9.46 - NJ Rf EI
December 11, 2021 blue; text-decoration: blue; text-decoration: none;">46th edition of the 9th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: Trenton MOVES
P, Murphy, Dec. 6, "The New Jersey Department of Transportation ("NJDOT"), an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, has issued a Request for Expression of Interest ("RFEI") to identify experienced firms capable of introducing a safe, equitable, affordable, sustainable, and efficient on-demand
automated vehicle mobility systems in and beyond Trenton, NJ.
NJDOT is soliciting written Expression of interest from qualified and experienced vendors to gain valuable insight from the private industry regarding the goals set forth in the Trenton MOVES (Mobility & Opportunity: Vehicles Equity System) potential project and assess its viability.
If and when NJDOT elects to proceed with a potential project, NJDOT may issue formal Request(s) for Qualifications or Proposals.
The RFEI is available to be downloaded at https://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/procurement/ems/current.shtm...
- Potential Project Summary
The State of New Jersey is exploring a transportation equity and sustainable energy opportunity within the capital city of Trenton. Trenton MOVES (Mobility & Opportunity: Vehicles Equity System) will be led by the Governor's Office, NJ Department of Transportation, the City of Trenton, and one or more institutions of higher education.
Trenton MOVES is exploring the feasibility of deploying ~100 AVs to serve as lowcapacity (4-8 passenger), high-quality (on-demand, kiosk-to-kiosk) shuttles to serve the 90,000 residents who live in the City of Trenton's 8 square miles. The effort will be phased in over two (2) years and will serve the population of New Jersey's capital city, a population where 70% of households have one or fewer cars. A proof-of-concept Operational Design
Domain ("ODD") is described in Section 3.1. ... "Read more
Hmmmm... How fantastic is this! Plus, Governor Phil Murphy's Press Release announcing Trenton MOVES. All substance!! I also presented relevant testimony to NJ's Assembly Transportation Committee Thursday morning. An ALK trifecta this week😁. The "welcoming environment" now exists in New Jersey. We are no longer tied for last with Mississippi as was reported at last week's Florida AV Conference. We're looking like "first in the world" focused on substantive deployment to real customers. We've built the "Field of Dreams" and awaiting the technology "to come". We only need one! Or we'll assemble volunteers (andnot hostages as Mike Tomlin would put it) and build a winning team ourselves.😎 Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 245,
Zoom-Cast Episode 245 Trenton MOVES
F. Fishkin, Dec. 10, "The State of New Jersey MOVES to create the first autonomous vehicle-based urban transit system in America. What will it mean? Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the latest on Waymo, Tesla, Via, Intel-Mobileye and more." Technical support provided by: https://www.cartsmobility.com/
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
Orf 467F21 Symposium: Evolutionary Deployment of a State-wide aTaxis system starting from MyVillage
J. Woll'22, A. Lau'23, M. Wasserman'22, C. Larson'22, J. Sun'23, Dec. 10, "Slides of: Making It Happen": Hawaii - California - Washington - Florida - Connecticut" Read more
Hmmmm...Video of Presentation, Slides, Report Format. I coudn't be more proud. 😁 Alain
Robotaxi race opens up as top contender Waymo in low gear in Arizona
P. Dave, Dec. 1, "Alphabet Inc's Waymo (GOOGL.O) risks losing its lead in the U.S. race to prove robotaxis are a viable business as it sticks to a limited service and rivals backed by automakers near their own launches.
Companies including Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Argo AI and General Motors Co's (GM.N) Cruise are competing for the billions of dollars in financing needed to automate driving through artificial intelligence software and expensive sensors.
Waymo has led the field. In the first and only fully driverless taxi service in the country, Waymo has driven thousands of people since opening a year ago east of Phoenix to anyone who downloads its ride-hailing app. And since August, hundreds in San Francisco have trialed cabs with safety drivers aboard....
Waymo's ride-hailing service in Arizona has not expanded beyond suburbs..... " Read more
Hmmmm... Maybe Waymo should realize that the suburbs of Arizona, while nice and easy, are already so most well-endowed with their own personal mobility options. Real customers are few and far between once the novelty of the amusement ride has worn off.
Unfortunately, they've chosen to look at New Jersey, that has real customers and a most and built a "Field of Dreams" for Safe, Equitable, Affordable, Sustainable, High-quality Mobility, as only a parking garage for their efforts to compete with Manhattan's existing mobility options consisting of subways, yellow cabs, Uber/Lyft/Via, shared bikes & scooters and wide sidewalks in search of customers. Good luck! Alain
Car crash deaths have surged during COVID-19 pandemic. Here's why
R. Mitchell, Dec. 8. "It was a tally that shocked the experts: 38,680 deaths on U.S. roadways last year, the most since 2007 even though pandemic precautions had dramatically reduced driving.
"This was completely unprecedented," said Ken Kolosh, a researcher at the nonprofit National Safety Council. "We didn't know what was happening."
One possibility was that stressed-out Americans were releasing their anxieties on the wide-open roads. He guessed that fatal accidents would decline in 2021 when traffic returned.
He was wrong. The latest evidence suggests that after decades of safety gains, the pandemic has made U.S. drivers more reckless — more likely to speed, drink or use drugs and leave their seatbelts unbuckled.
"I fear we've adopted some really unsafe driving habits, and they're going to persist," Kolosh said. "Our roads are less safe than they were pre-pandemic."..." Read more
Hmmmm... I prefer to call it mis-behavior. Driving is a dangerous form of "letting off steam". Unfortunately, I find myself engaging in it. Not good! We all need to relax!. Alain
Robotic Research raises $228M Series A to build out commercial autonomous offerings
R. Bellan, Dec. 9, "Robotic Research, a self-driving technology company that has spent the last two decades developing on and off-road autonomous vehicles for the Department of Defense, raised a $228 million Series A round. The company will use the investment, which was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Enlightenment Capital, to build out the commercial side of its business.
Crescent Cove Advisors, Henry Crown and Company and Luminar, a lidar company, also participated in the investment.
RR.AI, as the company has branded its commercial arm, currently has its vehicle-agnostic autonomy kits, called AutoDrive, in about 150 heavy-duty transit buses, Class 8 trucks and yard trucks operating on roads across the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Saudi Arabia, according to Alberto Lacaze, CEO of Robotic Research. Now, it's just a matter of scaling.
Robotic Research has historically automated trucks for the U.S. Army and Navy, operating in areas that aren't mapped and don't have GPS, good communications or lined roads. The company's autonomy stack also adds sensors that commercial autonomous vehicles usually don't use, such as stereo and structure for motion, a range imaging technique for estimating 3D structures from 2D image sequences, says Lacaze. As a result, RR thinks it has a leg up...." Read more
Hmmmm... Congratulations Alberton. 😎 Alain
Intel stock rallies amid plan for Mobileye IPO that could 'obviously' unlock value for chipmaker
E. Bary, Dec. 7, "Intel Corp. shares were up 2.6% in Tuesday trading after the chipmaker won praise for its plans to take its Mobileye self-driving unit public.
Intel INTC, -2.45% bought Mobileye in 2017 and will now be sending the company off to the public markets again—but in a different way. The company announced late Monday that it planned to launch an initial public offering for Mobileye in 2022, though Intel will hang onto a majority stake in the company.
Retaining that majority ownership is key for Intel, according to some analysts, since Mobileye will remain consolidated for the purposes of Intel's financial statements...." Read more
Hmmmm... Impressive. 😎. How much does that make The FSD part of Tesla worth? Alain
Finally, a Fusion Reaction Has Generated More Energy Than Absorbed by The Fuel
M. Star, Dec.3, "A major milestone has been breached in the quest for fusion energy.
For the first time, a fusion reaction has achieved a record 1.3 megajoule energy output – and for the first time, exceeding energy absorbed by the fuel used to trigger it...." Read more
Hmmmm... Impressive. However...The "triggering" energy" has to come from someplace... Electricity! And the "energy output" has to become usable... Electricity!
Converting "Electricity" -> "triggering energy" consumes a substantial amount of energy and converting the "energy output" ->"Usable Electricity" uses/wastes more energy.
The societal objective is develop a process that takes some "Electricity" and creates more "Electricity"; else the process is useless irrespective of some niceties that might be occurring inside the process. Unfortunately, even with this "achievement" we are very far away from "Fusion Generating More
Electricity Than Absorbed by the Fuel". The "smoke & mirrors" here are reminiscent to those used in pitching Autonomous Vehicles. Alain
Transit-tech startup Via valued at $3.3 bln after latest funding round
R. Wilking, Nov. 30, "Via said on Tuesday it has raised $130 million in fresh capital as part of a late-stage financing round led by asset manager Janus Henderson, valuing the transit-tech startup at $3.3 billion.
The Series G funding also includes investments from accounts managed by BlackRock, ION Crossover Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies and existing investor Exor.
The New York-based company develops public mobility systems by building a network of buses, shuttles, wheelchair-accessible vehicles and autonomous and electric vehicles. It plans to use the funding to fuel expansion into new markets, hire employees and improve its products...." Read more
Hmmmm... Who would have thought that a transit company that relies on public subsidies such a high valuation level. Congratulations! Alain
Tesla is selling fleet of hundreds of Model 3 electric cars to New York City
F. Lambert, Dec. 9 ".The city of New York is currently proposing a contract to buy a fleet of Model 3 vehicles from Tesla.
It would create a fleet of hundreds of electric cars for the city.
The proposed contract has been revealed through a notice for public hearing obtained by Electrek.
The city wrote in the notice:
"IN THE MATTER OF a proposed contract between the Department of Citywide Administrative Services of the City of New York and Tesla, Inc., located at 3500 Deer Creek Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304, for procuring Tesla Model 3 All-Electric Sedans. The contract is in the amount of $12,360,000.00. The term of the contract shall be five years from date of Notice of Award. PIN #: 8572200042, E-PIN #: 05622S0005001."...
The number of Model 3 vehicles involved in the contract wasn't disclosed, but if the value of the fleet is around $12,360,000, it should be between 200 and 300 electric vehicles.
It's not clear what the Tesla vehicles are going to be used for by the city, but New York operates a large fleet of vehicles throughout many departments.
Earlier this year, we reported on the New York Police Department buying a Tesla Model 3 to turn it into a police patrol car.
It became the latest of many police departments across the US that decided to buy Model 3s to replace gas-powered patrol cars. The gas savings have proven to make a massive difference in their fleet costs....." Read more
Hmmmm... Impressive. Alain
Tesla is under scrutiny by NHTSA for enabling in-car video games while driving
F. Lambert, Dec. 9 "People doing things they shouldn't while driving is nothing new nor unique to Tesla, but the automaker is now under scrutiny by the NHTSA for going a step further and enabling in-car video games while driving.
Other than common sense and/or fear of getting caught, there's nothing stopping anyone from using their phones, including playing video games on them, while driving...." Read more
Hmmmm... Absolutely irresponsible of Tesla who can instantly put a stop to it using Over-the-Air updating. C'mon Elon! Alain +++++++++++++++++++
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 https://www.cartsmobility.com/ 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 deploymentin 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
C'mon Man!(These folks didn't get/read the memo)
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
Click-Bait
More On....
4thAnnual PrincetonSmartDrivingCar Summit It is over!!! Now time to actually do something in the Trentons of this world.
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
14th Session What Will Power Safely-driven Cars
13th Session Improving the Moving of Goods
12th Session 3/18/21 Human-centered Design of Safe and Affordable Driverless Mobility
11th Session 3/11/21 Incentivizing Through Regulation
10th Session 3/04/21 Incentivizing Through Insurance
9th Session 2/25/21 Can Level 3 be Delivered?
8th Session 2/18/21 Who Will Build, Sell and Maintain Driverless Cars?
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 Session1/ 7/21 A Look into the Future1st Session:12/17/20Setting 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"
Re-see: 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
Calendar of Upcoming
Events
5th Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit
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/
K. Lockean's AV Research Group at U of Texas
and The SYMPOSIUM ON THE FUTURE NETWORKED CAR 2021 VIRTUAL EVENT
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
Hmmmm... Russ, thank you for sharing! Alain
These editions are sponsored by the SmartETFs Smart Transportation and Technology ETF, symbol MOTO. For more information head to www.motoetf.com
https://www.cartsmobility.com/ provides technical support
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 244, Zoom-Cast Episode 244 w/Michael Sena... Germany's Automotive Industry in Transition…
F. Fishkin, Dec. 2, "Germany's Automotive Industry in Transition… Consultant and The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena shares his insights on the rapid shifts taking in place in Germany and globally and what they will mean for mobility and transportation. Join us for episode 244 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin".
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 243, Zoom-Cast Episode 243 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".
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 242, Zoom-Cast Episode 242 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 241 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 240 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 237, 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.
Link to previous SDC PodCasts & ZoomCasts
Recent Highlights of:
December 6, 2021
Murphy Administration Announces RFEI for Project to Create the First Autonomous Vehicle-Based Urban Transit System in America
Press release, Dec. 6, " Governor Phil Murphy and New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti today announced an Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the Trenton Mobility & Opportunity: Vehicles Equity System (MOVES) Project. Trenton MOVES will act to provide safe, equitable, affordable, and sustainable high-quality mobility through the deployment of 100 Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) throughout the state capital. This on-demand automated transit system will serve 90,000 residents of Trenton.
"Since taking office, we have worked relentlessly towards making New Jersey the innovation center of America," said Governor Murphy. "There is perhaps no initiative that embodies this goal more than the Trenton MOVES project, which will attract tech talent from around the country and the world with the mission of creating an autonomous vehicle-based transit system in our Capitol that will provide a new, affordable transportation solution for underserved areas of Trenton. This is an exciting project with immense potential, and I look forward to the day that the first vehicle hits the road."
"Mobility is about equity and access to opportunity," said New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti. "Trenton MOVES represents an opportunity to utilize innovation to sustainably improve the quality of life of the mobility-constrained in many of our cities. By starting in Trenton, we will have the opportunity to work with a close and effective partner; ultimately our vision is that this effort will ideally scale throughout the state and the region".
"We're grateful to Governor Murphy and the N.J. Department of Transportation under Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti for investing in an innovative mobility solution that will considerably improve the lives of the average Trentonian," said Trenton Mayor W. Reed Gusciora. "Trenton MOVES means our residents can get to work on time without transfers or connections. It means state workers can explore restaurants and businesses throughout the entire city. It means more safe and equitable transportation options for everyone ranging from students involved in school activities to seniors going to their doctor appointments."
The Trenton MOVES (Mobility & Opportunity: Vehicles Equity System) project is being developed by the Governor's Office, NJDOT, the City of Trenton, and Princeton University.
This will be the first large-scale urban transit system in America to be based entirely on self-driving shuttles. Each vehicle will carry four to eight passengers at a time. The AVs will be low cost to users in underserved neighborhoods. During the initial launch there will be in-vehicle attendants to demonstrate the safety and operational integrity of the service. Full deployment will occur after a detailed planning and testing phase. This new system will allow Trenton's households (70% of which have limited access to a single automobile or no access at all) as well as traditional road users to get acclimated to the presence of AVs on the streets of the state capital.
NJDOT offers this Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to help gather information from firms in the design, build-out and operation of a safe and equitable automated vehicle transportation system for Trenton. The deadline for the RFEI response is February 11, 2022. Following the solicitation of the RFEI, NJDOT may issue formal requests for Qualifications or Proposals. However, responses to the RFEI will not necessarily impact or be connected to any call for Proposals or Qualifications.
The deadline for the RFEI response is February 11, 2022.
Copy of Request for Expression of Interest" Read more This is all about deployment that will begin to enable New Jersey and the nation to finally begin to capture societal benefits from the vast investments that have been made in this techology since the DARPA Challenges. I'm so humbled to be a part of this most substantive intitiative. Alain
December 4, 2021
December 2021
Issue: Germany's Automotive Industry in Transition
M. Sena, Dec. 1, "Germany's automotive industry is important for the country's economy, the welfare of a large number of its citizens and for the prestige of the nation. It is also very important for Europe as a whole. VW, DAIMLER and BMW had total 2020 revenue of €476 billion and hold respectively positions 2, 3 and 8 amongst the largest companies in the EU...
Hydroelectric power has not disappeared, but it isn't directly driving machines; it's driving turbines to generate electricity. If you are among those who classify hydroelectric power as a renewable energy source (a club in which I am not a member), then it is interesting to note that hydropower accounts for 70% of global electricity production from renewable sources. But it definitely is not top of the list of investments recommended for high returns. Solar and wind are the darlings of investors. But imagine what would have happened if electricity had not been invented and we got stuck on steam. Hydropower would have disappeared completely. Now imagine if the internal combustion engine didn't make it out of the lab and electric- and steam-driven engines continued to compete for investments. What happens to TESLA's stock, which is now trading at just over a $1,000/share (it was up to $1,239 on the 4th of November!) if the U.S. decides that it will stop financing its rival's military buildup by banning the sale of all battery electric cars using lithium-ion batteries or any other material on which its rival holds a monopoly. Or, what happens if the country that currently has the monopoly decides not to sell batteries or allow the sale of any of the raw materials that are used to make batteries?
Steam trains got the chance to pull coal cars when the price of oats that fed the horses became prohibitively high due to the wars in which Britain was engaged. Anybody who owned stock in a steam engine company did very well at that point. But if that company tried to buck the ICE trend and continue to build steam trucks, like SENTINEL and FODEN, the paper was eventually worthless..." Read more
Hmmmm... Once again,excellent fundamentals here. Read, learn and enjoy! Also check out our SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 244, Zoom-Cast Episode 244 w/Michael Sena, Editor of The Dispatcher, Alain
November 26, 2021 blue; text-decoration: none;">
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"! Update 12/4... It is driverless but there is an attendant on-board for now. Progress but not PrimeTime. 🙁 Alain
November 20, 2021
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
November 12, 2021 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
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
November 4, 2021
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...
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
Hmmmm... At least the AEB was on this time around. I still contend that previous versions FSD (and autoPilot) had AEB turned off because of AEB's propensity for false-positives. Tesla's problems/challenges is today NOT with FSD. It is with AEB. It must solve the AEB's false-positive problem BEFORE it goes back trying to improve FSD. A satisfactory AEB is a necessary precursor to any FSD. To date, Tesla has put the cart before the horse. It's not pretty!
Emergency braking happens because weird things happen while driving. Disrespecting the system that is supposed to save you when weird things happen is very short-sighted. Explicitly turning it off is totally irresponsible and potentially criminal. Alain October 29, 2021
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...
Tesla got ahead of itself figuring that autoPilot and then FSD were so much better> That made their "buggy" and thus annoying AEB superfluous. Rather than fix a lowly "Level 1" system, they simply may have turned it off.
They may finally realize that the AEB functionality is really needed and it needs to be almost perfect. Exceedingly few false positives or false negatives. Wow... Not so simple. They have a lot of hard work to do to fix what they had previously shoved under the rug. Alain October 24, 2021
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
Hmmmm... First news out of the box from the home town paper is this?? So discouraging. You just can't win. 😭 Alain October 10, 2021
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
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
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
Link to previous SDC eLetters
Alain L. Kornhauser, PhD Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering
Director of Undergraduate Studies, ORFE
Director, Transportation Program
Faculty Chair, Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering
229 Sherrerd Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
alaink@princeton.edu
609-980-1427 (c)