2020-12-06
rgb(51, 51,
blue;
text-decoration:
none;">50th
edition of the
8th year of
SmartDrivingCars
eLetter
Nikola Teaches GM a Lesson
S. Wilmot, Nov 30, “Nikola Corp. NKLA 0.76% isn’t turning out to be the next Tesla that investors—and General Motors GM -0.67% —were hoping for.
The
electric-vehicle
startup put
its
eye-catching
"Badger"
pickup-truck
project on ice
Monday as part
of a radically
shrunken
version of its
deal with GM.
All that is
left of the
original
agreement
signed in
September is a
plan for GM to
supply Nikola
with fuel-cell
technology for
U.S. big rigs.
Detroit’s biggest auto maker had planned to take an equity stake in Nikola in exchange for building the Badger under contract. But the deal has been in doubt almost from the start after a hedge-fund report detailed the limitations of Nikola’s technology, leading to the resignation of founder Trevor Milton.
GM won't sell
Nikola fuel
cells soon.
For all its
fanfare about
hydrogen, the
startup is
currently
focused on
battery-powered
versions of
its first
electric
truck, the
"Tre." It
hopes to start
full-scale
production in
the fourth
quarter of
next year in
Germany and in
early 2022 in
Coolidge,
Ariz. Hydrogen
trucks won't
come before
2023, and in
Europe Nikola
is using Bosch
as its
fuel-cell
supplier.
..." [Read more](https://www.wsj.com/articles/nikola-teaches-gm-a-lesson-11606760549) Hmmmm... Lessons for many in this
endeavor. See
also[Andrew Hawkin's take](https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/30/21726594/gm-nikola-deal-equity-badger-truck-hydrogen)
as well as [David Morris'](https://fortune.com/2020/11/30/nikola-gm-deal-collapses-devastating-news/).
Alain
Nikola stock plunge continues as insider lockup period ends
T. Lee, Dec 1, “In June, aspiring hydrogen truckmaker Nikola became a publicly traded company thanks to a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. That transaction included a 180-day lockup for company insiders, designed to prevent them from dumping their shares on unsuspecting investors in the first few days of trading.
Today is the
first day
those insiders
can sell their
shares, and
Nikola's stock
price is down
15 percent.
That's on top
of yesterday's
26 percent
decline after
Nikola
announced it
was canceling
its Badger
pickup
truck...." [Read more](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/12/nikola-stock-plunge-continues-as-insider-lockup-period-ends/) Hmmmm... More lessons. Alain
SmartDrivingCars
[Pod-Cast Episode 188](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-188)
F. Fishkin, Dec. 6, “The Nikola saga continues, AutoX goes fully driverless with robotaxis in China…plus Luminar, Tesla, TuSimple and more. Join Princeton University’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 188 of Smart Driving Cars.” Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!”. Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Zoom-Cast Episode 188
Video version of SmartDrivingCars PodCast 188… Alain
The
SmartDrivingCars
eLetter,
Pod-Casts,
Zoom-Casts and
Zoom-inars are
made possible
in part by
support from
the Smart
Transportation
and Technology
ETF, symbol
MOTO. For
more
information: [www.motoetf.com](https://www.smartetfs.com/). Most funding is
supplied by
Princeton
University's
Department of
Operations
Research &
Financial
Engineering
and Princeton
Autonomous
Vehicle
Engineering
(PAVE)
research
laboratory as
part of its
research
dissemination
initiatives.
Self-driving robotaxis are taking off in China
M. Toh, “Dec 3, “The world has been inching toward fully autonomous cars for years. In China, one company just got even closer to making it a reality.
On Thursday,
AutoX, an
Alibaba
(BABA)-backed
startup,
announced it
had rolled out
fully
driverless
robotaxis on
public roads
in Shenzhen.
The company
said it had
become the
first player
in China to do
so, notching
an important
industry
milestone.
Previously,
companies
operating
autonomous
shuttles on
public roads
in the country
were
constrained by
strict
caveats, which
required them
to have a
safety driver
inside.
This program
is different.
In Shenzhen,
AutoX has
completely
removed the
backup driver
or any remote
operators for
its local
fleet of 25
cars, it said.
The government
isn't
restricting
where in the
city AutoX
operates,
though the
company said
they are
focusing on
the downtown
area...." [Read more](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/tech/autox-robotaxi-china-intl-hnk/index.html) Hmmmm... Congratulations Jianxiong! This is an enormously great
accomplishment;
however, the
video doesn't
seem to be
taken in
"downtown"
anywhere.
Almost looks
like
"Chandler"???)
Alain
Lidar startup goes public, makes founder a billionaire
T. Lee, Dec 4,
"Luminar
founder Austin
Russell has
become one of
the youngest
self-made
billionaires
after his
lidar company
debuted on
public markets
on Thursday.
Russell, 25,
was just 17
when he
founded
Luminar in
2012. Shares
of Luminar
rose above $30
a share on
Friday, a
massive 43
percent gain
for the day on
top of big
gains on
Thursday.
Luminar has
emerged as one
of the leading
companies in
the
fast-growing
lidar
industry.
Carmakers are
expected to
begin offering
lidar as an
advanced
option for
their vehicles
in the next
few years to
enable better driver-assistance technology. Right now, lidar companies are vying to
win contracts
to supply
these
sensors....
In contrast, Luminar operates at 1,550nm. The fluid in the human eye is opaque to light at this wavelength, greatly reducing eye safety concerns. As a result, Luminar can pump a lot more power into its lasers and hence achieve longer range. …
This year has seen a boom in SPAC-based deals. ….
Luminar had a major win in May when it signed a deal with Volvo to supply lidar sensors for vehicles starting in 2022. It was one of the first such deals in the industry. More recently, Luminar struck a deal to supply lidar sensors to Mobileye,…” Read more Hmmmm… Assuming these deals don’t go the way of the GM/Nikola deal, then … In any even, congratulations Austin!!!! Alain
Self-driving trucks startup TuSimple raises $350M from US rail, retail and freight giants
K. Korosec, Dec. 2, “Self-driving trucks startup TuSimple has closed a $350 million funding round from a diverse consortium of strategic investors that include major U.S. corporations in rail, retail and freight, according to sources familiar with the deal.
The round,
which was
oversubscribed,
was led by
VectoIQ LLC,
confirming a
report by
TechCrunch in
September.
VectoIQ is the
consulting and
investment
company
founded by
Steve Girsky,
the former GM
vice chairman,
consultant and
investor whose
special
purpose
acquisition
company merged
with hydrogen
electric
startup Nikola
Corp. this
summer. ..." [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/self-driving-trucks-startup-tusimple-raises-350m-from-u-s-rail-retail-and-freight-giants/) Hmmmm... While the comment is that
TuSimple is a
"Self-driving"
truck startup,
to me, it
looks more
like a
logistics
company
looking to
move freight
in any way
which may
include
"Self-driving"
trucks rather
than a
"Self-driving"
truck company
looking to
move any
freight. The
question to me
is, which is
the tail and
which is the
dog. Same
question one
may have with
Nikola wrt
hydrogen.
Alain
Porsche launches effort to make carbon-neutral ‘e-gas’
R. Mitchell, Dec 2, “Porsche has no plan to make an electric version of its iconic 911 sports cars. So, how to ensure continued sales of its flagship model far into the future, when governments around the world, including California’s, are planning to eventually ban sales of new internal combustion cars?
Porsche's
answer:
carbon-neutral
"synthetic"
gasoline that
could fuel gas
engines in any
cars, not just
Porsches.
..." [Read more](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-12-02/carbon-neutral-e-gasoline-porsche-egas) Hmmmm... So EVs v ICEs to save
the planet may
not be "game
over"? See
also last
weeks'
reference to [Michael Sena's The Dispatcher](https://www.dropbox.com/s/lw27g9qlolrjkpb/The%20Dispatcher_December%202020.pdf?dl=0).
Alain
Emissions Test: Car vs. Truck vs. Leaf Blower
J. Kavanagh, Dec 5, 2011, “… Comparing Apples to Kumquats: Creating the Leaf Blower Test Cycle…
Therefore we needed to come up with a test for the leaf blowers that provided a basis of comparison to the vehicles, yet still reflects the way lawn equipment is actually used in practice. Observe leaf blowers in the wild and you’ll find they are very often operated at either full whack or idle. Our test would have to mimic this usage pattern….
The Results… In other words, this is a best-case scenario for the leaf blowers and a worst-case scenario for the vehicles. The data below are expressed in grams per minute:…
You’d have to drive a Raptor 235 miles — stopping every 505 seconds and doing cold restarts — to emit the same level of hydrocarbons as simply idling the two-stroke leaf blower for less than 10 minutes…. Read more Hmmmm… I realize the above is 9 years old, and this is not, to my knowledge, peer reviewed, but: 1. don’t use a 2-cycle anything, and details matter, as they do with EVs. Thank you, Ken. Alain
Elon Musk’s Boring Company teases first passenger station of the Las Vegas Loop
F. lambert, Dec 4, “Elon Musk’s Boring Company has released the first images teasing the first passenger station of the Las Vegas Loop ahead of its launch. A Boring Company Loop system consists of tunnels in which Tesla autonomous electric vehicles travel at high speeds between stations to transport people within a city.
The first
system is
being deployed
at the Las
Vegas
Convention
Center
(LVCVA), which
is paying $50
million for
the system,
but we
recently
learned that
the Boring
Company plans
to connect the
convention
center's Loop
to casinos on
the strip in
order to
eventually
create a
city-wide Loop
in Las
Vegas...." [Read more](https://electrek.co/2020/12/04/elon-musk-boring-company-first-passenger-station-las-vegas-loop/) Hmmmm... [And the beat goes on](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOaxEa5ONJw).
Underground
PRT! Note...
the
Operational
design Domain
here is:
tunnel, no
children
playing ball,
no
pedestrians,
no bicyclists,
no
rain/fog/snow,
no
mis-behaving
drivers of
conventional
cars, no ....
Makes it
pretty easy.
In about 1975,
Jerome Lutin,
... and I
proposed, for
Las Vegas, a
similar, but
above ground,
PRT (Personal
Rapid Transit)
system. It
consisted of
small, <6
passenger,
pods running
automated at
close-headway
providing
highest
quality,
non-stop,
on-demand
service
between
stations
located inside
the airport,
inside casinos
and inside
major
attraction
areas. Its
Operational
Design Domain
was overhead
exclusive
guideway, no
children
playing ball,
no .... We
even suggested
that it could
be free if
only we could
place slot
machines
inside each
pod.
Unfortunately,
what we failed
to realize is
that 1.
personal
mobility for
visitors in
Las Vegas is
closely
held/protected
by the taxi
industry, and
2. none of the
casinos were
the least bit
interested in
efficient,
high-quality
mobility for
anyone to
easily go from
their casino
to a
competitor
until that
person's
cash&credit
was
dissipated.
We couldn't
have been more
naive and
stupid. (I'm
not suggesting
that Elon is
either naive
or stupid.
Today,
some/many of
the casinos
are [owned/controlled](http://www.lvrevealed.com/deathwatch/casino_owners.html)
by the same
entity, so
high-quality
mobility among
those under
common control
is not
undesirable.
Moreover, the
conventional
taxi industry
may have its
hands full
with the
competition
from
Uber/Lyft.)
Alain
Automakers propose policy changes to speed self-driving vehicle roll-out
R. Beggin, Dec. 2, “The Alliance for Automotive Innovation — which represents most major automakers including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV — among other things asked federal policymakers to create a new vehicle class for AVs, and asked state policymakers to harmonize their policies to make it easier for automakers to test and deploy AVs across different states.
"We are
releasing this
policy roadmap
now because we
are at a
critical time
in the
development of
this
technology.
Companies have
invested
billions of
dollars into
the research
and
development of
this
technology and
those
investments
are paying
off," said
John Bozzella,
president of
the Alliance.
Existing safety standards vary by type of vehicle, but they all assume the presence of a human driver, which automakers say stymies a mass roll out of AVs. The group proposes creating a new class for AVs that would include applicable safety standards or updating existing standards to include AVs “as expeditiously as possible.”…“ Read more Hmmmm… For some time now I’ve also been calling for the creation of a new modal administration (I imagine what the Alliance is calling a “new class”) for Driverless vehicles (which I’m imagining is what the Alliance is calling AVs). We should begin with the terminology and not include the SAE’s “Levels” which embrace zero semantic information. Alain
Cruise CEO: Self-driving car market is ‘literally trillions of dollars’
R. Hackett, Dec 1, “Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise, the self-driving technology subsidiary of GM, is planning to hit the streets of San Francisco this month after receiving permission from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles in October to run fully unmanned vehicle tests there.
At Fortune's
Brainstorm
Tech virtual
conference on
Tuesday,
Ammann showed
a video of a
couple of
Cruise's
autonomous
cars—still
featuring
human backup
drivers—zipping
through the
busy city. The
demo displayed
a
representation
of the cars'
fields of
vision,
including
Cruise's
computer-modeling
of routes,
traffic,
pedestrians,
and other
urban
obstacles...." [Read more](https://fortune.com/2020/12/01/gm-cruise-ceo-self-driving-car-market-trillions-of-dollars/) Hmmmm... Very nice interview.
Alain
Emissions Test: Car vs. Truck vs. Leaf Blower
J. Kavanagh, Dec 5, 2011, “… Comparing Apples to Kumquats: Creating the Leaf Blower Test Cycle…
Therefore we needed to come up with a test for the leaf blowers that provided a basis of comparison to the vehicles, yet still reflects the way lawn equipment is actually used in practice. Observe leaf blowers in the wild and you’ll find they are very often operated at either full whack or idle. Our test would have to mimic this usage pattern….
The Results… In other words, this is a best-case scenario for the leaf blowers and a worst-case scenario for the vehicles. The data below are expressed in grams per minute:…
You’d have to drive a Raptor 235 miles — stopping every 505 seconds and doing cold restarts — to emit the same level of hydrocarbons as simply idling the two-stroke leaf blower for less than 10 minutes…. Read more Hmmmm… I realize the above is 9 years old, and it is not, to my knowledge, peer reviewed, but 1. don’t use a 2 cycle anything, and 2. wrt ICEs, details matter, as they do with EVs. Thank you, Ken. Alain
Uber reportedly will sell its flying taxi business to secretive startup Joby Aviation
A. Hawkins, Dec 2, “Uber’s ambitious and quixotic effort to launch a flying taxi service is coming in for a landing. According to Axios, the ride-hailing company has agreed to sell its Uber Elevate division to secretive startup Joby Aviation.
The news comes
as Uber CEO
Dara
Khosrowshahi
attempts to
push his
company closer
to
profitability,
which includes
the sale of
the
money-losing
parts of the
business. The
company is
also said to
be exploring
the sale of
its autonomous
vehicle
division...." [Read more](https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/2/22086597/uber-sells-flying-taxi-elevate-joby-aviation) Hmmm... Building any kind of
substantial
airTaxi
business any
time soon is
very unlikely;
however, I
continue to
contend that
Driverless
cars are
Uber's
only/most
likely means
of earning its
pre-IPO
valuation.
Realizing that
everything is
Make or Buy,
driverless
operation is
so fundamental
to Uber's
business
proposition
that the price
of buying it
will flow the
profits of
operating it
to the maker
of the
Driverless
software/hardware
leaving Uber
with the
responsibility
of the
operation
without the
ability to
capture the
profits.
Alain
Revel pulls electric mopeds after failing to make a dent in Austin’s car culture
K. Korosec,
Dec. 4,
"Shared
electric moped
startup Revel
said Friday
that it will
shut down its
service in
Austin later
this month.
The startup's
CEO and
co-founder
Frank Reig
didn't place
the entire
blame on the
COVID-19
pandemic,
which has
caused
ridership to
fall across
shared
micromobility
services as
well as public
transit, for
the company's
decision.
Instead, Reig
cited the
combination of
Austin's
"deep-rooted"
car culture,
which has only
become further
engrained
during COVID.
The service
will shut down
in Austin on
December 18.
"When Revel
came to Austin
we knew there
would be
challenges,"
Reig wrote in
the statement
that was
posted on
Twitter. "In
addition to
having a less
dense urban
core than our
other markets,
the city's
deep-rooted
car culture
was proven
difficult to
penetrate,
especially
during
COVID."... "
[Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/04/revel-pulls-electric-mopeds-after-failing-to-make-a-dent-in-austins-car-culture/) It isn't easy to get started
with any new
mobility
system. Alain
Moovit launches its first on-demand ridesharing service in the US near Detroit, with Smart Bus
T. Stone, Nov 25, “Moovit launches its first on-demand ridesharing service in the US near Detroit, with Smart Bus…“ Read more Hmmmm… Isn’t this back to the Dial-a-Ride visions of 50 years ago??? Alain
Volvo thinks gaming tech can help make self-driving cars safer
M. Beedham, Nov, 2020, “…“ Read more Hmmmm… Maybe not as old as Dial-a-Ride, but not a new concept. What do you think Chenyi and Artur and … did ~5 years ago? Alain
13.5pt;
font-family:
Georgia,
serif;">4thAnnual
Princeton SmartDrivingCarSummit Postponed until 1st
Episode at
noon on Dec.
17, 2020 and,
Starting in
January, followed by
14 more weekly
episodes
through to
March 18,
2021. Each
episode
starting Live
on Zoom @ noon
Eastern
(Princeton
Time) and
lasting for
1.5 hours or
until
Discussion
with audience
ends. A.
Kornhauser,
Feb 6, "The
focus of the
Summit this
year will be
moving beyond
the AI and the
Sensors to
addressing the
challenges of Commercialization and the delivery of tangible value to communities.
We've made
enormous
progress with
the
technology.
We're doing
the
investment;
however, this
investment
delivers value
only if is
commercialized:
made available
and is used by
consumers in
large
numbers.
Demos and
one-offs are
"great", but
to deliver
value that is
anywhere near
commensurate
with the
magnitude of
the investment
made to date,
initial
deployments
need to
scale. We
can't just
have
"Morgantown
PRT Systems"
whose initial
deployment has
been nothing
but enormously
successful for
45 years (an
essentially
perfect safety
record, an
excellent
availability
record and
customer
valued
mobility).
Unfortunately,
the system was
never expanded
or duplicated
anywhere. It
didn't scale.
It is a
one-off.
Tests, demos and one-offs are nice niche deployments; however, what one really needs are initial deployments that have the opportunity to grow, be replicated and scale. In 1888, Frank Sprague, successfully deployed a small electric street railway system in Richmond, Va. which became the reference for many other cites. “… By 1889 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague’s equipment had been begun or planned on several continents…” Substantial scaled societal benefits emerged virally from this technology. It was eventually supplanted by the conventional automobile but for more than 30 years it delivered substantial improvements to the quality-of-life for many.
In part, the
4th Summit
will focus on
defining the
"Richmond" of
Affordable
Shared-ride
On-demand
Mobility-as-a-Service.
The initial
Operational
Design Domain
(ODD) that
safely
accommodates
Driverless
Mobility
Machines that
people
actually
choose to use
and becomes
the envy of
communities
throughout the
Program is
in flux.
Consider all
named
individuals as
"Invited yet
to be
confirmed".
Alain
C’mon Man!(These folks didn’t get/read the memo)
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
Click-Bait
CEO of Yandex Self Driving Group predicts that autonomous vehicles will roam freely around major cities within five years
S. Ghosh, Dec 3, “…” Read more Hmmmm… I guess that pumping it up like this is important to a “Business Insider”, which in itself, the term “insider” has connotations on cheater. Ask Martha. Alain
Subaru Announces The World’s First Self-Driving Maneuver With A New Forester SUV
D. Fliert, Nov 24, “… The Japanese automaker, along with SoftBank Corp., teamed up using an autonomous driving control utilizing the 5th generation mobile communication system 5G and cellular V2X.
Subaru says
the Forester
SUV
successfully
merged using
the new
technology for
the first time
in the
world...." [Read more](https://www.torquenews.com/1084/subaru-announces-world-s-first-self-driving-maneuver-new-forester-suv) Hmmmm... How many "millions of
times" have
other
"Self-driving"
systems
successfully
merged in much
more
challenging
situations
without using
even 1G and (I
know it is
redundant)
cellular V2X.
What is being
touted for
what reason
here?? Alain
Automated vehicle drivers fail to keep their eyes on the road, study finds
Staff, Dec 2,
"Drivers can
become overly
reliant on the
technology
..." [Read more](https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2020/12/automated-vehicle-drivers-fail-to-keep-their-eyes-on-the-road-study-finds/) Hmmmm... One need not look
beyoud the
title to "Say
what"??!!??
("Automated
Vehicle
Driver": If
Automated; why
the Driver; if
the Driver is
expected to
play a role,
then it is at
best
"partially
automated".
Language is
being
substantially
misued to a
point where it
is impossible
to understand
what anyone is
doing or tying
to do. There
is no
"overreliance"
by "drivers".
They've been
told (over
sold) that the
car's driving
has been
automated. It
in not
unreasonable
that the
driver would
them not need
to keep their
eyes on the
road. The
fault is with
the way that
the
capabilities
of the car
have been
described to
the
p[articipants, not the behavior of the participants. If I'm told that my toll is going to be taken automatically from my EZ Pass account, I'm not trying to pay attention to how the toll is beng collected as I go through the high speed automateed lanes and they certainly don't want me to stop and look for some
basket that
will capture
my coins as I
throw them.
However, if it
is
semi-automated
and there is
some task on
my end that I
need to do to
pay the toll,
then I, and
most people,
will pay close
attention to
the location
of that basket
in which I
need to throw
my coins.
Alain
[Gone
in 90 seconds:
Belgian
security
researchers
demonstrate
how to break
into Tesla
Model X in
minutes](https://siliconcanals.com/news/belgian-researchers-tesla-model-x/)
S. Sharma, Nov 24, “… The security researchers used two weaknesses in Tesla Model X’s modern system to gain full access to the car and drive away. They used a self-made kit that costs around €168. Do note that the researchers notified Tesla of the weakness and the company is pushing a patch as part of the 2020.48 over-the-air (OTA) software update that fixes the exploits. …“ Read more Hmmmm… We have come a long way. It used to take only about 9 seconds to use a €1.68 shim to gain full access to a ‘55 Chevy, jump it and drive it away. Not saying that I that in my yute. Alain
Calendar of Upcoming
Events:s
13.5pt;
font-family:
Georgia,
13.5pt;
font-family:
Georgia,
serif;">4thPrincetonSmartDrivingCar Summit
13.5pt;
font-family:
Georgia,
serif;">Postponed,
to be a
Virtual
Series
13.5pt;
font-family:
Georgia,
serif;">1st
Live Episode
noon ET
Thursday,
Dec.10
Princeton University Princeton, NJ
On the More Technical Side
http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/
###
These editions are sponsored by the SmartETFs Smart Transportation and Technology ETF, symbol MOTO. For more information head to www.motoetf.com
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 187 Zoom-Cast Episode 187 w/Michael Sena, F. Fishkin, Nov 25, “What you should know about electric cars, climate change and more. The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in an eye opening edition of Smart Driving Cars..”
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 186 Zoom-Cast Episode 186 w/Kelly Funkhouser, F. Fishkin, Nov 24, “When it comes to active driver assistance systems, what works and what needs improvement? Some answers from Kelly Funkhouser… program manager for vehicle interface, head of connected and automated vehicles at Consumer Reports. She joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for episode 186 of Smart Driving Cars.”
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 185 Zoom-Cast Episode 185 w/Dan Smith, F. Fishkin, Nov 20, “Only Waymo has been transporting customers in driverless vehicles without a safety monitor on board. What goes into that kind of decision? Waymo Assistant General Counsel Dan Smith joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in this special edition of Smart Driving Cars.” Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!”. Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 184 Zoom-Cast Episode 184 w/Marjory Blumenthal, F. Fishkin, Nov 20, “So when are driverless vehicles safe enough to be deployed? Senior Rand Corporation policy researcher Marjory Blumenthal joins Princeton University’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to examine her latest report and more.” Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!”. Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 183 Zoom-Cast Episode 183 w/Kirsten Korosec F. Fishkin, Nov 13, “Rivian’s hands free driver assistance will be standard equipment…while Ford unveils the E-Transit. TechCrunch Senior Transportation reporter and editor Kirsten Korosec joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Nuro, Tesla, Uber, Lyft, Cruise and more. Plus the coming changes for mobility under a new administration!” Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!”. Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 182 Zoom-Cast Episode 182 F. Fishkin, Nov 6, “What will a new administration mean for autonomous mobility? And what about the passage of Proposition 22 in California after Uber’s big campaign? That plus luxury EVs coming from Bentley….and cheap EVs from China. Join Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 181 Zoom-Cast Episode 181 w/Sheldon Sandler & Glenn Mercer F. Fishkin, Oct. 30, “Waymo releases self driving data…while traditional car dealers enjoy surprisingly strong profits during the pandemic. Why? What about the coming autonomous mobility? Bell Air Partners’ Sheldon Sandler and researcher-consultant Glenn Mercer explain in Episode 181 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. “
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 180 Zoom-Cast Episode 180 w/John Rich, Ford/Argo, part 2 F. Fishkin, Oct. 15, “Ford and Argo AI have unveiled their next generation self-driving test vehicle. Once again, Ford’s Director of Autonomous Vehicle and Technology Development John Rich joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to unveil the technology and the company’s self driving business plans.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 179 Zoom-Cast Episode 179 w/John Rich, Ford/Argo F. Fishkin, Oct. 15, “Which autonomous vehicle platforms will survive? The director of Ford’s Autonomous Vehicle and Technology Development says there may only be two…and Ford /Argo AI will be one of them. John Rich joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 178 Zoom-Cast Episode 178 w/Andrew Hawkins, Verge F. Fishkin, Oct. 9, “Here we go! Waymo going fully driverless in Phoenix suburb service. The Verge senior transportation reporter Andrew Hawkins joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla… Amazon… Rivian and more. Subscribe!
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 177 Zoom-Cast Episode 177
F. Fishkin,
Oct. 2, "New
grades for
assisted
driving
systems from
Euro NCAP.
But Princeton
Professor
Alain
Kornhauser
says the devil
is in the
details in
this edition
with co-host
Fred Fishkin.
And there's
Amazon's
success
against Covid
plusTesla,
Uber, GM,
Nikola and
more. SmartDrivingCars [Pod-Cast Episode 176](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-176) [Zoom-Cast Episode 176](https://youtu.be/lHjSTXH-GGchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHvG6Aqt6fk&feature=youtu.be)
w/Marc
Scribner
F. Fishkin, Sept. 25, “A new government entity to oversee autonomous vehicles? Marc Scribner, Sr. Transportation Policy Analyst at the Reason Foundation on regulation and more with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus…Tesla, Nikola, GM and the California move to ban new gasoline vehicles.”
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 175 Zoom-Cast Episode 175 w/Michael Sena F. Fishkin, Sept. 18, “Automobility and the future of car dealers… “The Dispatcher” publisher Michael Sena offers a different take on how car dealers may battle automakers pushing for direct to consumer subscriptions. That and more in this edition of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin.”
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 174 Zoom-Cast Episode 174 w/Kelly Funkhouser, Consumer Reports
F. Fishkin, Sept. 4, “Moving forward with autonomous vehicle testing, the head of safety at Uber’s Advanced Technology Group is pledging safety data transparency. Nat Beuse joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the latest mobility headlines.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 173 Zoom-Cast Episode 173 w/Nathanial Beuse F. Fishkin, Sept. 4, “Moving forward with autonomous vehicle testing, the head of safety at Uber’s Advanced Technology Group is pledging safety data transparency. Nat Beuse joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the latest mobility headlines.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 172Zoom-Cast Episode 172 Special Edition w/Danny Shapiro
F. Fishkin ,Sept. 2, “Mercedes unveils the latest S Class with more computing power than 60 average cars…with NVIDIA playing a big role. NVIDIA’s Director of Automotive Danny Shapiro joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 171Zoom-Cast Episode 171 w/Henry Greenidge
F. Fishkin,
Aug. 30, "What
should
autonomous
mobility
companies be
doing to win
support from
black
communities?
Why is it
important?
Henry
Greenidge…Fellow
in residence
at the
McSilver
Institute for
Poverty Policy
and Research
at NYU joins
Princeton's
Alain
Kornhausere
and co-host
Fred Fishkin
for that
plus...Uber,
Voyage, Tesla
and more...."
SmartDrivingCars PodCast 170 ZoomCast Episode170 w/Michael Sena F. Fishkin, Aug 20, “Tesla grows while other automakers flounder. And creating standards in an era of mistrust. The Dispatcher publisher joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in a thought provoking episode. Plus…transportation planning during and after the pandemic…NVIDIA…and more.”
SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 169 ZoomCast Episode 169 w/Anthony Townsend F. Fishkin Aug 13, “Ghost Road.. Beyond the Driverless Car author Anthony Townsend brings a unique viewpoint to the debate on the future of mobility…and the impact of the pandemic on ride sharing. Townsend joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and the latest developments from Uber, Lyft, Tesla and more.”
SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 168 ZoomCast Episode 168 w/Olaf Sakkers F. Fishkin Aug 8, “Is Tesla a tech stock? Or a fashion product? Maniv Mobility’s Olaf Sakkers authored a piece on Medium with that title and he joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus… GM’s would be Tesla challenger Cadillac Lyriq, TuSimple, Uber, Ford and more.”
SmartDrivingCars PodCast 167 ZoomCast Episode167 w/Robin Chase, Carlos Pardo & Daniel Sperling F. Fishkin July 29, “In the midst of a pandemic, what is the future of ride sharing and mobility? Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by Robin Chase and Carlos Pardo of the New Urban Mobility Alliance and the director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at U C Davis, Daniel Sperling to dig into the challenges ahead.”
SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 166ZoomCast Episode 166 w/Jay Rodgers’95, CEO Local Motors
F. Fishkin 16, “Local Motors announces a partnership with Beep to broadly deploy autonomous electric shuttles. CEO Jay Rogers joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a wide ranging chat. Plus the Waymo-Fiat Chrysler deal, Tesla, AutoX, Ford, Mobileye and more.” Zoom-inar Episode 005 AmaZooks
F. Fishkin, July 20, “Is Driverless home delivery the fastest route to Affordable Mobility for the Mobility Disadvantaged? … “
SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 165,ZoomCast Episode165 w/Michael Sena
F. Fishkin 16, “Is the option to buy a car at a dealership going to vanish? The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena has a provocative perspective in this edition with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..an update on the Amazon Zoox deal, autonomous vehicles and how they can help battle discrimination in transportation, TuSimple, Mobileye, Uber, Tesla and more.” … Alain SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast 164 Episode 164, Zoom-Cast Episode 163 w/Robbie Diamond
F. Fishkin, July 9, “Fostering economic opportunity through autonomous technology is the focus of an upcoming report from Security America’s Future Energy. Founder and CEO Robbie Diamond shares details and more in this edition with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus ..are armed police officers really needed for traffic enforcement? And the latest from Tesla, Waymo and more. …“ … Alain SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 163, Zoom-Cast Episode 163 w/Henry Greenidge F. Fishkin, July 2, “Transportation, racial injustices and changing the thinking around the future of mobility. NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy & Research fellow Henry Greenidge joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in an eye and mind opening episode of Smart Driving Cars. Plus Amazon, Zoox, Waymo, Tesla & more. .” … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 162, Zoom-Cast Episode 162 w/Cliff Winston
F. Fishkin, June 25, “From the Brookings Institution, Cliff Winston, co-author of Autonomous Vehicles…The Road to Economic Growth? joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..why are fatal crash rates rising in the midst of a pandemic…plus NVIDIA, Didi, Tesla and more.” … Alain Episode 004 Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?
F. Fishkin,
June 23, "But
the debate is
not really
about
technology nor
is it about
who delivers
the best value
for the money
or the most
privacy. It is
about ..."
-
Zoom-inar (Video replay) Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?
-
PodCast (Audio Only) Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?
Listen/Watch more Hmmm… We only scratched the surface. Alain SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 161,Zoom-Cast Episode 161 w/Alberto Stochino F. Fishkin, June 17, “Is less data sometimes more when it comes to driverless vehicle technology? Perceptive Founder and CEO Alberto Stochino joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the DOT’s new plan for sharing autonomous safety information, the latest from Tesla, EVs from China and more.” … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 160, Zoom-Cast Episode 160 w/Jessica Cicchino F. Fishkin, June 12, “Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Research VP Jessica Cicchino co-authored a new study saying self driving vehicles could struggle to eliminate most crashes. She joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to discuss the study. Plus the latest on Tesla, Ford & VW, Covid-19 and more. ” “Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!”. Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 159, Zoom-Cast Episode 159 w/Kara Kockelman F. Fishkin, June 4, “Prof. Kara Kockelman’s focus on smart transportation to save lives, money and the environment has made her a sought after global expert. The U. of Texas Transportation Engineering Professor joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on the impact of Covid-19 and much more. Plus Tesla, Uber, Argo AI and the top smart driving headlines. For more on Dr. Kockelman’s work….please visit… http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman.”
DrivingTheDebate
Episode 003 [Everyone's for Connectivity; but...](https://youtu.be/DMNLH_fkcI4) F. Fishkin,
June 2, "But
the debate is
not really
about
technology nor
is it about
who delivers
the best value
for the money
or the most
privacy. It is
about ..."
Listen/Watch more Hmmm… We only scratched the surface. Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 158, Zoom-Cast Episode 158 w/Chunka Mui
F. Fishkin, May 28, “In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, what are the smartest ways to re-build and plan for the future? Futurist and author Chunka Mui joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Amazon, Zoox, Intel Mobileye, Tesla, Uber and more.” SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 157, Zoom-Cast Episode 157 w/Grayson Brulte
F. Fishkin, May 21, “Global auto makers must completely re-think their autonomous mobility strategy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. So says innovation strategist Grayson Brulte of Brulte & Company….who joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus…Waymo, Tesla, Uber and more.”
DrivingTheDebate Episode 002 The Future of Public Roadway Transit F. Fishkin, May 14, ”Will the Bus be Thrown Under the Bus?…
-
Zoom-inar Video (Video replay)Smart Driving Cars: The Future of Public Roadway Transit
-
PodCast (Audio Only) Smart Driving Cars: The Future of Public Roadway Transit
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 156, Cars Zoom-Cast Episode 156 w/Danny Shapiro2 F. Fishkin, May 14, “With new hardware and software capabilities NVIDIA is expanding into new areas of driver assistance technology. Sr. Director of Automotive Danny Shapiro joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that…plus the latest on Waymo, Voyage, Ford and more. listen and subscribe!” “Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!”. Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay … Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 155,Zoom-Cast Episode 155 w/Alex Roy2 F. Fishkin, April 29, “The continuing impact of Covid-19 on autonomous vehicle progress. But it may not be all bad news. Alex Roy…host of the No Parking Podcast and Director of Special Operations at Argo AI joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Intel, Lyft, Uber and more. Listen and subscribe!”
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 154, Zoom-Cast Episode 154 w/Dan Sperling F. Fishkin, April 29, “Can ride sharing rebound after the pandemic? Daniel Sperling, founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Waymo, Ford and more.”
DrivingTheDebate Episode 001 The Driverless “New Normal” Debate F. Fishkin, April 27,
-
SmartDrivingCar PodCast (Audio Only) Smart Driving Cars: The Driverless New Normal Debate
-
Zoom Audience Questions (Only a few were addressed in Zoom-inar)
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 153, Zoom-Cast Episode 153 w/Dick Mudge2
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 152,Zoom-Cast Episode 152 w/Brad Templeton
SmartDrivingCars Podcast Episode 148 w/Richard Bishop
SmartDrivingCars Zoom-Cast Episode 148 w/Richard Bishop
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 147 - Michael Sena
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 142 - J. Hughes
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 141- A. Roy
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 130 with Dick Mudge & Michael Sena
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 112 - J. Hardiman NJM
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 110 - Lance Elliot Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 108 3rd Summit Wrapup
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 107 3rd Summit Leilei Shinohara & Staff Sergeant Terence McDonnell Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 106 3rd Summit David Kidd & Cecillia Feeley
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 104 3rd Summit Anil Lewis & Katherine Freund
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 97 - Michael Sena’69
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 71-Nader’55 Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 69 - Chunka Mui
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 65 - Bernard Soriano, CA DMV Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 58-Keith Code,Motorcycles
Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 55-Larry Burns, Autonomy
Recent Highlights of:
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text-decoration:
none;">
Thursday, November 26, 2020
The Vehicle Fuel Debate Has Been Hijacked
M. Sena, Nov. 19, “The lead article this month was inspired by a diagram I received showing how much of the energy that we generate to heat our homes, light up our rooms, make the concrete and steel to build our infrastructure and power our transportation is wasted. It’s over two-thirds. Wasted! Half of it is from producing electricity.
There are a
spate of
battery and
hybrid
electric cars
(and some
others) on
their way from
China to
Europe and
North America.
Some of the
ones I
describe in
the Dispatch
Central
section will
be familiar to
readers since
I wrote about
them earlier.
I could not
help writing
again about
Volvo's slow
but steady
exit from
Sweden. In the
self-driving
and data
sharing
section there
is some
interesting
news out of
the UK and
Massachusetts,
a state
(actually a
Commonwealth
just like
Pennsylvania,
my home state)
where I
registered
most of the
cars I have
owned during
the eighteen
years I lived
there.
Waymo has
delivered
quite a bit of
news to the
press during
the past few
months. It
seemed like
everyone was
putting the
same spin on
what they were
saying.
Naturally, I
decided to
spin in the
other
direction. In
Musings of a
Dispatcher I
have mused
about who is
going to be
sitting in all
of those
driverless
vehicles. Will
they be from
Mars or from
Venus?..." [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/lw27g9qlolrjkpb/The%20Dispatcher_December%202020.pdf?dl=0)Hmmmm... What can I say?? Another great
edition of the
Dispatcher. Be
sure to read
all the way
through
including "[Musings of a Dispatcher: Cars are from Mars](https://www.dropbox.com/s/lw27g9qlolrjkpb/The%20Dispatcher_December%202020.pdf?dl=0)". Enjoy and listen/watch the
following [Pod](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-187)/[Zoom](https://youtu.be/eyGCKObQ4e0)-casts. Alain
November 20,
2020
Active Driving Assistance Systems: Test Results and Design Recommendations
Staff, Nov. 2020, “In line with Consumer Reports’ mission to create a fair, safe, and consumer-driven marketplace, this report has been written for the industry to provide more explanation and guidance on the state of Active Driving Assistance systems based on our recent evaluation. While the systems are not equally capable, and may be designed with different usage intentions, CR’s evaluation focused on real-world driving experience of consumers, keeping safety at the forefront. Our goals:
â— Support the creation of government policies and company practices to ensure that innovation and safety go hand-in-hand
â— Use
consumer data
to inform the
industry of
best-practices
to aid in
development
â— Influence
the safe
design,
testing, and
deployment of
systems
consumers will
like and use
â— Advocate
for
transparency
and clarity in
marketing and
consumer
education of
systems
In October
2020, Consumer
Reports
published
ratings of
Active Driving
Assistance
Systems,
defined as
systems that
allow the
driver to use
Adaptive
Cruise Control
(ACC) and Lane
Keeping
Assistance
(LKA) to
simultaneously
control both
the speed and
steering of
the vehicle.
An industry
webinar was
also
held...." [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/8wpnt54t1t8xpfg/consumer-reports-active-driving-assistance-systems-november-16-2020.pdf?dl=0) Hmmmm.... A MUST read
along with "[Cadillac's Super Cruise Outperforms Other Driving Assistance Systems](https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/cadillac-super-cruise-outperforms-other-active-driving-assistance-systems/)". Most unfortunately, CR has not
picked up on
my main
complaint
about ACC:
Tapping of the
brakes by the
driver turns
off the ACC!
This is
BAD!!! Even
the hardest,
let alone the
slightest,
engagement of
the brakes
should NOTturn
off the ACC.
It should ONLYdisengage
the
acceleration/throttle
function of
the ACC!
Tapping of the brakes by the driver is an indication that the driver no longer wishes to accelerate, NOT that the driver no longer wishes to slow down or stop. So why do these systems turn off ACC (which disengage both the acceleration and deceleration functions, rather than just turning off the acceleration/throttle function. (I think that I actually know why… it is an SAE “recommendation”. Just another reason why I don’t like the November 13, 2020
Road Charge Projects: California Four Phase Demonstration K. Pyle, Nov 12, “A key recommendation from the 2017 pilot was to explore whether paying at the pump could work for a road charge just like it does for the gas tax. How could the user experience be as easy as possible? With support from a federal Surface Transportation Funding Alternative grant, California will test how road charge can work with four technologies: usage-based insurance, ridesharing, electric vehicle charging stations/pay-at-the-pump systems, and autonomous vehicles.
Interested in
participating?
The
demonstration
will begin in
January 2021
and run for
six months.
Complete the [Contact Us](http://caroadcharge.com/engage/contact-us/) data
form to
express your
interest in
volunteering
for one or
more
demonstration
phases.... " [Read more](http://www.caroadcharge.com/projects/california-four-phase-demonstration/?utm_source=California+Road+Charge+Education+Program+Interest+List&utm_campaign=e9c783daa5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_29_05_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_25691fa868-e9c783daa5-104440609)Hmmmm... New Jersey is seeking
volunteers for
its version of
this. Participation is easy. You will
enroll via a
quick, online
enrollment
process, plug
a mileage
reporting
device into
your vehicle
and drive.
During the
pilot, you
will receive
monthly
simulated
statements
that compare
what you pay
in current
state fuel
taxes to what
you could pay
in an MBUF
system. It is
okay if you
are not
driving as
much as you
typically
would because
of the
COVID-19
Pandemic.
Your driving
data and
feedback
provided
through
anonymous
online surveys
will help us
understand key
issues such as
privacy,
equity and
administrative
costs with an
MBUF
system.
Please contact zenobia.fields@dot.nj.gov to participate and help n the New Jersey version. Use Subject: Please send, Body:Mileage-Base User Fee (MBUF) Demonstration registration information . We need volunteers. Thank you for helping. Alain
November 6,
2020
Edmunds: Where are our self-driving cars?
W. Kaufman, Nov. 4, “Tesla recently made headlines with the beta launch of its Full Self-Driving system. That system comes with a disclaimer saying, â€ŔIt may do the wrong thing at the worst time, so you must always keep your hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road.â€Â
Tesla’s
system has
impressive
capabilities,
but
it’s
definitely not
hands-free
driving. A few
years ago,
news stories
seemed to say
that
autonomous
vehicles were
just a few
years away.
Well,
it’s
been a few
years and
autonomous
vehicles are,
alas, still in
the future.
Right now,
there is no
car on sale
that can drive
itself without
requiring the
driver to pay
attention to
the road and
be prepared to
take control
of the
vehicle. In
fact, some
automakers
have slowed
down their
timelines.
Here are three
reasons why
you
can’t
buy a
self-driving
car today and
one place
you’re
likely to find
them
first....
EDMUNDS SAYS: You probably won’t be able to buy an autonomous car any time soon. But expect autonomous fleet services to begin expanding in the near future.” Read moreHmmmm… An now a change in Washington… Alain October 30,
Sharing our safety framework for fully autonomous operations Waymo Team, Oct. 30, “On October 8th, Waymo opened its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the general public in Phoenix. Right now members of the public are hailing vehicles with no human driver controlling the car – either in the vehicle or remotely – to help them get to where they’re going as part of their everyday lives….” Read more Hmmmm…
Waymo’s Safety Methodologies and Safety Readiness Determinations N, Webb, Oct. 30, “As the world’s most experienced developer of automated driving systems (â€ŔADSsâ€Â), Waymo has extensive experience in developing and applying state-of-the-art safety methodologies. Waymo’s methodologies help implement Waymo’s forward-looking safety philosophy: Waymo will reduce traffic injuries and fatalities by driving safely and responsibly, and will carefully manage risk as we scale our operations. Waymo’s safety methodologies, which draw on well established engineering processes and address new safety challenges specific to Automated Vehicle (â€ŔAVâ€Â) technology, provide a firm foundation for safe deployment of our Level 4 ADS, which we also refer to as the Waymo Driverâ„¢. Waymo’s determination of its readiness to deploy its AVs safely in different settings rests on that firm foundation and on a thorough analysis of risks specific to a particular Operational Design Domain (â€ŔODDâ€Â)….” Read more Hmmmm… The process. Must read! Alain
Waymo Public Road Safety Performance Data M. Schwall, Oct. 30, “Waymo’s mission to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities and improve mobility for all has led us to expand deployment of automated vehicles (AVs) on public roads without a human driver behind the wheel. As part of this process, Waymo is committed to providing the public with informative and relevant data regarding the demonstrated safety of Waymo’s automated driving system (ADS), which we call the Waymo Driver….” Read more Hmmmm… The substance. Must read! …
I had the priveledge of reviewing Waymo’s most recent Safety Reports 1 , 2 (above)
In the past, safety reports by the AV community have largely been a response to NHTSA’s Voluntary Safety Self-Assessments and have, in my opinion, been largely public relations documents. While generally descriptive about the testing processes they contain very little, if any, substantive information about their safety related experience to-date focused exclusively on driverless operation.
Safe driverless operation is absolutely necessary for AVs to evolve from extremely expensive chauffeured rides to affordable mobility available to essentially anyone throughout an Operational Design Domain (ODD). Affordability requires that the mobility be delivered without a driver or attendant on-board the vehicle. Only passengers.
The decision to remove the driver/attendant rests in part on the shoulders of public safety regulators who need to allow such operation, but more importantly, on the shoulders of the real decision makers at the AV company. In the end, it is those AV company decision makers who will be held fully responsible for any lapse in the safety of the driverless operation. These decision makers are inside the AV companies and are, of course, privy to all the details and substance about their own safety related driverless operation, which, in the past, has not been shared in their Voluntary Safety Self-assessments.
My impression is that these just released Waymo Safety Reports contain the substantive information that clearly depicts Waymo’s safety-related driverless operational experience. To me, they read like internal documents meant to guide and inform internal decision makers to objectively decide if a sufficiently safe operational experience has been achieved in order to vote to fully accept the safety responsibility of driverless operation in their Operational Design Domain.
Given the information that is contained in these documents, it does not surprise me that Waymo decision makers have decided to proceed with driverless operation in the Phoenix Operational Design Domain. Had I had the responsibility of being one of the decision makers reviewing these documents, I would have also voted yes.
Alain
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Friday,
October 23,
2020 [How Ford’s Next-Gen Test Vehicle Lays the Foundation for Our Self-Driving Business](https://medium.com/self-driven/how-fords-next-gen-test-vehicle-lays-the-foundation-for-our-self-driving-business-aadbf247b6ce) J. Davis,
Oct 20,
"Launching a
self-driving
service is
complex. Many
different
pieces need to
come together
to create a
trusted and
scalable
self-driving
service that
provides value
to customers
and the cities
they operate
in. At Ford,
we are taking
a thoughtful
approach to
how we bring
together all
these pieces
to help shape
the future of
self-driving
vehicles. One
important part
of this
service is the
vehicle, which
will allow us
to stand up
our
self-driving
business.
Meet the
Fourth
Generation
Self-Driving
Test Vehicle:
Beginning to
roll out this
month, Ford
and Argo
AI‘s
fourth-generation
self-driving
test vehicles
are built on
the Escape
Hybrid
platform and
feature the
latest
advancements
in sensing and
computing
technology.
The Escape
Hybrid is also
the
architecture
and platform
we have chosen
to use to
bring our
autonomous
vehicle
service
online....." [Read more](https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2020/10/ford-expands-stake-in-newly-public-velodyne-lidar/#:~:text=Ford%20has%20a%207.6%25%20stake,Lidar%20worth%20about%20%24227.2%20million.&text=The%20automaker%20revealed%20it%20owns,is%20worth%20approximately%20%24227.2%20million.) Hmmmm.... [See video](https://youtu.be/fZ102xfmH-Y).
Imprssive.
Listen/watch SmartDrivingCars [PodCast](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-180) / [ZoomCast](https://youtu.be/ngpKFmQNsxs) with John Rich. [CNBC's take](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/20/ford-unveils-new-self-driving-test-vehicle-for-2022-launch.html) as
well as [THe Detroit News](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2020/10/20/ford-argo-ai-chooses-hybrid-escape-self-driving-service/5993329002/).
Alain
rgb(51, 51,
October 16,
Ford Reveals Stake in Newly Public Velodyne Lidar J. Szczesny, Oct 7, “Ford Motor Co.’s push to broaden its self-driving vehicle technology portfolio, led to it taking a stake in a Silicon Valley company developing lidar systems needed to help guide autonomous vehicles.
The automaker
revealed it
owns a 7.6%
stake, or
13.06 million
shares, in
Velodyne
Lidar,
according to a
report filed
with the
Securities
Exchange
Commission.
With the
shares trading
at $17.40 per
share, the
stake is worth
approximately
$227.2
million. Ford
filed the
report to
remain
compliant with
the SEC...." [Read more](https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2020/10/ford-expands-stake-in-newly-public-velodyne-lidar/#:~:text=Ford%20has%20a%207.6%25%20stake,Lidar%20worth%20about%20%24227.2%20million.&text=The%20automaker%20revealed%20it%20owns,is%20worth%20approximately%20%24227.2%20million.) Hmmmm.... Interesting, but even
more
interesting is
the
SmartDrivingCars[PodCast](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-179) / [ZoomCast](https://youtu.be/ngpKFmQNsxs) with John Rich. Alain
rgb(51, 51,
October 09,
2020 [Waymo starts to open driverless ride-hailing service to the public](https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/08/waymo-starts-to-open-driverless-ride-hailing-service-to-the-public/)
K. Korosec, Oct. 8, “Waymo, the Google self-driving-project-turned-Alphabet unit, is beginning to open up its driverless ride-hailing service to the public.
The company
said that
starting
today, members
of its Waymo
One service
will be able
to take family
and friends
along on their
fully
driverless
rides in the
Phoenix area.
Existing Waymo
One members
will have the
first access
to the
driverless
rides â€â€
terminology
that means no
human behind
the wheel.
However, the
company said
that in the
next several
weeks more
people will be
welcomed
directly into
the service
through its
app, which is
available on
Google Play
and the App
Store.
Waymo said
that 100% of
its rides will
be fully
driverless â€â€
which it has
deemed its
â€Å"rider
onlyâ€Â
mode. That
100% claim
requires a bit
of unpacking.
The public
shouldn’t
expect
hundreds of
Waymo-branded
Chrysler
Pacifica
minivans
 no
human behind
the wheel
 to
suddenly
inundate the
entire
600-plus
square miles
of the greater
Phoenix area..
..." [Read more](https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/08/waymo-starts-to-open-driverless-ride-hailing-service-to-the-public/) Hmmmm... "...fully Driverless...".
That means
that Krafcik,
the Waymo
"Board",
Alphabet's
Board and all
the lawyers
have signed
off and
said... We are
safe enough to
basically bet
the ranch that
the expected
value of the
mobility that
we'll be
putting out on
the streets
of our Operational Design Domain, which is under our control,
is worth
whatever
expected risk
still exists
that some bad
things may
happen. That
is an enormous
hurdle that
has been
achieved by an
entity that
has an
enormous
ranch. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
It hasn't come
easy, nor has
it come
without intese
diligence and
effort. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Alain
rgb(51, 51,
October 09,
2020
ASSISTED DRIVING GRADINGS Staff, Oct. 2020 “On this page you will find the gradings of cars tested by Euro NCAP on automated driving technologies.
For its 2020
assessment of
Highway Assist
systems, Euro
NCAP has
developed
dedicated test
and assessment
protocols,
divided into
two main
areas:
Assistance
Competence,
based on the
balance
between Driver
Engagement and
Vehicle
Assistance,
and Safety
Backup...." [Read more](https://www.euroncap.com/en/ratings-rewards/assisted-driving-gradings/) Hmmmm....Look carefully at each
component of
the rating
system. NCAP
has chosen one
algorithmic
way of "adding
apples and
oranges" to
get their
rating.
Unfortunately
they don't
divulge the
secret
formula. To
me, it doesn't
seem to be
sufficiently
iweighted on
what I
consider to be
the most
important
element...
"Collision
Avoidance".
If the system
doesn't do
that well,
then why
bother being
good at
Consumer
Information
(unless that
information
says clearly
that the
system doesn't
work well".
If NCAP itself did a good job of Consumer Information then it would divulge its algorithm and allow the consumer to edit its weights to trade-off what the consumer believes is more or less important.
In all fairness, NCAP does divulge the individual performance values. With work, this is really valuable information. This is a must read! Alain September 25, 2020
UN Economic & Social Council, April 6, “The intention of the Regulation is to establish uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS).
ALKS
controls the
lateral and
longitudinal
movement of
the vehicle
for extended
periods
without
further driver
command. ALKS
is a system
whereby the
activated
system is in
primary
control of the
vehicle.
This
Regulation is
the first
regulatory
step for an
automated
driving system
(as defined in ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1140) in traffic and it therefore provides innovative
provisions
aimed at
addressing the
complexity
related to the
evaluation of
the system
safety. It
contains
administrative
provisions
suitable for
type approval,
technical
requirements,
audit and
reporting
provisions and
testing
provisions.
ALKS
can be
activated
under certain
conditions on
roads where
pedestrians
and cyclists
are prohibited
and which, by
design, are
equipped with
a physical
separation
that divides
the traffic
moving in
opposite
directions and
prevent
traffic from
cutting across
the path of
the vehicle.
In a first
step, the
original text
of this
Regulation
limits the
operational
speed to 60
km/h maximum
and passenger
cars (M1
vehicles).
This
Regulation
includes
general
requirements
regarding the
system safety
and the
failsafe
response. When
the ALKS is
activated, it
shall perform
the driving
task instead
of the driver,
i.e. manage
all situations
including
failures, and
shall not
endanger the
safety of the
vehicle
occupants or
any other road
users. There
is however
always the
possibility
for the driver
to override
the system, at
any time.
The Regulation
also lays down
requirements
on how the
driving task
shall be
safely handed
over from the
ALKS to the
driver
including the
capability for
the system to
come to a stop
in case the
driver does
not reply
appropriately.
Finally, the
Regulation
includes
requirements
on the
Human-Machine
Interface
(HMI) to
prevent
misunderstanding
or misuse by
the driver.
The Regulation
for instance
requires that
on-board
displays used
by the driver
for other
activities
than driving
when the ALKS
is activated,
shall be
automatically
suspended as
soon as the
system issues
a transition
demand. These
measures are
without
prejudice to
driver
behaviour
rules on how
to use these
systems in the
Contracting
Parties as
currently
being
discussed by
the Global
Forum for Road
Traffic Safety
(WP.1) at the
time of
drafting this
document (See
e.g. Informal
Document 4
Revision 1 of
the
seventy-eight
session of
WP.1)...."[Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9aa8x6p4rqjaxd/Level3RegulatonECE-TRANS-WP29-2020-081e.docx?dl=0)Hmmmm.... A very important read with many very important
details and
this is just
for Automated
Lane Keeping
Systems (ALKS)
which is just
the 2nd (baby)
step, after
adaptive
cruise control
on the way of
"finishing"
Level 2 and
tip toeing
into Level 3
and beyond.
Thank you Russ
for bringing
this to my
attention.
Alain
rgb(51, 51,
September 11,
2020 [Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving Capability' Falls Short of Its Name](https://www.consumerreports.org/autonomous-driving/tesla-full-self-driving-capability-review-falls-short-of-its-name/) M.
Monticello.
Sept. 8, The
features might
be cutting
edge, even
cool, but we
think buyers
should be wary
of shelling
out $8,000 for
what electric
car company
Tesla calls
its Full
Self-Driving
Capability
option. Tesla
claims every
new vehicle it
builds
includes all
the hardware
necessary to
be fully
autonomous,
and the
company says
that through
future
over-the-air
software
updates, its
cars should
eventually be
capable of
driving
themselves. .... Anytime anyone uses words
such as "Full"
the one thing
that you know
that they are
"Full" of is
.... "Full"
is about a
perception,
not a fact.
Even the
definition of
"autonomous"
has caveats
(or should I
say Full of
caveats?).
What I
interpret Elon
to be selling
is: sufficient
hardware
(sensors,
memory,
compute power
and
communications
bandwidth)
that, with
more elegant
software, may
be able to do
a way better
job in safely
driving a
car. What he
has never said
is that this
hardware plus
future
software is
going to be
good enough
for him to be
held
responsible if
something bad
happens when
the car is
being driven
by that
hardware and
software
combination.
That said,
lets move
on...
But for now,
Full
Self-Driving
Capability,
which includes
features that
can assist the
driver with
parking,
changing lanes
on the
highway, and
even coming to
a complete
halt at
traffic lights
and stop
signs, remains
a misnomer ...Yes!... Below, we explain each feature in
the suite, its
intended use,
and how each
performed in
our tests....
" [Read more](https://www.consumerreports.org/autonomous-driving/tesla-full-self-driving-capability-review-falls-short-of-its-name/) Hmmmm.... [See Video](https://www.consumerreports.org/autonomous-driving/tesla-full-self-driving-capability-review-falls-short-of-its-name/), [Watch Zoom-Cast](https://youtu.be/AfRb9B-9boc). Help with
parking....
no one parks
a good car
into a tight
parking place;
else, that
car's life as
a god car
rapidly
disappears.
Stupid Summon
is just
stupid... your
car is not
your dog and
certainly not
in the WalMart
parking lot.
(or should I
have said
WholePaycheck
parking lot)
Here puppy,
here puppy!
I really like what Consumer Reports has been doing on this front. Trying to help consumers understant what is what. Alain rgb(51, 51, September 11, 2020
Autonomous vehicles could improve policing, public safety, and much more
rgb(51, 51,
August 20,
2020 [Creating Standards in an Environment of Mistrust](https://www.dropbox.com/s/6jm74a94rtyd4c0/The-Dispatcher_September-2020.pdf?dl=0)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
[The Biggest Self-Driving Truck Startup Stumbles in Hitting High Goals](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-biggest-self-driving-truck-startup-stumbles-in-hitting-high-goals) A.
Efrati, July
22, "In just
five years,
TuSimple has
become the
biggest and
most visible
developer of
self-driving
trucks,
raising more
cash and
putting more
robotic big
rigs on the
road than any
rival.
High-profile
customers
including UPS
have
contracted to
let TuSimple
haul their
cargo on the
highway.
Executives
have forecast
heady revenue
and predicted
that fully
automated,
driverless
trucks are in
sight.
Instead,
TuSimple has
fallen short
of
expectations,
hampered by
the same
technological
challenges
that have
afflicted
other
developers of
self-driving
vehicles. It
had predicted
several
hundred
million
dollars of
revenue by
this year, but
instead
acknowledges
revenue is
minimal,
according to
the
company’s
financial
projections
reviewed by
The
Information.
And it has
fallen short
of its
timeline for
removing human
backup
drivers,
repeatedly..," [Read more](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-biggest-self-driving-truck-startup-stumbles-in-hitting-high-goals)Hmmm....
I simply don't
understand why
they have to
be focusing on
Driverless
right from the
beginning.
There is
substantial
RoI for
Safe-driving
Trucks...
reduced
expected
liability
(~$10/truck/year);
improved
comfort,
quality of
work place,
reduced
anxiety, ...
of drivers
yielding
improved
driver
recruiting and
retention;
improved
on-time
deliveries;
... continue
to yield very
attractive
RoIs for just
for
Safe-driving
truck
technology,
aka "Level
1/2". Why
isn't tuSimple
starting with
this
technology to
build its
advanced
distribution
network????
Alain
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
[Car OEMs Driving Toward Relevance or Perdition](https://www.dropbox.com/s/ltmk5s3hdpwf6nr/The-Dispatcher_August-2020.pdf?dl=0)
###
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
[Fostering Economic Opportunity through Autonomous Vehicle Technology](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bUHzsV9BSm-tJkKQ6QVNqg)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
Announcing 2020-2021 Fellow-in-Residence Henry L. Greenidge, Esq. Press release, June 24, “The McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University has announced transportation policy expert Henry L. Greenidge, Esq. as a 2020-2021 Fellow-in-Residence. …
â€Å"As New
York City and
cities around
the nation
reopen amid
COVID-19,
there is an
important
conversation
to be had
about the
intersection
of
transportation
policy with
poverty, race
and class. In
a field where
there are too
few thought
leaders of
color, Henry
Greenidge’s
industry
expertise and
distinguished
track record
of public
service make
him an
invaluable
addition to
the NYU
McSilver
team,â€Â
says Michael
A. Lindsey,
PhD, MSW, MPH,
Executive
Director of
the institute.
â€Å"Race
and
transportation
have been
inextricably
linked since
the first
slave ship
crossed the
Americas,â€Â
says Henry
Greenidge.
â€Å"As our
nation
continues to
grapple with
institutional
racism, which
serves as the
fabric for
every facet of
the United
States, the
inequities of
transportation
policies must
be at the
center. I am
humbled and
excited to be
working with
the McSilver
Institute to
unpack how
transportation,
race, and
poverty
intersect.." [Read more](https://mcsilver.nyu.edu/henry-greenidge-fellow-in-residence/) Hmmm.... In
no uncertain
terms, we
must make sure
that
inequities and
racism are not
explicitly nor
even
implicitly
baked intothe SmartDrivingCar r/evolution. We are still at the very beginning, so it
shouldn't be
hard nor
expensive but
so far it
doesn't look
good. The
emphasis has
been on giving
those that
already have
fantastic ways
to get around
one more way.
The focus
hasn't been on
the mobility
disadvantaged
and certainly
not on the
Black
community.
Just look
where the
testing has
been taking
place and the
folks that
take part in
the focus
groups and
those that are
given rides.
Look at who
designs and
writes the
software and
the
investors.
Sure, one can
and should
serve them,
but if public
policy is
going to play
a role, then
it can't bake
in more
inequities.
Moreover, the
private sector
can also step
up and realize
that these
systems can
readily serve
everyone. The
technology
that makes
SmartDrivingCars
possible is
not inherently
racists. It
can respect
and serve
everyone.
Henry and
others can
help make sure
that the
designers and
deployers of
SmartDrivingCars
don't
explicitly nor
implicitly
bake in racism
and bias.
Alain
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
[Motor Vehicle Fatality Rates Jump 36.6% in April Despite Quarantines, Says National Safety Council](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/motor-vehicle-fatality-rates-jump-36-6-in-april-despite-quarantines-says-national-safety-council-301082390.html#:~:text=Preliminary%20estimates%20from%20the%20National,same%20time%20period%20last%20year.)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
[U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces First Participants in New Automated Vehicle Initiative to Improve Safety, Testing, and Public Engagement](https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/participants-automated-vehicle-transparency-and-engagement-for-safe-testing-initiative)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Friday,
Society of Actuaries Research Brief Impact of COVID-19, June 12, 2020
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
[Two-way Vehicle Connectivity is a Three-sided Coin That Everyone Wants to Own](https://www.dropbox.com/s/eyomgyelgm4q6fl/Sena_Two-way%20Vehicle%20Connectivity_2-3.pdf?dl=0)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Thursday,
Luminaries Battle In Lincoln-Douglas Style Debate About The Future Of Self-Driving Cars rgb(51, 51, 255);”>Friday,
What Negative Oil Prices Mean and How the Impact Could Last rgb(51, 51, 255);”>Friday,
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. â€ŔRemote driving is hard,†I said. â€ŔThe 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](https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbishop1/2020/03/24/starsky-robotics-failed-does-that-mean-automated-trucking-is-dead/#51d50d840c84) Hmmmm... [Listen to PodCast 148](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-episode-148).
or/and [Watch us on YouTube](https://youtu.be/VkzPm5GwEz4).
Alain
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
[Waymo suspends robotaxi service except for its truly driverless vehicles](https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/17/waymo-suspends-robotaxi-service-except-for-its-truly-driverless-vehicles/)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
February 15,
2020
â€ŔUrbs,†â€ŔBurbs,†and the Immigration Locomotive
J. Hughes, Feb 2020, “Even more so than the nation, the broad fourstate, 35-county metropolitan region centered on New York City (figure 1) is becoming afflicted by a condition of demographic stagnation. While the United States has been experiencing the lowest population growth rates since the Great Depression, the region has only recently (2016–2018) slipped into absolute population decline, spawned by domestic outmigration. The major counterforce forestalling a demographic catastrophe has been positive international migration. Immigration has become the primary source of population growthâ€â€the demographic locomotive. Without it, the region would have to bear fully the economic consequences of what has become a virtual domestic population hemorrhageâ€â€a vast exodus of regional residents moving to the rest of the country. This is just one dimension of endemic demographic change that has swept the post–Great Recession world….
The second new reset is a turnaround of the pattern evidenced in the 2010–2016 period, when population growth in the â€Ŕurbs†surpassed that of the â€Ŕburbs.†After dominating growth early in the decade (2010–2016), the coreâ€â€the urban heart of the metropolitan region encompassing New York City and three adjacent counties in New Jerseyâ€â€suddenly slipped into decline post-2016, causing the region as a whole to lose population. This is the latest transformation in what has become a transmillennial demographic roller coaster ride… “ Read more Hmmmm… Most interesting Demographic Dynamic. A must read. Alain
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Friday,
January 31,
2020
2020 Hyundai Sonata stars in Super Bowl ad all about ‘Smaht Pahk’
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Sunday,
January 12,
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 EyeSightis 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
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Monday,
January 6,
2020
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
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
November 30,
2019 [Chandler unveils drop-off, pick-up zone for self-driving cars](https://ktar.com/story/2852028/chandler-unveils-drop-off-pick-up-zone-for-self-driving-cars/) G.
Zetino, Nov.
25,
""It’s
about to get
easier for
self-driving
cars to drop
off and pick
up passengers
in Chandler.
The city of
Chandler, in
partnership
with Waymo, on
Friday
unveiled the
nation’s
first drop-off
and pick-up
zone for
autonomous
ride-hailing
cars.
Read more Hmmmm… The iconic image:
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
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
November 23,
2019 [Self-driving car capital? One senator thinks it can be Florida](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article237625484.html)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
November 16,
2019
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Friday,
November 1,
2019
An Update on the Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
September 28,
2019 [Public forum will explore possibility of transit on demand in Princeton](https://planetprinceton.com/2019/09/22/public-forum-will-explore-possibility-of-transit-on-demand-in-princeton/)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Saturday,
August 17,
2019 [Autonomous Vehicles: A View from Seniors](https://www.dropbox.com/s/wi7t4ec5h30i54e/AutonomousVehiclesAViewFromSeniorsFINALDRAFT20190815.docx?dl=0)
rgb(51, 51,
255);">Friday,
March 29, 2019
Automated vehicles could provide mobility to the ‘mobility disadvantaged’ rgb(51, 51, 255);”>Thursday, November 22,
Market Framework and Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems
October 24,
New Jersey Pending Legislation re: Autonomous Vehicles
Oct 16, Establishes fully autonomous vehicle pilot program A4573 Sponsors: Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14)
Oct 16, EstablishesNew Jersey Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Task Force AJR164Sponsors: Benson (D14); Zwicker (D16); Lampitt (D6)
Oct 16, [Directs MVC to establish driver's license endorsement for autonomous vehicles A4541](https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A5000/4541_I1.PDF) Sponsors:
Zwicker (D16);
Benson (D14);
Lampitt
(D6)..." [Read more](https://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/PDFs/NVIDIA-Self-Driving-Safety-Report-2018.pdf)Hmmmm.... Things are beginning to move in New
Jersey. Alain
Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM
Waymo’s fleet of self-driving minivans is about to get 100 times bigger
PRELIMINARY REPORT: HIGHWAY: HWY18MH010 (Uber/Herzberg Crash) May 24, “About 9:58 p.m., on Sunday, March 18, 2018, an Uber Technologies, Inc. test vehicle, based on a modified 2017 Volvo XC90 and operating with a self-driving system in computer control mode, struck a pedestrian on northbound Mill Avenue, in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona.
…The vehicle was factory equipped with several advanced driver assistance functions by Volvo Cars, the original manufacturer. The systems included a collision avoidance function with automatic emergency
braking, known
as City
Safety, as
well as
functions for
detecting
driver
alertness and
road sign
information.
All these
Volvo
functions are
disabled when
the test
vehicle is
operated in
computer
control..."[Read more](http://orfe.princeton.edu/%7Ealaink/SmartDrivingCars/PDFs/NTSBuberPreliminaryMay2018.pdf) Hmmmm.... Uber must believe
that its
systems are
better at
avoiding
Collisions and
Automated
Emergency
Braking than
Volvo's. At least this gets Volvo
"off the
hook".
“…According to data obtained from the self-driving system, the system first registered radar and LIDAR observations of the pedestrian about 6 seconds before impact, when the vehicle was traveling at 43 mph…“ (= 63 feet/second) So the system started “seeing an obstacle when it was 63 x 6 = 378 feet away… more than a football field, including end zones!
“…As the vehicle and pedestrian paths converged, the self-driving system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object, as a vehicle, and then as a bicycle with varying expectations of future travel path…“ (NTSB: Please tell us precisely when it classified this “object’ as a vehicle and be explicit about the expected ”future travel paths.” Forget the path, please just tell us the precise velocity vector that Uber’s system attached to the “object”, then the “vehicle”. Why didn’t the the Uber system instruct the Volvo to begin to slow down (or speed up) to avoid a collision? If these paths (or velocity vectors) were not accurate, then why weren’t they accurate? Why was the object classified as a “Vehicle” ?? When did it finally classify the object as a ”bicycle”? Why did it change classifications? How often was the classification of this object done. Please divulge the time and the outcome of each classification of this object. In the tests that Uber has done, how often has the system mis-classified an object as a”pedestrian”when the object was actually an overpass, or an overhead sign or overhead branches/leaves that the car could safely pass under, or was nothing at all?? (Basically, what are the false alarm characteristics of Uber’s Self-driving sensor/software system as a function of vehicle speed and time-of-day?)
“…At 1.3 seconds before impact, (impact speed was 39mph = 57.2 ft/sec) the self-driving system determined that an emergency braking maneuver was needed to mitigate a collision” (1.3 x 57.2 = 74.4 ft. which is about equal to the braking distance. So it still could have stopped short.
“…According to Uber, emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control, to reduce (eradicate??) the potential for erratic vehicle behavior. …“ NTSB: Please describe/define potential and erratic vehicle behavior Also please uncover and divulge the design & decision process that Uber went through to decide that this risk (disabling the AEB) was worth the reward of eradicating “ ”erratic vehicle behavior”. This is fundamentally BAD design. If the Uber system’s false alarm rate is so large that the best way to deal with false alarms is to turn off the AEB, then the system should never have been permitted on public roadways.
“…The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action. ” Wow! If Uber’s system fundamentally relies on a human to intervene, then Uber is nowhere near creating a Driverless vehicle. Without its own Driverless vehicle Uber is past “Peak valuation”.
“…The system is not designed to alert the operator. “ That may be the only good part of Uber’s design. In a Driverless vehicle, there is no one to warn, so don’t waste your time. If it is important enough to warn, then it is important enough for the automated system to start initiating things to do something about it. Plus, the Driver may not know what to do anyway. This is pretty much as I stated in PodCast of SmartDrivingCar, 10, 2018 Experts say video of Uber’s self-driving car killing a pedestrian suggests its technology may have fail
Don’t Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto
Extracting Cognition out of Images for the Purpose of Autonomous Driving
Sunday, December 19, 2015 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
–
Alain L. Kornhauser, PhD
Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering
Director, Transportation Program
Faculty Chair, Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering
229 Sherrerd Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
(o)
(c)
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