[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class=""> Society
of Actuaries Research Brief Impact of COVID-19
https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2020/impact-coronavirus/
[log in to unmask]"
class="">
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 149 - Matt Daus
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class=""> Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 149 - Matt Daus
Video version... Watch episode 149 with Matt Daus.... Alain
[log in to unmask]" class=""
width="48" height="27"> Transportation
Companies Can Apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans
(EIDLs) & Emergency EIDL Grants as part of The CARES
Act!
M. Daus, Mar. 28, "As a follow-up to our reporting on the assistance available to transportation companies, the CARES Act expands eligibility for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The EIDLs had previously only been open to small businesses affected by COVID-19. Now, under the CARES Act, EIDLs are available to any business with not more than 500 employees, operating under a sole proprietorship or as an independent contractor, tribal businesses, cooperatives and ESOPs with fewer than 500 employees, all non-profit organizations, and individuals operating as sole proprietors or independent contractors..." Read more Hmmmm... Some of this money may actually help small transportation/mobility/logistics businesses. Hear/Watch PodCast 149 with Matt Daus. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class="" width="126" height="36"> 1st
Step towards Autonomous Trucking & Platooning
K. Pyle, Mar. 27, "Two former Carnegie Mellon faculty members,
who happen to be brothers, discuss how they are taking a
pragmatic approach of adding automation to long-haul trucking.
Their company, Locomation, upgrades an existing big rig by
replacing the side-view mirrors with a module that includes a
mirror, lidar, radar, camera sensors, and radios.This suite of sensors feeds a computer running their software stack. Their system and service allow trucking companies to field a two-truck platoon. Their initial target market is time-sensitive, long-haul applications where trucking companies normally employ two drivers for a single truck with minimal stops (one sleeps while the other drives)..." Read more Hmmmm... Also watch Ken Pyle's interview. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class=""> Coming
Tesla Autopilot Update To Include Auto-Stopping At Red
Lights & Stop Signs (Leaked Video)
Z. Shahan, Mar. 27, "...Apparently, according to Out of Spec Motoring and a video its Twitter account shared, the next Tesla Autopilot update will provide one huge bridge between those two steps. It will give your car the superpower of stopping at red lights and stop signs by itself..." Read more Hmmmm... Great, but don't rely on it because you are still responsible!!! If it doesn't work and you run a red and get T-boned, then it's your life that you lose! What is great is: if you are clueless, it may keep you from inadvertently running a red,... not getting T-boned and not losing your life. :-) See video Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class="">Exor
Makes $200 Million Investment in Ride-Share Company Via
C. Lombardo, Mar 30, "Exor NV, the holding company of
Italy’s Agnelli family, is investing in ride-share company
Via Transportation Inc. that would mark its first big foray
into the technology sector.
Exor said Monday it is investing $200 million in New
York-based Via. The investment would give Exor just under a
9% stake in Via and would value Via at $2.25 billion. Via
had last been valued at roughly $1 billion in late 2017,
according to Pitchbook...." Read
more
Hmmmm... This is really good news, maybe the only
good news, in the ride-sharing space given the
physical distancing mandate. There may still behope
for ride-sharing once we get through all of this
physical distancing. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
width="49" height="27"> GM
Planning to Put Super Cruise on at Least 22 More Models
P. Eisenstein, Mar. 29, "...Super Cruise launched in 2017 on the Cadillac CT6. While that big sedan is going away, GM has plans to add the hands-free system to Caddy’s CT4 and CT5 sedans, as well as the totally redone Escalade SUV for the 2021 model year. In 2022, it will be offered for the first time through other GM brands, starting with the Chevrolet Bolt EV, Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. The big blitz comes in 2023 when it will roll out on 22 models, with more likely to follow, company officials have confirmed....
About 30 percent of Caddy CT6 buyers have shelled out the
$2,500 for the option. Meanwhile, 85 percent of those who
have the system say they would prefer or only buy a vehicle
with Super Cruise in the future.
GM recently increased the number of miles Super Cruise can
operate on from 130,000 to 200,000. This coming year,
meanwhile, it will gain the ability to change lanes simply
by tapping the turn signal. And new products will add a
rear-facing radar sensor to ensure the vehicle doesn’t pull
out in front of fast-approaching traffic.... " Read
more
Hmmmm... Since SuperCruise sells cars and provides
up-sell revenue, why isn't it being put in GM cars
earlier. Tesla wouldn't wait around until 2023! Note
GM is putting SuperCruise in Bolt even earlier because
every day autoPilot sells Model 3s. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class="" width="108" height="20"> New
Rules Could Finally Clear the Way for Self-Driving Cars
A. Marshall, Mar. 26, "...The adjusted standards would nix
some rules related to rider safety for autonomous vehicles
that carry goods like groceries, but no people. They would
address the protections needed when steering wheels and
steering columns have gone the way of the dodo. They would
reexamine how airbags might work in a car newly configured
to drive itself, and consider barring children from the
front left seat of a vehicle, where the steering wheel
traditionally lives.
The rules would also clarify the definition of “driver,”
which the agency has now decided it will not change within
the standards. Instead, it will clarify within each mention
whether “driver” refers to a fleshy human, or the advanced
driver systems that might one day operate cars all on their
own. This is a reversal for the safety agency, which said in
2016 that it would legally redefine “driver” to treat the
Google self-driving system one..." Read more Hmmmm... Now is
probably the right time to do this. We have to get
something moving forward. Asking NHTSA for exemptions
has been a rabbit hole. It has granted a total of
one. Alain
[log in to unmask]" class=""
width="110" height="23"> Tesla
Gigafactory Shanghai makes 3,000 cars per week amid other
factory shutdowns
F. Lambert, Mar. 27, "Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai is
reportedly making 3,000 electric cars per week amid Tesla
having to shut down its other factories.
As of Monday, Tesla was forced to shut down production at Fremont factory in California, where the automaker has produced almost all its vehicles for the past decade...
The automaker had a production capacity of about 2,000
vehicles per week prior to the shutdown. Now a new report
from 乌瓦, a Youtuber who has been tracking progress at the
factory through drone videos and interviews with employees
and locals, states that Tesla is now capable of producing
3,000 cars per week at the plant:..." Read
more
Hmmmm... Very interesting. Is this a prelude to the
losing of even more American jobs? Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class="" width="125" height="26"> 2020
Detroit Auto Show canceled as venue becomes a field
hospital
J. Fingas, Mar.29, "Yet another major 2020 auto show has
been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although now
it's less about timing and more about supporting the current
fight. Organizers have canceled the Detroit Auto Show
(officially the North American International Auto Show) as
its venue, the TCF Center, is being turned into a field
hospital for coronavirus patients. The next show now won't
take place until June 2021, or over two and a half years
after the last event...." Read
more
Hmmmm... Certainly not a surprise. Alain
C'mon Man! (These folks didn't get/read the memo)
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class="" width="55" height="32"> Will
this crisis help set autonomous AI on the right course?
B. Huang, Mar. 26, "he COVID-19 pandemic accelerates an
automated future that’s already on its way. It serves as a
wake-up call to all AI, robotics, and driverless car startups:
stop building eye-dazzling demos and talking about the future
possibility of general-use AI. Instead, focus on deploying
real-world solutions that can run 24 hours a day with minimum
human intervention and deliver true value to users.
Thousands of Americans have started to work from home amidst
the current pandemic. Retailers have struggled with supply
while nervous consumers are hoarding everything from toilet
paper to hand soap. Across the globe, Chinese e-commerce giant
JD began testing a level 4 autonomous delivery robot in Wuhan
and running its automated warehouses 24 hours a day to cope
with a surge in demand.
Suddenly, autonomous machines need to be better than just
proof of concept. They must be robust enough to work
independently across various real-life situations...." Read
more
Hmmmm...I don't buy it, nor the three areas. Today we
have no AI, it is really largely hype. Data quality is
key to everything, be they human intelligence or the
artificial variety. The pathetic quality of the data
about what is happening today dominates what this crisis
is telling us about the necessities of data quality. We
didn't learn it in 2016 when the bad data led to
forecasts that Hillary's
probability of winning was > 0.99. The misuses
and unknown biases, not just the noise, led to that "AI"
debacle. The same is even more true today. Alain
Click-Bait
Calendar of Upcoming Events:
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.5&filename=lmjdiniodjkflpia.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="46" height="52" border="0">
On the More Technical Side
http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/[log in to unmask]" class="">
Recent Podcasts
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 148 - Richard Bishop
[log in to unmask]" alt=""
class=""> Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 148 - Richard Bishop
Video version... Watch our first attempt.... Alain
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 147 - Michael Sena
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 146
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast Episode 145 - L. Walker
Smart
Driving Cars Podcast 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'69
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"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class=""
width="115" height="69" border="0">
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="78"
height="23"> Starsky
Robotics Failed. Does
That Mean Automated
Trucking Is Dead?
R. Bishop, Mar 24, "I
met Stefan
Seltz-Axmacher for the
first time in November
2015 at the Florida
Automated Vehicles
Summit. Not long after,
we met at the Blue
Danube coffee shop in
Alameda, CA so he could
tell me about his vision
for Starsky Robotics.
When he energetically
described his
remote-driving-for-trucks
approach, I was
skeptical. “Remote
driving is hard,” I
said. “The military has
struggled with this for
years. Its harder than
it looks.” On the
technical side, latency
for secure
communications is
challenging. On the
operational side,
re-creating enough
on-road reality
(situational awareness)
for a remote driver is
difficult when going for
the high levels of
safety needed.
Seltz-Axmacher remained
bullish on the approach
and at that time went on
to found Starsky
Robotics as one of the
earliest truck AV
startups, later closing
a $16.5M Series A
funding round in March
2018, and then hauling
freight while developing
both remote and
automated driving
ability. Initially,
Starsky’s concept was
all about remote driving
for first/last mile.
They later expanded
their offering to
include fully automated
highway driving on
limited freight
corridors.
Now, Starsky has become
the first casualty
within a crowded truck
automation space, and
Seltz-Axmacher has
provided us with an
intriguing post-mortem
in a recent Medium
post. Most of the media
coverage I’ve seen has
acted as echo chambers
for Seltz-Axmacher’s
perspective. Here I
offer a counterpoint
based on my longtime
involvement in truck
automation plus
discussions with many
others in the truck
Automated Driving
Systems (ADS) startup
space, many of them
irate at what they see
as unfounded assertions
made in the original
post. My sources tell me
that because
Seltz-Axmacher hasn't
experienced their
technology nor been
briefed on their
technical/safety
approach, he has no
basis to make sweeping
claims about the entire
industry...." Read
more
Hmmmm... Listen
to PodCast 148.
or/and Watch
us on YouTube.
Alain
Saturday, March 21, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
class=""> Waymo
suspends robotaxi service
except for its truly
driverless vehicles
K. Korosec, Mar. 17,
"Waymo said Tuesday it is
pausing operations of Waymo
One, a service in the
Phoenix area that allows the
public to hail rides in
self-driving vehicles with
trained human safety
operators behind the wheel,
in response to the COVID-19
pandemic. Waymo is also
halting testing on public
roads in California.
However, Waymo will keep
some operations up and
running, notably its truly
driverless vehicles, which
don’t require a human safety
driver, according to an
announcement on its website
Tuesday. These driverless
vehicles are used in the
Phoenix area as part of
Waymo’s early rider program
that lets vetted members of
the public hail a ride..."
Read
more
Yippie!!!
Unfortunately, the
latest is not so
good... Waymo
has suspended all
services, including
the driverless.
Poopie!!! Alain
Saturday, March 14, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
class=""> WAYMO
DRIVERS SAY THEY’RE BEING
DISCOURAGED FROM CANCELING
ROBOTAXI RIDES DURING
CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
A. Hawkins, Mar. 13,
"Waymo,Waymo, the self-driving
unit of Alphabet, says it will
keep operating its fleet of
roughly 600 self-driving taxis
in Arizona during the novel
coronavirus outbreak. But the
safety drivers who monitor the
autonomous taxis are concerned
that they are being put in
harm’s way.Waymo is “strongly encouraging” its full-time employees without “business critical” tasks to work from home. Its safety drivers, who are employed by a French transit company called Transdev North America that has a multiyear contract with Waymo, are still mostly required to come into work, The Verge has learned. Transdev appears to be following guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by stepping up the frequency of its cleanings and disinfections. But drivers tell The Verge that the Waymo vendor is ignoring recommendations about social distancing.
“It feels like the drivers are treated like second class citizens, having to report to work and serve ‘hails’ while the full-time employees are required to work from home to stay safe,” said a Waymo driver who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. “Safety for some.”..." Read more Hmmmm... I thought that Waymo had started offering rides without safety drivers in Chandler???? I guess, they do it in a "smaller" Operational Design Domain (ODD) and they are trying to expand that ODD by operating with safety drivers for trip originating and or terminating outside that original "smaller" ODD.
Friday, March 6, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
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
Friday, February 28, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
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]"
class="" width="32" height="33">
Motor
Vehicle Deaths are Estimated to
Have Dropped 2% in 2019
[log in to unmask]"
class=""> “Urbs,”
“Burbs,” and the Immigration
Locomotive
Friday, February 7, 2020
[log in to unmask]"
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 moreHmmmm... 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]"
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]"
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]"
class=""> 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
moreHmmmm... 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
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="30" height="33"> 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
[log in to unmask]"
class="" 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]"
class="" 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]"
class=""> Chandler
unveils drop-off, pick-up zone for self-driving
cars
Read more Hmmmm... The iconic image:
[log in to unmask]"
class="" 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]"
class="" 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]"
class="">
PyTorch at Tesla
Friday, November
1, 2019[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="94" height="29"> An
Update on the Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems
Friday, Oct 25, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
class="" 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]"
class="" width="48" height="25"> Waymo
to customers: “Completely driverless Waymo cars are on
the way”
[log in to unmask]" class=""
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]"
class="" 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]" class="">
Waymo’s
robotaxi pilot surpassed 6,200 riders in its first month in
California
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="107" height="19">Autonomous
Vehicles: A View from Seniors
Friday, August 9, 2019
[log in to unmask]" class=""> Cruise
postpones plan to launch driverless taxi service in 2019
[log in to unmask]" class="">
Tesla’s
autonomy event: Impressive progress with an unrealistic
timeline
Friday, March 29, 2019
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="116" height="32">Automated vehicles could
provide mobility to the ‘mobility disadvantaged’
Friday, March 1, 2019
[log in to unmask]" class=""
width="35" height="38"> FORM
S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT Lyft, Inc.
[log in to unmask]"
class="">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
[log in to unmask]" class="">
Facing
opposition, Amazon scraps New York HQ2 plans
Thursday,
November 22, 2018
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="94" height="29"> Market
Framework and Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems
Thursday,
November 1, 2018
[log in to unmask]"
class=""> 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)
[log in to unmask]"
class="" width="39" height="43"> Testimony
of Alain Kornhauser, Assembly Science, Innovation and
Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM
[log in to unmask]"
class="" 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"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class=""
width="44" height="50" border="0">Extracting
Cognition out of Images for the Purpose of Autonomous
Driving
Sunday, December 19, 2015
![imap:<a href=]()
[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.38&filename=ccalfjfhllohpdpa.png"
src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class=""
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
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