8.50 - No Nikola

December 06, 2020Newsletter archive →

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

Hmmmm... Lessons for many in this endeavor.  See alsoAndrew Hawkin's take as well as David Morris'. 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 

Hmmmm...  More lessons.  Alain

SmartDrivingCars

Pod-Cast 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.  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 

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 

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 

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. 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 

Hmmmm... And the beat goes on. 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 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 

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 

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  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

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 

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  Zoom-Cast Episode 176 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? ... "

• Zoom-inar Video (Video replay) AmaZooks

• PodCast (Audio Only) AmaZooks

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... 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 ..."

• Zoom-inar (Video replay)  Everyone's for Connectivity; but...

• PodCast (Audio Only) Everyone's for Connectivity; but...

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,

• Zoom Video

• SmartDrivingCar PodCast (Audio Only) Smart Driving Cars: The Driverless New Normal Debate

• Zoom Audience Questions (Only a few were addressed in Zoom-inar)

• Zoom Audience Comments

• YouTube Video

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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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

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".  Enjoy and listen/watch the following Pod/Zoom-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:

● Support the creation of government policies and company practices to ensure that innovation and safety go hand-in-hand

● Use consumer data to inform the industry of best-practices to aid in development

● Influence the safe design, testing, and deployment of systems consumers will like and use

● 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 

Hmmmm.... A MUST read along with "Cadillac's Super Cruise Outperforms Other 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 data form to express your interest in volunteering for one or more demonstration phases.... "  Read more

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€Å"It 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.”

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 more

Hmmmm... 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€Å"ADSs”), 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€Å"AV”) 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€Å"ODD”)...."  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 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  

Hmmmm....  See video. Imprssive. Listen/watch SmartDrivingCars PodCast / ZoomCast with John Rich. CNBC's take as well as THe Detroit News. 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  

Hmmmm....  Interesting, but even more interesting is the SmartDrivingCarsPodCast / ZoomCast with John Rich.  Alain

rgb(51, 51, October 09, 2020  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 — 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 Ã¢â‚¬â€ which it has deemed its â€Å"rider only” 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  

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 

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

Proposal for a new UN Regulation on uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regards to Automated Lane Keeping System

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

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 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 

Hmmmm.... See Video, Watch Zoom-Cast.  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

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, 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

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

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Thursday, Fostering Economic Opportunity through Autonomous Vehicle Technology 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,” 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,” 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  

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 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

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

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€Å"Remote driving is hard,” I said. â€Å"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

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, Waymo suspends robotaxi service except for its truly driverless vehicles

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, February 15, 2020

â€Å"Urbs,” â€Å"Burbs,” 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 growth—the demographic locomotive.  Without it, the region would have to bear fully the economic consequences of what has become a virtual domestic population hemorrhage—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€Å"urbs” surpassed that of the â€Å"burbs.” After dominating growth early in the decade (2010–2016), the core—the urban heart of the metropolitan region encompassing New York City and three adjacent counties in New Jersey—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 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 rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, November 16, 2019

PyTorch at Tesla

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

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, August 17, 2019 Autonomous Vehicles:  A View from Seniors

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 Sponsors: Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14); Lampitt (D6)..."  Read more

Hmmmm.... Things are beginning to move in New Jersey.  Alain

Testimony of Alain Kornhauser, Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

CPUC AUTHORIZES PASSENGER CARRIERS TO PROVIDE FREE TEST RIDES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WITH VALID CPUC AND DMV PERMITS

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 

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

announce historic commitment of 20 automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new vehicles

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

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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

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