[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="160" height="31">
Gatik
and Walmart
Achieve Fully
Driverless
Deliveries in
a First for
Autonomous
Trucking
Industry
Worldwide
Press release, Nov. 8, "Gatik and Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced today that Gatik is operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel on its delivery route for Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market in its fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.
Gatik’s
deployment
with Walmart
in the state
represents the
first time
that an
autonomous
trucking
company has
removed the
safety driver
from a
commercial
delivery route
on the middle
mile anywhere
in the world.
Gatik’s fully driverless operations, which began in August 2021, involve consistent, repeated delivery runs multiple times per day, seven days per week on public roads and unlock the full advantages of autonomous delivery for Walmart’s customers: increased speed and responsiveness when fulfilling e-commerce orders, increased asset utilization and enhanced safety for all road users..."...
This milestone signifies a revolutionary breakthrough for the autonomous trucking industry,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder, Gatik. “Our deployment in Bentonville is not a one-time demonstration. These are frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs that our trucks are completing safely in a range of conditions on public roads, demonstrating the commercial and technical advantages of fully driverless operations on the middle mile. We’re thrilled to enable Walmart’s customers to reap the benefits.”
In December 2020, Gatik and Walmart received the Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from Gatik’s autonomous trucks, following the completion of 18 months’ successful operations. As part of its roadmap to operating fully driverless, Gatik undertook a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy, involving state and local leadership and emergency services, and will continue to hold ongoing informational workshops concerning its ground-breaking autonomous operations.
In December 2020, Gatik and Walmart received the Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from Gatik’s autonomous trucks, following the completion of 18 months’ successful operations. As part of its roadmap to operating fully driverless, Gatik undertook a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy, involving state and local leadership and emergency services, and will continue to hold ongoing informational workshops concerning its ground-breaking autonomous operations..." Read more Hmmmm... If you are trying to do it for real , this is the way to do it. I appreciate the showing showing some humility as opposed to making Houdini-style Snake & Mirrors announcements focused on getting more from the "SoftBanks" of this world. Congratulations! This looks like a real "dida milestone"! Alain
![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="41" height="42">
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 243, Zoom-Cast
Episode 243 Progress with
Driverless
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" 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
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> 2021 FAV Summit
NOVEMBER 29 –
DECEMBER 1
The 9th Annual Florida Automated Vehicles Summit will be hosted by the Central Florida Expressway Authority in Orlando, Florida November 29- December 1, 2021.
The Florida
Automated
Vehicles (FAV)
Summit
assembles
industry
leaders from
around the
world to
address
technologies,
operations,
and policy
issues. Our
mission is to
gain insight
into what
Florida is
doing to
create the
ideal climate
for the
implementation
and deployment
of autonomous
and connected
vehicle
technologies.
Topics will
include
automated,
connected,
electric, and
shared (ACES)
mobility,
operations,
law,
infrastructure,
functional
design, cyber
security,
ethics,
aftermarket
products,
enabling
technologies,
and public
policy.... "
Register Now. Hmmmm...
Looking
forward to
seeing you
there in
Orlando. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> AutoX operates China’s largest fully driverless
RoboTaxi
service area
in Shenzhen
Staff, Nov.
16, "Chinese
start-up
AutoX, backed
by e-commerce
giant Alibaba,
announced on
Tuesday that
it now
operates the
country's
largest
service area
for fully
driverless
RoboTaxis
across 168
square
kilometers of
Shenzhen, the
leading tech
hub in South
China's
Guangdong
Province.
Being able to
navigate all
the public
roads in
Pingshan
district in
Shenzhen,
AutoX has
become the
first RoboTaxi
service to
cover an
entire
district in a
major Chinese
city....
In January
this year, AutoX
became the
second company
in the world
to offer a
fully
driverless
RoboTaxi
service when
it launched a
pilot service
in Shenzhen.
After 10
months of
operation, the
service area
in Shenzhen
gradually
expanded to
become the
largest fully
driverless
RoboTaxi zone
in China. ..."
Read more Hmmmm... I'm still looking for
some details
but there is
an enormous amount of substance here. Not only
does the arterial/highway aspects look darn good, but
the village video is very impressive. Just
shows what
needs to be
done and what
can be done.
Very
impressive.
Congratulations
Jianxiong! I
now count 4
legitimate
"driverless/attendantless
sharing public
streets under
normal
conditions ...
Waymo/Chandler, GM-Cruise/SF, Gatik/Arkansas and AutoX/Shenzhen.
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23"> Tesla
asks Full
Self-Driving
Beta drivers
to accept
being recorded
in case of a
crash or
‘safety risk’
F. Lambert,
Nov. 23 "Tesla
is now asking
owners getting
into the Full
Self-Driving
Beta program
to accept that
Tesla can use
footage from
both inside
and outside
the car in
case of a
safety risk or
accident.
It’s the first
time that
Tesla will
attach footage
to specific
individuals....
The automaker
has updated
the warning
that comes
with
downloading a
new version of
the FSD Beta.
It includes
all the
much-needed
warnings that
were parts of
previous
releases, but
Tesla added
important new
language:
- “By enabling FSD Beta, I consent to Tesla’s collection of VIN-associated image data from the vehicle’s external cameras and Cabin Camera in the occurrence of a serious safety risk or a safety event like a collision.”
When
Tesla assumes
the
responsibility
of driving it
also has to
accept any
liability if
Tesla's
technology
causes a
crash, Since
">90%" of
crashes are
caused my
human
misbehavior
(not paying
attention,
driving while
impaired,
excessive
speeding,
tailgating,
...), Tesla's
simply has to
refuse to
drive if the
technology is
impaired, or
if the human
driver
instructs the
Tesla to speed
excessively,
run red
lights,
tailgate,
cut-in
aggressively,...
The Tesla
Technology
should just
say.. "No
thank you. I'm
not doing that
... and
neither should
you!"
This is
great!!!
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="46" height="39"> Baidu, Pony.ai Approved for Robotaxi Services in
Beijing
Staff, Nov.
25, "Chinese
tech group
Baidu Inc and
self-driving
startup Pony.ai have won approval to launch paid
driverless
robotaxi
services that
will see the
firms deploy
not more than
100 vehicles
in an area in
China's
capital
Beijing.The state-backed Beijing Daily newspaper reported on the approvals on Thursday, citing a ceremony held by the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, where the 60 square kilometre-large area (23 square miles) is located.
Baidu said in a statement that this would be its Apollo Go service's first commercial deployment on open roads.
Customers will be able to hail one of the daily service's 67 cars at more than 600 pick-up and drop-off points in both commercial and residential areas, it said. It will charge fares similar to the level of premium ride-hailing services in China, a Baidu spokesperson added....." Read more Hmmmm... Looks like more positive acceleration of deployment in China. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Auto-Off:
Euro NCAP
Delivers New
Set of Highway
Assist Results
Press release, Nov. 23, "Today, Euro NCAP publishes the Assisted Driving gradings of seven cars equipped with Highway Assist....
Highway
Assist systems
help the
driver to
maintain a
steady speed,
to keep a safe
distance from
the car in
front and to
keep the
vehicle in the
center of the
lane by
combining
(intelligent)
Adaptive
Cruise Control
(ACC) with
Lane Centering
(LC) .
Highway Assist systems are designed to assist the driver, not to take control, and the driver is expected to keep his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road at all times. For this reason, Euro NCAP tests not only the car's ability to assist and promote safer driving, but also evaluates how the system engages the driver and, if the unexpected happens, what safety backup is offered by the vehicle.... " Read more Hmmmm... and the driver is expected to keep his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road at all times....
Whoa!!
- "his"... this must be the European version of NCAP...
- why just "hands" and not also "feet" on the ..., and
- eyes on the road at "all" times.
- Anti-lock Brakes take Control!
- Electronic Stability Control takes Control!
- Intelligent and Stupid Cruise Control take Control!
- Lane Centering (supposedly) Steers (Maybe that's the one that doesn't work).
- Automated
Emergency
Braking
(supposedly)
Brakes (But
why isn't it
classified as
an "assist" in
driving? It
is the
assist/help
that I really
want/need.
It's the one
that's going
to save my
life.
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> EVHYBRIDNOIRE
RELEASES
E-MOBILITY
PUBLIC POLICY
TOOLKIT
EVHybridNoire, Nov. 17, "Released on the heels of the signing of the transformational infrastructure bill, the EVHybridNoire Public Policy Toolkit provides an introduction to e-mobility, a context for working on e-mobility with an equity-centered approach and specific policy recommendations for equitably advancing e-mobility. The toolkit also highlights the historical and present inequities in transportation. The pillars…" Read more Hmmmm... Also most appropriate for pre-deployment of aTaxis. Thank you Henry. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="104" height="32">
New Jersey Ranks 50th in the Nation in Highway
Performance
and
Cost-Effectiveness
B
Feigenbaum,
Nov. 18, "New
Jersey’s
highway system
ranks 50th in
the nation in
overall
cost-effectiveness
and condition,
according to
the Annual
Highway Report
by Reason
Foundation.
This is
identical to
the previous
report, where
New Jersey
also ranked
last overall.
New Jersey
ranks in the
bottom 10
nationally in
eight of the
report’s 13
metrics. The
state’s costs
are
disproportionately
high and the
biggest driver
of its poor
overall
rankings.
While some
higher costs
are
understandable,
New Jersey
spends
$1,136,255 per
mile of state-
controlled
road, which is
$762,700 more
than New York
spends per
mile and
$929,331 more
than
California
spends per
mile...." Read more Hmmmm... Ouch! Baruch assured me
that he did
everything he
could to try
to make NJ
look better.
Like... "we're
the densest
state in the
US", ... All
to little or
no avail.
Ouch!
Instead, we're going to lead the nation in deploying
"Equitable,
Safe,
affordable
High-quality
Mobility"...
Trust me!!!😎
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="156" height="24">
High
gas prices are
hitting
heavy-duty
pickup owners
hard. Here’s
what they’re
saying
R.
Mitchell, Nov.
24, "That
silver Dodge
Ram Warlock
with the
5.7-liter V-8
Hemi engine
must have
looked pretty
sweet when
gasoline
prices hovered
around $4 a
gallon. Now,
with gasoline
topping $6 a
gallon at some
Los
Angeles-area
stations, a
bit of sour’s
been added to
the mix.
Record-high
gasoline and
diesel prices
are combusting
driver budgets
across the
land, small
car or large.
But filling up
a pickup truck
or truck-size
SUV burns
hottest, given
the extra
weight and
lower gas
mileage that
come as a
trade-off for
utility and
size.
Like many,
George Moreno
uses his
pickup for
work. The
downtown Los
Angeles
resident runs
a warehousing
and logistics
company.
Heavy-duty
trucks do most
of the work,
but he often
uses his Ford
F-150 for
smaller runs.
Fuel costs
“are so
important to
us,
definitely,”
Moreno, 52,
said outside
the Home Depot
in Cypress
Park. It’s
hard “to keep
our prices at
a fair level
while watching
our costs go
up.”... " Read more Hmmmm... Ouch! $6/gal price
better not
come to
Jersey; else,
we're all
going
electric...
but how much
are electrons
going to cost
after we do
that. Can we
start storing
some now???
But where and
in what? I
guess big
isn't so
beautiful.
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Driverless
Motor
Vehicles: Not
Yet Ready for
Prime Time
C. Hart,
Sept. 30, "...
It is worth
noting that
aviation has
been
developing
automation for
decades. But
airliners will
continue to
have pilots
for the
foreseeable
future because
automation
designers do
not have
satisfactory
answers for
two crucial
questions:
- What if the automation fails? And, much more likely,
- What if the automation encounters circumstances that were not anticipated by the designers?
The same
questions
apply for
automation in
road vehicles.
Hence, despite
the
substantial
potential
lifesaving
improvements
of removing
drivers from
cars,
driverless
cars probably
will not
achieve public
acceptance for
widespread use
until car
automation
designers can
answer those
two
questions...
Although
the
reliability of
automation is
generally
improving, any
system that is
designed,
built, and
maintained by
humans will
fail sooner or
later..." Read more Hmmmm...Chris, Excellent. My only
quibble is
that the
opportunity to
uniquely
provide
"Equitable,
Affordable,
High-quality
Mobility" at
acceptable
safety levels
is the game
changing
opportunity
for driverless
technology.
Much in the
same way that
flying
uniquely
delivered
previously
unavailable
"Fast,
Long-distance
Mobility" at
what was
implicitly
accepted
safety
levels. The
benefits of
100 years of
evolution has
delivered
unbelievable
levels of
safety, but
commercialization
and deployment
didn't wait
the 100 years;
else, we'd
still be pre Ford
Tri-motor,
DC-3
and Lockheed
Electra.
To me, the real value of driverless is the opportunity
to deliver
"equitable"
mobility
sustainably on
an economic
basis.
With that objective in mind, it may well be "Prime Time"
for us to
begin by
deploying
today/soon the
Ford Tri-motor, DC-3 and Lockheed Electra versions of this
technology.
Substantial
improvement in
quality-of-life to economically
challenged
segment of the
economy may
well justify
moving forward
in some ODDs
with today's
driverless
equivalents to
the
Ford
Tri-motor,
DC-3
and Lockheed
Electra
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> UAE
to trial
self-driving
taxis on Abu
Dhabi F1
island
Staff, Nov
24, "The UAE
unveiled its
first fully
autonomous
taxi on
Tuesday, at
the Abu Dhabi
Smart City
Summit. A fleet of driverless cars, named TXAI, will hit the roads later this month with the first trial being conducted on Yas Island, the home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It will be the first autonomous driving project to be trialed on the streets of capital.
TXAI has been developed by Bayanat, a geospatial, data analytics, and AI company in the UAE.... " Read more Hmmmm...Hopefully there is no connection between TZXAI and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Else, why not? Compared to the AutoX village video, this may well be easy. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="43" height="36"> China's WeRide to launch robotaxis on GAC's
Ontime
ride-hailing
app
Staff, Nov 18,
"SHANGHAI, Nov
18 (Reuters) -
WeRide, a
China-based
autonomous
driving
startup, said
on Thursday it
plans to make
its robotaxis
available for
booking by the
public on
Guangzhou
Automobile
Group's
(601238.SS)
Ontime
ride-hailing
app by next
year.Backed by Nissan Motor (7201.T), WeRide said in a statement it plans to offer test rides for the public at the Guangzhou Auto Show, which begins in the southern Chinese city on Friday. It added that its robotaxi has been integrated into the Ontime platform and they were conducting testing...." Read more Hmmmm... While it is certainly nice to have all of this on a ride-hailing platform, the issue is how well is it evolving to provide safe-enough mobility without need of an attendant. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Thanksgiving
Outages Could
Return for
Californians
as Utilities
Mull Cuts to
Curb Fires
Almost 152,000 customers of Edison International’s Southern California Edison face outages in six Southern California counties, including Los Angeles and Orange, if conditions get too dangerous, according to its website. Further south, San Diego Gas & Electric may cut off 43,333 customers. Both numbers are an increase from warnings on Tuesday. ..." Read more Hmmmm... Sure hope none of those customers have EVs that need to be charged. Recall that people went a little nuts over a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline last May. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Electric
vehicles could
fully recharge
in under 5
minutes with
new charging
station cable
design
Press
release, Nov.
10, "Purdue
University
engineers have invented
a new,
patent-pending
charging
station cable
that would
fully recharge
certain
electric
vehicles in
under five
minutes –
about the same
amount of time
it takes to
fill up a gas
tank.
Today,
chargers are
limited in how
quickly they
can charge an
EV’s battery
due to the
danger of
overheating.
To charge an
EV faster, a
higher current
needs to
travel through
the charging
cable. The
higher the
current, the
greater amount
of heat that
must be
removed to
keep the
charging cable
operational.
The cooling
systems that
chargers
currently use
remove only so
much
heat...." Read more Hmmmm... Great, but not only are
the cables
leading to the
batteries
going to need
to be cooled,
but cooling
takes energy.
Also, the
creation of
the heat in
the first
place means
that more
electricity is
going to need
to be created
than just
moving the
car.
Electricity
will be wasted
not only
creating the
heat but also
cooling the
heat all to
address a real
limitation of
batteries...
it takes time
to fill them
efficiently.
There was a reason why ICEs won out over Steam and EVs
back in
"1905".
Batteries
remain a tough
stumbling
block. It may
well be that
our move to
EVs may be
premature and
counter
productive at
this time. We
still have a
lot of
homework and
head
scratching to
do. Alain
[log in to unmask]" class="" width="143" height="36"> 5th
Annual
SmartDrivingCars
Summit:
Deployment of
Equitable
Affordable,
High Quality
Mobility
throughout New
Jersey
Date Change: Thursday evening, May 5,
through
Saturday May
7, 2022. Live
in Trenton,
New Jersey.
"Everything" was going well wrt the 5th Summit Nov 18->20; however...
Time is very short, we must focus on the election and the realities of where we remain with Covid really put cold water on some aspects of our vision for November.
Consequently. I've become convinced that it is very much better, that we take our time and reschedule for the first week on May 2022 rather than rush for what isn't as good as could be.
By May we will have received responses to our upcoming RfI for "Equitable ... Mobility in Trenton". We will thus have a better idea on "Who", from the "What & How" communities, "Want & Can" Deploy "Equitable ... Mobility" starting in Trenton with real expectations of scaling throughout New Jersey.
In May the 5th Summit can better achieve its fundamental purpose by allowing all of us in New Jersey to better learn from others around the world the "Whats & Hows" and have the possible "Whos" get a better appreciation of the "Equitable ... Mobility" desires of Trentonians and other New Jersians.
Rescheduling the Summit to be between the RfI and the RfP steps of our Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Deployment Process, will better enable our Community Engagement initiative to shape our ultimate deployment. We'll thus deliver even better mobility equitably and best improve quality-of-life in Trenton and throughout New Jersey.
Please pencil into your calendar the new dates of May 5 (Thursday evening) though May 7 (Trenton Mobility Festival Saturday). 😎 Please let me know if these dates work for you.
Sorry about the delay, but many will be relieved by this change. Plus, early May is really nice in NJ.😁
Alain
This
5th Summit is inspired by the many levels of
public-sector,
community and
neighborhood
welcoming and
support that
now exists in
New Jersey for
the deployment of
equitable,
affordable,
high-quality
mobility. This
is now made
possible by
automated
driving
technology
that is
especially
targeted to
serve
those who, for
whatever
reason, don't
have access to
their own
personal
car.
The
Princeton SDC
Summits were
initiated in
2017 to
provide a
venue for the
open
discussion of
how
technology, in
particular
automation,
can be shaped
to improve
mobility of
people and
goods between
and within
cities. Early
on, we
realized that
this form of
mobility could
easily provide
yet another
alternative to
those who are
fortunate
enough to
enjoy one or
many high
quality
mobility
options.
But, more importantly, it became obvious that substantial improvement in quality-of-life and equitable mobility can readily be made available to the un-served and under-served. Those who cannot drive themselves, cannot afford the transport alternatives that exist for them, or who live in areas where, for either economic or other reasons, neither public nor private desirable forms of transport are offered. Furthermore, such initial Operational Design Domains (OODs) can be readily expanded and replicated to allow the vast investments continuing to be made in this technology to actually yield their envisioned societal and financial benefits.
The
recently
completed 4th
Summit set the
groundwork for
these initial
deployments to
benefit under-served communities. Communities with many households
having access
to one or
fewer cars and
with
challenged
transit
alternatives.
We concluded
the 4th Summit
by envisioning a deployment
throughout
Trenton, NJ,
a community
where 70% of
the households
have access to
one or fewer
cars.
We
believe that
Trenton is a
perfect ODD to
begin to
deliver Equitable,
Affordable,
High-quality
Mobility,
in addition to
being
environmentally
responsible,
safe and
comfortable.
The
opportunity to
expand
throughout
Mercer County
and replicate
this
deployment
scenario
throughout the
State exists.
This
deployment
will serves
as a blueprint
for the future
for many other
"Trentons" of
this world.
The
groundwork set
by the 4th
Summit and the
NJ Autonomous
Vehicle Task
Force has
enabled us to
create a "most
welcoming
environment"
in New Jersey
for creating a
Public-Private
Partnership to
deliver this
enhanced
mobility to
the residents
of Trenton and
all New
Jersians. The 5th
Summit will
focus directly
on deployment in Trenton and will take
place in
Trenton. We
also envision
its expansion
throughout
Mercer County
and its
replication in
and around New
Jersey's other
major
cities.
C'mon Man! (These folks didn't get/read the memo)
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
Click-Bait
More On....
Re-see: ![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class=""> Pop
Up Metro USA
Intro 09 2020
H. Poser'77, Sept 13, 2020. "Creating Value for Light Density Urban Rail Lines" . See slides, See video Hmmmm... Simply Brilliant. Alain
![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" 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
15th Session Making it Happen - Part One: Elected Officials' Role in Creating a Welcoming Environment in the Trentons of this World
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
2nd Session 1/ 7/21 A Look into the Future
1st Session: 12/17/20 Setting the Stage
Calendar of Upcoming Events
On the More Technical Side![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="22" height="22">
and ![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="56" height="22"> The
SYMPOSIUM ON
THE FUTURE
NETWORKED CAR
2021 VIRTUAL
EVENT
R.
Shields, 22 -
25 March,
"Recordings
from the
conference:Session 2: (Cybersecurity): https://youtu.be/ppp2hxlvebY
Session 3: (Automated Driving Systems): https://youtu.be/uL2dRHuX2Cc
Session 4: (Communications for ADS) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQcL6yfBso
![]()
[log in to unmask]" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="62" height="63">
These
editions re
sponsored by
the SmartETFs
Smart
Transportation
and Technology
ETF, symbol
MOTO. For more
information
head to www.motoetf.com
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 242, Zoom-Cast
Episode 242 w/Gabe Hinton
& Dick
Mudge
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 241, Zoom-Cast
Episode 241 w/Danny Shapiro,
nVIDIA
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 240, Zoom-Cast Episode 240
AEB&FSD
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 239, Zoom-Cast
Episode 239 w/Michael
Sena, Editor
of The
Dispatcher
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 238, Zoom-Cast
Episode 238 w/Chunk Mui,
Futurist
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 237,
Zoom-Cast Episode 237 Aurora aTaxi & aTrucking
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 236,
Zoom-Cast Episode 236 w/Russ
Mitchell, LA
Times Staff
Writer
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 235, Zoom-Cast
Episode 235
w/Michael
Sena, Editor,
The
Dispatcher
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 234,
Zoom-Cast Episode 234 1st Preview
of 5th Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 233, Zoom-Cast
Episode 233
w Prof. Adriano Alessandrini at the U. of
Florence
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 232, Zoom-Cast
Episode 232
w Steven Shladover
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast Episode 231, Zoom-Cast
Episode 231
w Michael
Sena, Creator
of The Dispatcher
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 230, Zoom-Cast Episode 230 w/Tim Higgins, author: POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century
Or you can listen to Episode 230 of Smart Driving Cars on Tesla's AI Day and more with guest Tim Higgins of the Wall Street Journal ..author of POWER PLAY... Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century.
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 229, Zoom-Cast
Episode 229
w/Russ Mitchell, Los Angeles Times
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 228, Zoom-Cast
Episode 228
Planes,
Trains &
Automobiles
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 226, Zoom-Cast Episode 226 w/Tim Higgins, author: POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 225, Zoom-Cast Episode 225 w/Kevin Biesty, Deputy Director for Policy @ Arizona DoT
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 224, Zoom-Cast
Episode 224
w/Selika
Josiah Talbot,
Principal,
Autonomous
Vehicle
Consulting
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 223, Zoom-Cast
Episode 223
w/Richard
Mudge, Compass
Transp. &
Baruch
Feigenbaum,
Reason
Foundation
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 222, Zoom-Cast
Episode 222
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 221, Zoom-Cast
Episode 221
w/Mark
Rosekind,
Chief Safety
Innovation
Officer, Zoox
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 220, Zoom-Cast
Episode 220
w/John
Thornhill,
Innovation
Editor,
Financial
Times
Recent Highlights of:
[log in to unmask]" class="">
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="70" height="17"> The impact of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
(ADAS) on
insurance
claims (True Impact of ADAS Features on Insurance
Claim Severity
Revealed)
J. Kanet,
Nov 9,
"Advanced
Driver
Assistance
Systems (ADAS)
have improved
automobile
safety by
minimizing the
factor most
frequently
associated
with car
accidents –
human error.
The
conventional
wisdom has
been that ADAS
technologies
should
mitigate the
number of
insurance
claims, but
the impact of
ADAS on claim
severity has
been less
clear. ADAS
features
include
expensive and
complex
technical
components and
are often
installed on
exposed areas
of vehicles,
making them
susceptible to
damage from a
collision.
This white
paper examines
the
multivariate
effect of ADAS
features on
claim
severity. It
is a follow up
to our earlier
report, ADAS Analysis Creates Path for Auto Insurance
Rating,
which analyzed
the impact of
ADAS systems
on claim
frequency. For
both analyses,
LexisNexis
Risk Solutions
considered the
same sample of
11 million
vehicles from
model years
2014-2019, and
reviewed
industry-wide
claims loss
data for
bodily injury,
property
damage and
collision
coverages.
For this
follow-up
report, we
looked at the
interactions
between a core
list of ADAS
features and
quantified the
claim severity
differential
across all 648
possible
combinations
of those
features. ...
" Read more Hmmmm... Excellent. Finally there is
data that
supports that
ADAS is indeed
fundamentally
good for the
insurance
industry in
that it allows
them to make
more money.
Not to be
crass, but
"crash
mitigation"
(airbag, energy absorbing car design, ...) has been
great for
safety...
saving lives,
reducing
occupant
severity , ...
but,
the
liabilities
associated
with crash
mitigation
have
increased. Claim Severity for both Physical
Damage and
Bodily Injury
have gone
up. Cars are
more expensive
to repair and it
costs more if
you live than
if you die.
🙁,.
For years I've been arguing that ADAS focused
squarely on
Crash
Prevention {automated
collision avoidance
(that actually
works well...
does kick
automatically
to avoid
collision 😎),
not just
"warning"
(that is
annoying.
Because since it is just a warning
there is no
pressure to
make it work
well... just
cover your
butt! So, no
pressure to
make it work
well. Consequently,
"everyone"
turns it off
to avoid being
annoyed... 🙁}
is
Automation's
best
opportunity to
deliver real
safety...
Save lives,
..., and make
$$$ for the
Insurance
industry!
For years, I've postulated that as soon as {"the
expected
liability
savings for
ADAS (the
difference in
the expected
liability for
me
with&without...)"
< (less
than)
"incremental
cost of ADAS
on the price
of a car that
I am about to
buy
(difference
with&without)"},
my insurance
agent (the Gecko,
Flo, NJM,
or ???) should
insist on
picking up the
tab on the
price
difference as
long as I
continue to
pay my
existing
premiums!
Nothing but a
win-win! I
win because
the
probability
that I die...
is lower and
the Gecko, Flo, NJM,
or ??? smile
all the way to
the bank😎.
These are real
market
forces.
This
is the first
report that
I've seen that
begins to
quaintly the
reduction in
"expected
liability" of
ADAS based on
real
experiential
data. To me,
this is major!
Be sure to see the white paper True Impact of ADAS Features on Insurance Claim Severity Revealed and listen/watch the SDC Pod/ZoomCast 242. Alain
Friday, November 12, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="87" height="15" border="0">
First across the Forth – and a royal visit
H. Posner,
Nov 10,
"UK-based
rolling stock
& battery
technology
manufacturer
Vivarail noted
a number of
achievements
during the
first week of
the COP26 UN
Climate Change
Conference in
Glasgow. The
opening
Saturday of
the conference
on Saturday
October 30 saw
a historic run
across the
Firth of
Forth,. as the
first electric
train across
the iconic
bridge.
Vivarail was
asked to
operate its
battery train
for
demonstration
runs through
the conference
as part of the
official
Network Rail
Green
Trains@COP26
event. Each
day the train
has taken
delegates and
invited guests
from around
the world to
showcase the
best of new
emission-free
technology. In
the first week
the train
carried
hundreds of
people from
government,
industry,
academia,
media and
advocacy
groups. ... "
Read more Hmmmm... But you know that the Pop-Up Metro train was the
First Across
the Atlantic.
Video, Slides and ZoomCast re: Pop-Up Metro. And there is always Alain climbing on #6988.😎 .
Absolutely
Fantastic
Henry. Alain
Saturday, November 4, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="156" height="24">
Tesla’s handling of braking bug in public
self-driving
test raises
alarms
R. Mitchell,
Nov. 3, "Tesla
pushed out a
new version of
the
experimental
software suite
it calls Full
Self-Driving
to approved
drivers Oct.
23 through an
“over the air”
update.The next morning, Tesla learned the update had altered cars’ behavior in a way the company’s engineers hadn’t intended.
In a recall report to federal safety regulators Friday, Tesla put the problems like this: The company discovered a software glitch that “can produce negative object velocity detections when other vehicles are present.”
In everyday English, Tesla’s automatic braking system was engaging for no apparent reason, causing cars to rapidly decelerate as they traveled down the highway, putting them at risk of being rear-ended. Forward collision warning chimes were ringing too, even though there was no impending collision to warn about...
Friday, October 29, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class=""> Tesla pulled its latest ‘Full Self Driving’ beta
after testers
complained
about false
crash warnings
and other bugs
R. Lawler, Oct
24, "Tesla’s
decision to
test its “Full
Self Driving”
advanced
driver
assistance
software with
untrained
vehicle owners
on public
roads has
attracted scrutiny and criticism, and that was before this latest
release.Version 10.3 began rolling out on Saturday night / Sunday morning with a long list of release notes. The list mentions changes starting with introducing driver profiles that can swap between different characteristics for following distance, rolling stops, or exiting passing lanes. It’s supposed to better detect brake lights, turn signals, and hazard lights from other vehicles, along with reduced false slowdowns and improved offsetting for pedestrians.
However, on Sunday afternoon Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla is “Seeing some issues with 10.3, so rolling back to 10.2 temporarily.” Read more Hmmmm... The problems stem from version 10.3 loading with Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) enabled. Most everything is OK if AEB is disabled. Which, of course, is the fundamental problem with AutoPilot and FSD...
Sunday, October 24, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="117" height="16">
Amazon’s self-driving cars are coming to downtown
Seattle.
Safety
advocates are
not pleased
Sunday, October 10, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class="" width="156" height="24">
A Tesla mystery: Why didn’t auto-braking stop
these crashes?
In Spanish
R. Mitchel, Oct 7, "Compared with so-called advanced driver assistance systems such as Autopilot, a forward collision avoidance system is relatively crude. It is designed to answer one question — is a frontal impact imminent? — and respond to danger by sounding a warning and, if necessary, triggering a subsystem called automatic emergency braking. Unlike Autopilot, which must be selected manually and is available only under some driving conditions, automatic emergency braking runs by default unless manually turned off....
Tesla calls its vehicles “the safest cars in the world,” citing their combination of structural engineering and advanced technology. But when it comes to the forward collision avoidance system, Tesla owners have been reporting problems at a substantially elevated rate compared with similarly equipped cars....
“Teslas are running into stationary objects,” said Alain Kornhauser, who heads the driverless car engineering program at Princeton University. “They shouldn’t be.” If the company’s cars can’t avoid crash scenes marked by flares or traffic cones, he said, “how can you trust anything else they do with Autopilot?”...
One
possibility,
according to
Missy
Cummings, a
former Navy
fighter pilot
who studies
human-machine
interaction at
Duke
University, is
that Autopilot
is designed to
preempt or
suppress
emergency
braking to
minimize
what’s known
as phantom
braking.
“I haven’t
seen the code
to say how
Tesla works,
but I suspect
the AEB is
turned off in
some
situations,”
she said. “If
it were left
on it may
detect what
are called
phantom
objects and
would be
slamming on
the
brakes.”... "
Read more Hmmmm... This story is great and
is not what
anyone else
has written.
Thank you,
Russ, for
doing all of
the research
and hard work
that you put
into this
article.
I agree with Missy, (I haven't
seen the code
either), but,
rest assured,
a perception
algorithm is
part of each
of Tesla's
automated
systems that
"drive" their
cars some of
the time, be
it its forward collision avoidance
system (FCAS),
autoPilot or
FSD. They may
each have its
own or the
best one is
used in all
three, but
each has an
FCAS; else,
Teslas would
never know to
invoke any of
the driving
sub-tasks,
like slow down
or speed up or
stay in the
lane, or don't
hit me, or
... If a
Tesla
perception
system detects
an objects
that doesn't
exist and
locates it as
being in the
lane ahead,
i.e. a
"stationary
phantom object
in the lane
ahead", then
that
perception
system will
signal to the
automated
driving
system... to
slow down and
don't hit it.
If Tesla's
human driver
is paying
attention to
what is going
on and, of
course,
doesn't see
the phantom
object (it is
phantom = not
real), then
the alert
driver is
justified in
losing trust
that FCAS,
autoPilot or
FSD is
reliable and
won't kill.
The erosion of
that trust
leads to
complaints,
demands for
refunds and
substantial
problems for
Tesla.
Tesla
has simply
gotten ahead
of itself in
trying to get
to Driverless
too quickly,
rather than
making sure
that Automated
Emergency
Braking (AEB)
works better
than "good
enough". My
guess is,
Tesla
perception
algorithm
simply ignores
stationary
objects
detected in
the lane
ahead and
those detected
to be to the
side of the
lane ahead.
Ignoring detected stationary objects is perfectly appropriate when following a car ahead. The car ahead didn't crash into that detected stationary object ahead, so the coast is clear! I'll be able to pass under/to the side/over it too! If the car ahead crashes into that object, Its sudden deceleration is readily perceived by the trailing Tesla's AEB. As long as the Tesla has not been tailgating (which a good AEB should disallow), the Tesla should be able to stop in time to avoid crashing into the new pileup ahead. All easy, and likely not the scenario in any of the NHTSA crash investigations.
Not
so easy if the
Tesla is the
lead vehicle,
especially if
the vehicle
that the Tesla
was following
suddenly
changes lanes
and is no
longer
explicitly
confirming
that the
Tesla's road
ahead is
traversable,
It is now the
Tesla's job to
determine if
it can pass
under a
stationary
object in the
lane ahead.
That is simply
not easy
to do
reliably. Not
easy to
determine the
clearance
under an
overpass/sign/traffic
light/tree
canopy while
approaching
said
overpass/...
at any
significant
speed. If the
object is
classified as
an overpass/sign/traffic
light/tree
canopy,
the chance are
really good
that "passing
under" is a
breeze.
However, if
classification
of the object
is uncertain,
then all bets
are off.
I strongly suspect that Tesla's perception algorithm disregards all stationary objects ahead when leading as well as when following. NHTSA has to tell Tesla to not do that any more!!! Tesla must go back, essentially to the beginning, and figure out how to reliably determine if it can pass under, beside or over stationary objects detected in the road ahead. Alain
Friday,October 1, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class=""> Cruise gets the green light to give driverless
rides to
passengers in
San Francisco
A.
Hawkins, Sep
30, "Waymo and
Cruise, two of
the leading
autonomous
vehicle
companies in
the US,
received
permits from
the California
Department of
Motor Vehicles
to offer rides
to passengers
in their
robotaxis.
But while
Cruise was
approved to
give rides in
its fully driverless vehicles without safety
drivers, Waymo
only is
allowed to
deploy its
autonomous
vehicles with
a human
monitor behind
the wheel. In
order to give
rides to
paying
passengers in
its fully
driverless
vehicles, as
it does in
Arizona, the
Google spinoff
would need to
apply for an additional permit from the California Public
Utilities
Commission.
... " Read more Hmmmm...
Congratulations Kyle, Robert and everyone else!!!! This is a non-trivial
accomplishment!
Given all of the additional knocks
on your door
that will
naturally come
your way, we
hope that
you'll keep us
in mind. We
here in NJ
have assembled
an enormously
welcoming and
realistic
environment
for Deployment
to a customer
base that will
fundamentally
benefit and
cherish the
Equitable,
Affordable,
High-Quality,
Safe Mobility
that is
delivered by
your
Driverless
Technology.
Hopefully
you'll divert
a little
bandwidth to
our upcoming "5th
Annual SDC
Summit",
New Jersey's
next step in
our process to
help you and
possibly
others get to
where you've
gotten in
California.
We are new
kids on the
block, but
we've really
gotten our act
together to
work with you
and others to
catch up
quickly and
really improve
the
quality-of-life
for many here
in New
Jersey, and
the rest of
the NorthEast.
Again... Congratulations! So pleased and so well deserved! Alain
Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering
Director, Transportation Program
Faculty Chair, Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering