Jersey Pending Legislation re: Autonomous Vehicles
Oct 16, Establishes
fully autonomous vehicle
pilot program A4573
Sponsors: Zwicker (D16);
Benson (D14)
Oct 16, Establishes
New
Jersey Advanced Autonomous
Vehicle Task Force AJR164
Sponsors: Benson (D14);
Zwicker (D16); Lampitt (D6)
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width="39" height="43"> Testimony
of Alain Kornhauser,
Assembly Science, Innovation
and Technology - Monday,
October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00
AM
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width="42" height="39">
Audio
Recording of Assembly
Science, Innovation and
Technology - Monday, October
22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM
Friday, June 15, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
CPUC AUTHORIZES PASSENGER CARRIERS TO PROVIDE FREE TEST RIDES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WITH VALID CPUC AND DMV PERMITS
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Waymo’s
fleet of self-driving
minivans is about to get 100
times bigger
Friday, 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 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".
Thursday, April 26, 2018
This startup’s CEO wants to open-source self-driving car safety testing
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Experts say video of Uber's self-driving car killing a pedestrian suggests its technology may have fail
Tuesday, April 17, 2017
Don't Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.36&filename=ajafjpkfaclhelpc.png"
class=""
src="cid:[log in to unmask]"
width="44" height="50"
border="0">Extracting
Cognition out of Images
for the Purpose of
Autonomous Driving
Sunday, December 19, 2015
![imap:<a href=]()
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class=""
src="cid:[log in to unmask]"
width="96" height="63"
border="0">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
This list is
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Kornhauser and hosted by
the Princeton
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