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[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" width="44" height="44" border="0">   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 initiative

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[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="35" height="30">   U.S. labor leader calls for human drivers in automated vehicles

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="44" height="22">  Traffic Control Devices: Considerations to Support Automated Vehicle Deployment P. Carlson, April 2021, "... This report is focused on the physical aspects of the TCD infrastructure and does not include connected vehicle topics such as digital infrastructure, roadside communication devices, or other aspects of connected vehicle operation..."  Read more  Hmmmm...This is fantastic. because it does deal with what can be seen in the road infrastructure by human eyes.  Thus it applies to both conventionally (human) -driven vehicles and computer-driven vehicles.  "Since the beginning" SmartDrivingCar developers have asked for only 2 things from the road infrastructure community... smooth roads (no or few pot holes) and good paint (well marked lanes and signs).  Things fundamental to any good highway department.
Unfortunately, that "ask" was hijacked by the "...digital infrastructure, roadside communication devices, or other aspects of connected vehicle operation... " guys, the "ITS guys", and the "pot holes and paint aspects", were implicitly deemed as too mundane.

In fact, they are the key aspects.

• The "pot holes" because, rhey are "involved" in a large number of the "6%" of the crashes that don't involve human human misbehavior. (The primary opportunity of SmartDrivingCars is mitigating human misbehavior in driving.)
  
• The "paint" because it is fundamentally important in Safe-driving Cars... SAE levels 1 & 2. 
  

What was involved in the Huang Tesla crash occurred because what clear on page 12 did not exit at the Huang crash location.  Had good striping been there, then... Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  California places Tesla’s 'Full Self-Driving' under review

AP, May 18, "California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is reviewing whether Tesla is violating a state regulation by advertising its vehicles as being fully autonomous without meeting the legal definition of self-driving.  The department confirmed the review Monday in an email to The Associated Press. State regulation prohibits advertising vehicles for sale or lease as autonomous if they can’t comply with the regulatory definition, it said.... "  Read more  Hmmmm...  seems to me that Elon is calling them "Full Self-Driving" and not "autonomous" (and certainly not Level ??? and not SmartDrivingAnything. 

So Elon is getting a lot of free notoriety a la our past president.  Remember... Caveat emptor    Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Tour the Ford F-150 Lightning with Chief Engineer Linda Zhang

F. Fishkin, May 20, Listen to this interview:  Watch this interview:  Hmmmm...  The Frunk may well be one of its top differentiators.  Very nice Fred, Congratulations!  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="156" height="24">  Ford unveils the F-150 Lightning. Will truck buyers take to electric pickups?

R. Mitchell, May 20, "Ford Motor Co.’s new all-electric pickup truck will arrive next year having already secured one notable admirer. “This sucker’s quick,” President Biden said from behind the wheel in Dearborn, Mich., on Tuesday after a high-torque off-the-line blast in a pre-production F-150 Lightning.

Although a classic car lover, Biden is a climate hawk whose aggressive goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions will require large-scale electrification of U.S. transportation. So count him as receptive. The company also expects young, tech-savvy buyers to be early customers of the Lightning, set to go on sale in mid-2022.

But for Ford to achieve long-term success with its new electric line, it must eventually win over customers who think like Stan Nixon and Scott David, loyal F-series customers for decades, who must be persuaded to trade in their internal combustion engines when it’s time to buy their next truck...."  Read more  Hmmmm... Ford may well beat Tesla with this one.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="102" height="19">  ADAS adoption is worth exploring for safety's sake

J. Evangelist, May 11, "...during a session at the recent Technology & Maintenance Council meeting, we learned that fleets have been slow to adopt ADAS. During the session, the American Transportation Research Institute’s senior vice president Dan Murray explained that fleets and drivers say they are concerned that driver control will be compromised if ADAS is installed on a vehicle. Murray believes this is a result of a misunderstanding of how the systems work. There is also concern over cost and maintenance of the systems...."  Read more  Hmmmm... Hard to believe that ADAS isn't a complete no-brainer for fleet owners.  Most fleet owners self-insured, so they know all too well the crash implications on their pocketbook.  They pick up the tab.   ADAS is all about safety.  Fleet owners should be insisting on it.  Drivers should be insisting on it so that they can live longer.  OSHA should be demanding it to substantially improve workplace safety for truck drivers and Truck OEMs should be selling it because of its extremely attractive RoI.   lain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Aerion Supersonic shuts down, ending plans to build silent high speed business jets

M.Sheetz, May 22, "
Aerion Supersonic, the Nevada-based company that planned to build business jets capable of silently flying nearly twice as fast as commercial aircraft, is shutting down, the company confirmed to CNBC on Friday.

"In the current financial environment, it has proven hugely challenging to close on the scheduled and necessary large new capital requirements" to begin production of its AS2 supersonic jet, the company said in a statement...." Read more  Hmmmm...  Cold fusion, Quiet Supersonic, Nikola, Hyperloop, GameStop, BitCoin, ... FOMO.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="224" height="19">  Germany takes step toward autonomous driving on public roads

Bloomberg, May 23, "German lawmakers agreed to allow some driver-less vehicles on public roads, a first step toward enabling autonomous driving in Europe's biggest economy.

Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament adopted legislation enabling automated driving under some conditions.

The bill cites scenarios including small buses and logistics vehicles that can shuttle passengers and goods along pre-determined routes.... "  Read more  Hmmmm...  Wow!  Germans are suggesting that Driverless be done on public roads where I've been told that it snows sometimes and maybe even more often than in Trenton.  maybe Trenton can indeed be next.  😁 Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Chinese startup Pony.ai gets approval to test driverless vehicles in California

K. Lyons, May 22, "Chinese autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai has received a permit from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test its driverless cars without human safety drivers behind the wheel on specified streets in three cities.

Pony has been authorized to test autonomous vehicles with safety drivers in California since 2017, but the new permit will let it test six autonomous vehicles without safety drivers on specific streets in Fremont, Alameda County; Milpitas, Santa Clara County; and Irvine, Orange County. According to the DMV, the vehicles are designed to be driven on roads with speed limits of 45 miles per hour or less, in clear weather and light precipitation. The first testing will be in Fremont and Milpitas on weekdays between 10AM and 3PM...."  Read more  Hmmmm... Congratulations! However, just because you are permitted to do something, it doesn't mean that you should. 

If you are sufficiently confident that your system works, then "testing" is over and it is time to make what you've tested into a scalable business and begin delivering some societal value.   that's when you'll need to pull the driver because you've proven that the driver is unnecessary and you can deliver any substantial societal value unless you pull the driver.   Note, if you could have delivered scalable societal value with a driver/attendant inside, then you would have done it long ago and you would have made all of your investors tons of money.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="38" height="30"> Self-driving cars might never be able to drive themselves

M. wood, May 21, "Meanwhile, no cars are fully self-driving yet. I spoke with Missy Cummings, the director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory at Duke University. She says the so-called deep learning that cars need to see the road around them doesn’t actually learn. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation..."   Read more  Hmmmm... Guess what, if a bush grows in front of a stop sign, I can't see it either.  True... computers don't actually learn, and many of us are fooled by images.  Escher made a living off of that truth and no one has claimed to be "fully" anything. But .. in the interest of full disclosure, read on.  Alain

[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.5&filename=lmjdiniodjkflpia.png" class="" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" width="38" height="42" border="0">   4th Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit  It is over!!!  Now time to actually do something in the Trentons of this world.  

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="126" height="36">  Making Driverless Happen – The Road Forward (Updated)

K. Pyle, April 18, "“It’s time to hit the start button,” is Fred Fishkin’s succinct way of summarizing the next steps in the Smart Driving Car journey. Fiskin, along with the LA Times’ Russ Mitchell co-produced the final session of the 2021 Smart Driving Car Summit, Making It Happen – Part 2. This 16th and final session in this multi-month online conference not only provided a summary of the thought-provoking speakers, but also provided food for thought on a way forward to bring mobility to “the Trentons of the World.”

Setting the stage for this final session, Michael Sena provided highlights of the Smart Driving Car journey that started in late December 2020.  Safety, high-quality, and affordable mobility, particularly for those who do not have many options, was a common theme to the 2021 Smart Driving Car Summit. As Princeton Professor Kornhauser, the conference organizer put it,....." Read more  Hmmmm.... We had another excellent Session.  Thank you for the summary, Ken!  Alain

Ken Pyle's Session Summaries of 4th Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit:
15th Session    Making it Happen - Part One: Elected Officials' Role in Creating a Welcoming Environment in the Trentons of this World

    Michael Sena's Slides, Glenn Mercer Slides

7th Session    2/11/21  Finally Doing It
6th Session    2/ 4/21   Safe Enough in the Operational Design Domain
5th Session    1/28/21   At the Tipping Point
4th Session    1/21/21  Why Customers are Buying Them

3rd Session    1/14/21  The SmartDrivingCars We Can Buy Today
2nd Session   1/ 7/21  A Look into the Future
1st Session: 12/17/20  Setting the Stage

Orf467F20_FinalReport "Analyzing Ride-Share Potential and Empty Repositioning Requirements of a Nationwide aTaxi System"

Kornhauser & He, March 2021 "AV 101 + Trenton Affordable HQ Mobility Initiative"