2021-11-26

9.43 - Happy Thanksgiving

November 26, 2021Newsletter archive →

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.

Pod-Cast Episode 24 3, Zoom-Cast Episode 2 43 Progress with Driverless

F. Fishkin, Nov. 26, "AutoX advances with fully driverless RoboTaxis in China, Gatik and Walmart are doing full driverless deliveries in Arkansas, Tesla full self driving custsomers have to agree to company access to video inside and out. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more on Episode 243 of Smart Driving Cars".

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

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.

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

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."

The fact that Tesla added that language specifically related to safety risks and accidents would point toward the automaker looking to secure usable evidence in case of an accident where its Full Self-Driving system is blamed....." Read more

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

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

"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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

B. Sullivan, Nov 23. "Utilities in Southern California may cut power to almost 200,000 homes and businesses over Thanksgiving to prevent live wires from sparking blazes as high winds sweep the drought-stricken region creating critical fire conditions.

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

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

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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.

The Technical portion of the summit will be in the morning, through lunch, of Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7.

Sessions will be free of charge but will require advance registration, as seating will be limited.

The Societal portion focused on engaging the customers of this form of mobility, featuring descriptions, discussions, interactions, exhibits and technology demonstrations, will be free and open to the public, with preference given to Trenton residents on Friday and residents of Mercer County and the rest of New Jersey on Saturday. Link to Sponsorship Opportunities Link to Draft Program Link to Registration

H. Poser'77, Sept 13, 2020. "Creating Value for Light Density Urban Rail Lines" . See slides, See video

4th Annual PrincetonSmartDrivingCar Summit It is over!!! Now time to actually do something in the Trentons of this world.

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

Ken Pyle's Session Summaries of 4th Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit:

Michael Sena's Slides, Glenn Mercer Slides

2nd Session 1/ 7/21 A Look into the Future 1st Session:12/17/20 Setting the Stage

Kornhauser & He, April 2021"Making it Happen: A Proposal for Providing Affordable, High-quality, On-demand Mobility for All in the "Trentons" of this World"

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"

Events

5th Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit

Spring 2022

Thursday (evening), May 5, Welcome Reception (Registration required)

Friday, May 6, Equitable Mobility Innovation Forum (Registration required)

Saturday, May 7, Equitable Mobility Festival (Open to All)

Trenton, NJ

Live in Person

On the More Technical Side http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/

R. Shields, 22 - 25 March, "Recordings from the conference: Session 1 plus opening: (Regulatory): https://youtu.be/UcDC8gXiUFk

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 Read more

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 2 42 w/Gabe Hinton & Dick Mudge

F. Fishkin, Nov. 16, "LexisNexis Risk Solutions has determined that advanced driver assistance systems are helping insurers. Should they lower premiums? Senior Scientist and researcher Gabe Hinton joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser, co-host Fred Fishkin and Dick Mudge from Compass Transportation and Technology for a look at the issues.

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 241, Zoom-Cast Episode 2 41 w/Danny Shapiro, nVIDIA

F. Fishkin, Nov. 11, "NVIDIA's GTC GPU Technology Conference was filled with innovations that can change lives...and save lives. The company's CEO declared someday everything that moves will be autonomous...either fully or mostly. NVIDIA Automotive VP Danny Shapiro joins Alain Kornhauser and Fred Fishkin for the latest Smart Driving Cars. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 240 , Zoom-Cast Episode 2 40 AEB&FSD

F. Fishkin, Nov. 6, "Tesla, full self driving and the need for a fix. Cruise goes driverless in San Francisco, Waymo Driver heads to NYC while Aurora debuts on Wall Street. That and more in episode 240 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 239 , Zoom-Cast Episode 239 w/Michael Sena, Editor of The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, Oct 28, "Will there be an uprising if a crush of electric vehicles results in overwhelmed power grids? The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin to dive into the issues. Plus the latest on Tesla, the Hertz and Uber deals and more."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 238 , Zoom-Cast Episode 238 w/Chunk Mui, Futurist

F. Fishkin,Oct 18, "With his new book "A Brief History of a Perfect Future..Inventing the World We Can Proudly Leave Our Kids by 2050", author and futurist Chunka Mui informs us how rapidly advancing technology can solve many problems including mobility and transportation. The questions? And a surprise offer from Chunka (keep watching) ...in Episode 238 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Or you can listen to episode 238 of Smart Driving Cars".

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 23 7 , Zoom-Cast Episode 237 Aurora aTaxi & aTrucking

F. Fishkin,Oct 18, "Aurora is planning subscription services for autonomous trucking & ride hailing. Passenger buttons to stop and start are part of Motional's planned self driving taxi experience. And Tesla's Texas insurance rates to be based on real time driving behavior. Plus more in Episode 237 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 236 , Zoom-Cast Episode 236 w/Russ Mitchell, LA Times Staff Writer

F. Fishkin, Sept. 30, "The Tesla automatic braking mystery. Los Angeles Times reporter Russ Mitchell joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to to explore the questions surrounding automatic emergency braking in Teslas and other cars. The systems have to work before there can be autonomous mobility. Plus GM unveils Ultra Cruise, the 5th annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit moves to May and actor William Shatner prepares for liftoff."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 235 , Zoom-Cast Episode 235 w/Michael Sena, Editor, The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, Sept. 30, "So what is a car company? Appearances can be deceiving. Join The Dispatcher publisher & consultant Michael Sena on Episode 235 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus much more on the upcoming summit and mobility for all... "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 234 , Zoom-Cast Episode 234 1st Preview of 5th Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit

F. Fishkin, Sept. 26, "Tesla reportedly has built 300 thousand cars in Shanghai so far this year despite the chip shortage. FedEx & Aurora partner for autonomous trucking in Texas. And dramatic developments in advance of the upcoming 5th annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Tune in to Smart Driving Cars… and subscribe.."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 233 , Zoom-Cast Episode 233 w Prof. Adriano Alessandriniat the U. of Florence

F. Fishkin, Sept. 18 "What will it take to deliver autonomous mobility for all? For one thing, improved road systems, says Professor Adriano Alessandrini at the University of Florence. The author of The Role of Infrastructure for a Safe Transition to Automated Driving joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin for a spirited discussion on that, plus Waymo and new details on bringing new mobility to New Jersey and the upcoming Princeton Smart Driving Car SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 232 , Zoom-Cast Episode 232 w Steven Shladover

F. Fishkin, Sept. 4 "Cameras alone aren't enough to get Tesla or anyone else to driverless mobility. So says UC Berkeley's Steven Shladover, a leading autonomous vehicle research engineer. He joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the need for more regulation from Washington, Waymo, Cruise, Toyota, Motional and more. Watch or listen to Smart Driving Cars Episode 232 and subscribe!"

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 231 , Zoom-Cast Episode 231 w Michael Sena, Creator of The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, Aug 27, "What's wrong with the concept of building electric vehicles on a skateboard type platform? Consultant and The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that…plus Tesla, Waymo and more. And the next Princeton Smart Driving Cars Summit is on the way. Watch or listen…and subscribe! Or listen."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 230 , Zoom-Cast Episode 230 w/Tim Higgins, author: POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century

F. Fishkin, Aug 21, "Teslas, Humanoids and Elevators! What Elon Musk and Tesla delivered at AI Day 2021 was insight into the company's remarkable technology and that may boost recruiting efforts. So says Princeton's Alain Kornhauser who is joined by co-host Fred Fishkin and guest Tim Higgins of the Wall Street Journal, author of POWER PLAY… Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century. AI Day, the NHTSA investigation and Elon Musk hops on the elevator on Episode 230 of Smart Driving Cars!

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

F. Fishkin, Aug 18, "With the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration having opened an investigation into Tesla autopilot crashes involving emergency vehicles…Los Angeles Times reporter Russ Mitchell joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a look at the issues facing Tesla and other vehicle makers."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 228, Zoom-Cast Episode 228 Planes, Trains & Automobiles

F. Fishkin, Aug 13, "Planes, trains and automobiles. From battery powered electric light rail to the confusion over the difference between driver assistance and self driving to Amazon's new 1.5 billion dollar U.S. air cargo hub…the focus is on the latest in mobility. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for episode 228 of Smart Driving Cars. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 226, Zoom-Cast Episode 226 w/Tim Higgins, author: POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century

F. Fishkin, July 22, "The Wall Street Journal's Tim Higgins has a new book arriving August 3rd titled POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century. You can bet it's a lively discussion with Tim on the latest Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Or listen.. https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-226-with-tim-higgins-author-of-power-play.

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 225, Zoom-Cast Episode 225 w/Kevin Biesty, Deputy Director for Policy @ Arizona DoT

F. Fishkin, July 22, "Chandler, Arizona is the one place where paying customers can take advantage of driverless robo-taxis (from Waymo) to get where they are going. How did that happen? What does the future hold? Kevin Biesty, Arizona's Deputy Director for Policy at the Department of Transportation, joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin for an in depth discussion. Plus.. Ford, Argo, Lyft, Tesla, Mercedes & more. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 224, Zoom-Cast Episode 224 w/Selika Josiah Talbot, Principal, Autonomous Vehicle Consulting

F. Fishkin, July 19, "Does there need to be a White House appointed autonomous and electric vehicle czar to open up new mobility possibilities for all? That's the view of Selika Josiah Talbott..a government veteran who now heads Autonomous Vehicle Consulting and lectures at American University. She joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin for a deeper look at how the technology can be deployed to improve lives.

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 223, Zoom-Cast Episode 223 w/Richard Mudge, Compass Transp. & Baruch Feigenbaum, Reason Foundation

F. Fishkin, July 15, "Can Tesla (and others) make automatic emergency braking work? Princeton's Alain Kornhauser continues his push and is joined by the Reason Foundation's Baruch Feigenbaum and Compass Transportation & Technology President Dick Mudge along with co-host Fred Fishkin to explore this week'ss Transportation Research Board sessions. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 222, Zoom-Cast Episode 222

F. Fishkin, July 11, "Is it time for autopilot to not break the law? Princeton's Alain Kornhauser says yes. And if technology can save lives, prevent injuries and crashes shouldn't it? Plus Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Waymo, VW and more on Episode 222 of Smart Driving Cars with co-host Fred Fishkin. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 221, Zoom-Cast Episode 221 w/Mark Rosekind, Chief Safety Innovation Officer, Zoox

F. Fishkin, July 1, "With Zoox the Amazon owned autonomous mobility company out with a comprehensive safety report.. Chief Safety Innovation Officer Dr. Mark Rosekind joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. What is so different about the Zoox approach to building a vehicle and safety? What is the company's vision for future mobility and transportation. Dr. Rosekind fills us in on those issues and more.

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 220, Zoom-Cast Episode 220 w/John Thornhill, Innovation Editor, Financial Times

F. Fishkin, July 1, "Sociology not technology will decide the electric car race. That's a Financial Times headline from a piece written by Innovation Editor John Thornhill...who joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a lively discussion on that...plus Tesla...autonomous mobility and more. John is also the founder of Sifted.eu.

Recent Highlights of:

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

blue; text-decoration: none;"> 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

November 4, 2021

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...

Tesla's response to the glitch raises its own concerns. While its engineers worked to fix the software, they turned off automatic braking and forward collision warning for the software testers over the weekend, the company said. ..." Read more

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

Amazon's self-driving cars are coming to downtown Seattle. Safety advocates are not pleased K. Long, Oct 19, "... But an announcement Monday from Amazon's self-driving car unit Zoox that it will soon start testing its autonomous vehicles in downtown Seattle drew criticism from transportation-safety advocates. The early promise of the technology, they said, has been overshadowed by a string of crashes and near-misses, due in part to lax oversight of the rapidly growing sector..." Read more

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

1, 2021 blue; text-decoration: none;"> 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

Alain L. Kornhauser, PhD

Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering

Director of Undergraduate Studies, ORFE

Director, Transportation Program

Faculty Chair, Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering

Princeton, NJ

609-980-1427 (c)

2021-11-26

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