2021-12-23
December 24, 2021 blue; text-decoration:
blue;
text-decoration:
none;">48th
edition of the
9th year of
SmartDrivingCars
eLetter
GM Fires Cruise CEO Over The Robotaxi Vs Personal Car Battle Writ Large
B. Templeton, Dec. 20, “One of the key debates over the future of self-driving cars is how much of it will be robotaxis — Uber UBER +2.5%-style services which sell rides rather than cars, and how much will be sales of personal self-driving cars to private owners. This week this battle was prominent in the firing of Cruise CEO Dan Ammann by Mary Barra, CEO of GM over conflicts on this question. Amman saw a “robotaxi first” strategy with an IPO to capitalize on strong market interest in that business. Barra wanted Cruise to put more focus on technologies that could be used in GM’s traditional product lines.” Read more Hmmmm… I guess that Brad has the inside information on Dan’s firing. Nobody ever tells me anything that isn’t public, so I can’t really comment; however…
My perspective has been since near “the beginning” that automated driving technologies have two largely orthogonal (very different) markets:
-
as Comfort&Convenience features for consumer-owned “conventional” automobiles. A long time ago I chose to call cars with these features “Self-driving Cars”, and
-
Cost-reducing and Quality-of-Service improving features to fleet operators focused on providing mobility (as a service) to people (some call this “transit”) and/or things (for example package delivery). I’ve called these Driverless cars or aTaxis (autonomousTaxis or automatedTaxis, your call.)
These are fundamentally different markets.
It can be envisioned that the Self-driving variety is a natural market for traditional OEMs, I’ve flippantly called this technology today’s Chrome & Fins that will propel customers into showrooms (or on-line to buy, buy, buy). I’ll argue that these Comfort&Convenience features, named “autoPilot” and “FSD”, may well have been one of, if not the, fundamental brilliance(s) that fueled Elon’s success with Tesla.
Even with all the regulatory challenges that these Comfort&Convenience features have piled on Elon, he hasn’t backed off his use of these “Chrome&Fins” which are largely Bling Substance.
GM is even aggressively promoting its SuperCruise “Chrome&Fins” and Daimler is touting its “Level 3 drivePilot”
"Chrome&Fins".
Consequently, it would not be surprising for a leader founded on traditional OEM business models to aggressively pursue the development of Chrome&Fins, especially when, once sold to the customer, the future liability exposure to the OEM for any mis-use or tarnishing of the Chrome&Fins is expected to be minimal.
Unfortunately, the technology associated with Driverless is enormously different because it is Not for show, it has to be for go from the very beginning. It only delivers its promised value… more affordable, higher-quality mobility… if it actually works. And works, not just in the showroom, but during its entire lifespan. And , if it doesn’t then the producer of the technology as well as the operator of the technology, will bear some, if not most/all of the liability risk.
Thus, Driverless is a substantially different challenge that Self-driving and it is not at all surprising that an individual focused on doing driverless, would have little patience with an individual focused on doing Self-driving.
Self-driving doesn’t really have to work so you can be sloppy and still “make a buck”.
Sloppy with Driverless and you’re out of business… ask Uber .. $120B v $60B “sells” to Aurora
Moreover, I’ve written for a very long time that there is no feasible market (neither profitable or non-profitable) for the sale of driverless cars to individual consumers. First, who would buy a car that one can’t drive, but more importantly, no OEM is going to backstop the liability associated with a car traveling all by itself without a responsible person in the car. Regulators will never allow it, OEMs will never embrace the responsibility (Elon hasn’t even come close, read the fine print) . End of story.
Finally, as many others have written, it is not at all obvious that Driverless evolves from Self-driving. Since self-driving fundamentally includes having the driver in the loop as the responsible entity, Self-driving is able, from the get go, to be “sloppy” in its functionality.
Driverless, can’t afford to be “sloppy” or cut corners from the very beginning. That mindset must endure throughout. Lack of that mindset may have gotten Uber in trouble in the first place and may be ingrained in Pony.ai, EasyMile and others.
It simply may not be all that easy or appropriate to to try to clean up technology that has relied on a human driver as a back up to build one that from the beginning must recognized that crutch is not available nowhere, no how. Alain
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 247, Zoom-Cast Episode 247 Self-Driving
&
Driverless are
like Oil &
Vinegar...
largely
Orthogonal.
###
###
F. Fishkin, Dec. 23, “In episode 247 of Smart Driving Cars: a shift at GM’s Cruise as the the CEO is fired? Tesla faces editorial fire. While Waymo posts about bringing the next generation Waymo Driver to trucking. Plus more on the push for safe, equitable, affordable, high-quality mobility in New Jersey. Join Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin.” 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](https://www.smartetfs.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
###
###
Barra dismissed Cruise CEO Dan Ammann over mission, IPO timing, report says
D. Welsh, Dec. 19, “… What seemed abrupt to outsiders and people working at Cruise had been building for months. The two executives didn’t agree on how to focus the breakthrough self-driving technology that the Silicon Valley unit is preparing to launch with a taxi service…“ Read more Hmmmm… Another good article about this break-up and the struggle between initiatives that have a human as the responsible entity versus having a software/hardware/sensor/actuator stack as the responsible entity. For Driverless, the Automated Collision Avoidance aspects need to be near perfect. For Self-driving, not so much. For Driverless, rules of the road are largely sacrosanct. For self-driving, you’re damned if you you don’t let the driver be the driver, mis-behavior and all. Two businesses that are largely orthogonal to each other. Alain
Editorial: Slam the brakes on Tesla’s self-driving madness
pinion, Dec. 20, “In recent years, some Tesla owners have had the option to buy a $10,000 software upgrade to test what the company calls its “Full Self-Driving” package, essentially making ordinary drivers on public roads part of a vast experiment of the company’s autonomous vehicle technology. The problem is, unlike a real experiment, this one lacks oversight to track successes and failures, and — most importantly — to ensure public safety.
It's time for
state and
federal
regulators to
step in. ...
… If the cars are not automated enough to be regulated as autonomous vehicles, then Tesla should not be allowed to market the technology as “Full Self-Driving.”
“I can call my umbrella a parachute, but that doesn’t make it true. It just makes it more dangerous,” notes Bryant Walker Smith, an expert in autonomous vehicle law at the University of South Carolina.” …” Read more Hmmmm…Well said! Since this is testing on public roads, the public has a right to know and to weigh in; else, the testing can be done on private property or in simulation, but good luck with learning very much.
I love Bryant Walker Smith’s umbrella analogy. 😎 Alain
Tesla test drivers believe they’re on a mission to make driving safer for everyone. Skeptics say they’re a safety hazard
R.Albergotti, Dec. 20, “ Kevin Smith has a love-hate relationship with driving. He was rear-ended twice in a short span of time, his daughter crashed her car weeks after getting her drivers license and his mother chose to surrender hers after she started missing red lights.
"I felt like I
needed better
driver
assistance or
I was going to
have a panic
attack," he
said.
Smith is now
part of a
group of at
least 12,000
beta testers
for Tesla's
polarizing
"Full
Self-Driving"
software,
which can
attempt many
everyday
driving tasks,
albeit
sometimes
unpredictably.
Despite its
flaws, Smith
believes it's
safer. He is
willing to
take on the
task even if
he knows he
might have to
intervene when
software makes
mistakes:
running a red
light, driving
onto
light-rail
tracks or
nearly
striking a
person in a
crosswalk, all
scenarios that
beta testers
interviewed by
The Washington
Post have
encountered on
the road... "
[Read more](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/21/tesla-test-drivers/) Hmmmm...All likely true; however, Why
over-sell it.
A little
humility and
cooperation
with the
public would
go a long way
to benefit
everyone.
Is a name like “Imperfect Driver Assistance” all that bad. People actually prefer when reality exceeds expectations and are really disappointed when reversed. Try it Elon. You may be pleasantly surprised. Plus you can afford to make a mistake here. Alain
Public Streets Are the Lab for Self-Driving Experiments
R. Furchgott, Dec. 23, “… The answer is that there is no federal regulation to stop Tesla — or the many other autonomous vehicle companies — from using public streets as a laboratory. As long as a driver is ready to take over, the only thing that prevents a company from putting an experimental autonomous vehicle on a public road is the threat of a lawsuit or bad publicity….” Read more Hmmmm… Another view of the LA Times Opinion that doesn’t realize the enormous difference between Self-driving (human necessarily in the loop all the time) and Driverless (human necessarily NOT in the loop all of the time). Also, one should never test Driverless on public streets without close human oversight. Alain
Designed to deliver: Bringing the benefits of our 5th generation hardware to trucking
J. Jeyachandran, Dec. 20, “At Waymo, we’re developing one core autonomous driving platform—the Waymo Driver—consisting of hardware and software, which builds the foundations of a Driver that can scale across multiple geographies, vehicle types, and use cases. Because we engineer an autonomous driver that can navigate these different modalities side by side, system requirements and skills learned from one vehicle platform benefit the other, and vice versa. As more of the first fully redundant, L4 Freightliner Cascadia trucks operated by the Waymo Driver begin hitting the road, we wanted to share how we’ve designed and engineered our fifth-generation hardware specifically for the rugged life of Class 8 trucking….” Read more Hmmmm… Very nice information about the technology, but essentially nothing about the “…benefits…to trucking.”
Trucking is a business where Return-on-Investment (RoI) Talks while Bling Walks. Exactly how is this “5th generation” going to improve Returns and what’s it going to Cost? Since no hint is provided, this post can’t be targeted to the customer, the Class 8 trucking companies who would employ this technology.
It must instead be targeted to the investment community looking to flip what they’ve funded. Alain
Tesla Model Y achieves highest possible IIHS safety rating
F. lambert,
Dec.. 21, "The
Insurance
Institute for
Highway Safety
(IIHS), the
main
independent
organization
that conducts
crash tests on
vehicles in
the US,
released the
result of its
latest tests
on the Tesla
Model Y and
confirmed that
it achieved
the highest
possible
safety
rating..." [Read more](https://electrek.co/2021/12/21/tesla-model-y-achieves-highest-possible-iihs-safety-rating/) Hmmmm... See [videos 1](https://youtu.be/5G1dF392iys) & [2](https://youtu.be/r1j6_9CJNjg.). What a shame. If only Elon
would back off
and call
FSD... "Imperfect
Driver
Assistance",
or the like,
and [stop letting people play video games](https://electrek.co/2021/12/22/nhtsa-launches-official-probe-into-tesla-drivers-playing-video-games/) or
watch movies
while the car
is moving, he
could become
even richer
and become
even more
liked. What a
shame! Alain
+++++++++++++++++++
December
11, 2021
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text-decoration:
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[REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: Trenton MOVES](https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20211206/7b/67/1d/92/27ba0772be5390c912cc007e/Trenton_MOVES_RFEI.pdf)
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](https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20211206/7b/67/1d/92/27ba0772be5390c912cc007e/Trenton_MOVES_RFEI.pdf) Hmmmm... How fantastic is this! Plus, [Governor Phil Murphy's Press Release announcing Trenton MOVES](https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqvixybcx3xa0bo/GovMurpgyTrentonMOVES_Press%20Release_120621.pdf?dl=0). All substance!! I also presented relevant [testimony to NJ's Assembly Transportation Committee](https://www.dropbox.com/s/y2kxq6t2vnmf6dy/KornhauserTestimonyA5681v2.docx?dl=0) 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](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/)" and awaiting the technology "to come". We only need one! Or we'll assemble volunteers (and[not hostages as Mike Tomlin would put it](https://www.si.com/nfl/steelers/news/pittsburgh-steelers-mike-tomlin-addresses-melvin-ingram-trade)) and build a winning team ourselves.😎 Alain
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](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eE91cabQccyLE7B7suyQp63mKmhQHlEM6g29qf_b2gc/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00) Hmmmm...[Video of Presentation](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y268gtmYa3l1tNLrzNPKqYFCl6NtfKwX/view?usp=sharing),
[Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eE91cabQccyLE7B7suyQp63mKmhQHlEM6g29qf_b2gc/edit?usp=sharing),
[Report Format](https://www.dropbox.com/s/fp615tv61rt7xnb/Orf467F21FinalProjectSuggested%20Format.pdf?dl=0). I
couldn't be
more proud.
Also check out
[Pod-Cast Episode 246](https://anchor.fm/smartdrivingcars/episodes/Smart-Driving-Cars-Episode-246-Autonomous-Affordable-Mobility-Beyond-Trenton-e1bqig0),
[Zoom-Cast Episode 246](https://youtu.be/nNl5mZNESf4)
w/Jack
Woll'22, Jason
Sun'232, and
Connor
Larson'22😁 Alain
Trenton MOVES: Community Engagement Update
J. He, Dec.
15, "Vignettes
from Community
Engagement
"focus
groups". [Read more](https://www.dropbox.com/s/bj5hkv36r1cm61j/1215_TrentonMOVES_CommunityEngagement_UpdateV1.0-1.pdf?dl=0) Hmmmm...
Why Trenton!
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](https://www.cartsmobility.com/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
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](https://www.techstination.com/) succinct
way of
summarizing
the next steps
in the Smart
Driving Car
journey.
Fiskin, along
with the LA
Times' [Russ Mitchell](https://twitter.com/russ1mitchell?lang=en) co-produced
the final
session of
the [2021 Smart Driving Car Summit, Making It Happen: Part 2](https://orfe.princeton.edu/conferences/sdc/session/20210415).
This 16th and
final session
in this
multi-month
online
conference not
only provided
a s[ummary of the thought-provoking speakers](https://viodi.com/2021/04/18/making-driverless-happen-the-road-forward/),
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](https://viodi.com/2021/04/18/making-driverless-happen-the-road-forward/) Hmmmm.... We had another
excellent
Session.
Thank you for
the summary,
Ken! Alain
Ken Pyle’s Session Summaries of 4th Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit:
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)): [https://youtu.be/ppp2hxlvebY](https://youtu.be/ppp2hxlvebY)
Session 3: [(Automated Driving Systems](https://youtu.be/uL2dRHuX2Cc)): [https://youtu.be/uL2dRHuX2Cc](https://youtu.be/uL2dRHuX2Cc)
Session 4: [(Communications for ADS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQcL6yfBso)) : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQcL6yfBso](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQcL6yfBso) [Read more](https://www.itu.int/en/fnc/2021/Pages/default.aspx) 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 246, Zoom-Cast Episode 246w/Jack Woll’22, Jason Sun’23, and Connor Larson’22
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###
F. Fishkin, Dec. 16, “Affordable autonomous mobility is what the State of New Jersey is aiming to bring to Trenton and beyond. But the need is everywhere. Princeton Students Jack Woll, Jason Sun, and Connor Larson have been doing some research and join Alain Kornhauser and Fred Fishkin to explore. Plus…Pony AI, Aurora, Tesla and more.”
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
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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](https://anchor.fm/smartdrivingcars/episodes/Smart-Driving-Cars-Episode-232-Can-cameras-alone-get-to-driverless-mobility-e16tilm)[,](https://soundcloud.com/smartdrivingcar/smart-driving-cars-230-with-tim-higgins-author-of-power-play) [Zoom-Cast Episode 232](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeGxqFemSWw)
w [Steven Shladover](https://path.berkeley.edu/steven-e-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](https://anchor.fm/smartdrivingcars/episodes/Smart-Driving-Cars-Episode-230-Teslas--Humanoids-and-Elevators-e168g34).
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
17, 2021 [Pony.ai's permit to test driverless vehicles in California is suspended after crash](https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/14/22834496/pony-ai-av-test-permit-suspend-california-dmv-crash) A. Hawkins,
Dec. 14,
"Pony.ai, an
autonomous
vehicle
startup based
in Silicon
Valley and
Guangzhou,
China, is
temporarily
unable to test
driverless
vehicles in
California
after a
vehicle crash
led the
state's
Department of
Motor Vehicles
to suspend the
company's
testing
permit.
Pony.ai was
one of the few
companies
approved to
test fully
autonomous
vehicles
without safety
drivers behind
the steering
wheel on
public roads
in
California....
The permit was suspended after the company reported a crash to the DMV…. “ Read more Hmmmm… Crash… not good!
Crash report “Driver’s Name”is blank Hummmm … ???
Crash report makes no mention of occupants or attendants. Hummmm … Rest assured that “NJCrash reports of AVs” will include names of occupants, drivers and/or attendants. (One of the benefits of being “tied for last with Mississippi” for so long).
Also, rest assured, that NJ will NOT permit the testing of AVs without an alert driver/attendant capable of “disengaging” the AV in an attempt to avert or mitigate a crash.
Finally.. what was Pony.ai thinking???? The objective/purpose of testing is to encounter situations where the car will crash if the driver/attendant fails to “disengage”. Encountering such situations might allow the AV system to be improved/fixed/corrected so when that situation is encountered in the future, the AV system will not crash and not need anyone to disengage it. Then you can get rid of the driver/attendant.
Testing is not over until the probability that a situation requiring disengagement by a driver/attendant is sufficiently rare such that the liability associated with such rare occurrences is substantially smaller that the the value captures by the increased mobility afforded by not having to pay the cost of an attendant/driver… period!!!!!
Certainly not an advanced concept. Every parent & child knows that you continue to run behind the bike and you don’t take off the training wheels until the child is good enough at riding the bike such that the chances of falling and scraping a knee or worse is so remote that you let them enjoy the fruits derived from the newly acquired mobility. No different for driverless vehicles or whatever you wish to call them.
So what was Pony.ai thinking, if indeed, they were testing without and attendant or driver???? What value were they acquiring…
-
Saving an infinitesimal percentage of their cost of testing? Are they that strapped for $$$?
-
Public relations creds? What was the net on that Silicon Valley gambit?
-
Demonstration of their manliness? Very last century!, or
-
Just total irresponsibility and stupidity. C’mon Man!!!
Also, what was CA DMV thinking when they created a license to test without a driver or attendant? Some of us believe that the #1 value of being able to operate a vehicle without a driver/attendant is the substantial percentage reduction in the cost to deliver high-quality mobility to everyone, especially those who, for whatever reason, can’t afford to provide mobility for themselves (can’t… drive a car, ride a bike, ride a scooter, walk). That cost reduction provides society with the opportunity to deliver thigh-quality affordable, and thus equitable, mobility to everyone. But that is deployment/operations, NOT testing.
It is fundamentally OK/necessary that a license to deploy/deliver mobility to people and/or goods, without a driver/attendant be available. That is the goal. To test without a driver/attendant is irresponsible and stupid. Alain December 11, 2021 blue; text-decoration: none;”> 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 December 6, 2021
[Murphy Administration Announces RFEI for Project to Create the First Autonomous Vehicle-Based Urban Transit System in America](https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqvixybcx3xa0bo/GovMurpgyTrentonMOVES_Press%20Release_120621.pdf?dl=0)
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](https://www.dropbox.com/s/jrb9v5qrh05l1ms/The%20Dispatcher_December%202021.pdf?dl=0)
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
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text-decoration:
none;">
[Gatik and Walmart Achieve Fully Driverless Deliveries in a First for Autonomous Trucking Industry Worldwide](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211108005409/en/Gatik-and-Walmart-Achieve-Fully-Driverless-Deliveries-in-a-First-for-Autonomous-Trucking-Industry-Worldwide) Press
release, Nov.
8, "[Gatik](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgatik.ai%2F&esheet=52524421&newsitemid=20211108005409&lan=en-US&anchor=Gatik&index=1&md5=6a4c96f3d6a11910ad46e9eed7ed1f86)
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](https://lexisnexis.turtl.co/story/multivariate-adas-whitepaper/?utm_campaign=INSATO20.MetStraDem.VBDemGenWP),
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](https://risk.lexisnexis.com/insights-resources/white-paper/true-impact-of-adas-features-on-insurance-claim-severity-revealed?trmid=INSATO21.2021AutoLG.2021ADAS.OMXX-545501) 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](https://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv17/Proceed/00137.pdf),
...) has been
great for
safety...
saving lives,
reducing
occupant
severity , ...
but,
the
liabilities
associated
with crash
mitigation
have
increased. [Claim Severity](https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-auto-insurance)
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
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[First across the Forth – and a royal visit](https://vivarail.co.uk/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](https://vivarail.co.uk/first-across-the-forth-and-a-royal-visit/) Hmmmm...
But you know that the Pop-Up Metro train was the
First Across
the Atlantic.
[Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSjAozf2r3g),
[Slides](http://rrdc.com/presentation_NJ_TransAction_2020_10_PUM.pdf)
and [ZoomCast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFyRcbL6-N8)
re: [Pop-Up Metro](https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2021/august/future-of-rail-transit.html).
And there is
always [Alain](https://www.dropbox.com/s/hkt1zu1c6joq9ch/ClimbingOn6998.JPG?dl=0)
climbing on [#6988](https://www.icloud.com/photos/#0twHZBw5LwCqIbK_4HJoHjyOQ).😎
.
Absolutely
Fantastic
Henry. Alain
November
4, 2021
[Tesla's handling of braking bug in public self-driving test raises alarms](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-11-03/teslas-handling-braking-bug-in-public-self-driving-test)
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](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-11-03/teslas-handling-braking-bug-in-public-self-driving-test) 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](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/13/22724171/nhtsa-tesla-letters-fsd-beta-autopilot-recall-emergency-vehicles)
and [criticism](https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/22/21528508/tesla-full-self-driving-beta-first-reaction-video),
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](https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/qem0lu/fsd_bets_103_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](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1452345284483235841)
that Tesla is
"Seeing some
issues with
10.3, so
rolling back
to 10.2
temporarily."
[Read more](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/24/22743628/elon-musk-tesla-fsd-beta-10-3-rollback-issues-phantom-fcw) 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](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/22/cars/tesla-missy-cummings/index.html) 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](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/22/cars/tesla-missy-cummings/index.html) 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?](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-07/why-arent-automatic-braking-systems-stopping-deadly-tesla-crashes)
[In Spanish](https://www.latimes.com/espanol/eeuu/articulo/2021-10-09/por-que-los-sistemas-de-freno-automatico-no-paran-los-accidentes-mortales-de-tesla)
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](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-07/why-arent-automatic-braking-systems-stopping-deadly-tesla-crashes) 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](https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/30/22702962/cruise-waymo-california-dmv-autonomous-vehicle-permit) 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](https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/5/22520227/cruise-permit-california-driverless-autonomous-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](https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/23/21591045/california-robotaxi-paid-rides-cpuc-permits).
... " [Read more](https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/30/22702962/cruise-waymo-california-dmv-autonomous-vehicle-permit) 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](https://www.cartsmobility.com/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
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
609-980-1427 (c)
This list is maintained by Alain Kornhauser and hosted by the Princeton University LISTSERV.