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Google Exec: We’re Seriously Considering Testing Self-Driving Cars in UK

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Jennifer van der Kleut

It looks like Britain may be getting its way.

After a big push from British government to get Google to come across the ocean and test their self-driving cars there-after it came out that Google was mulling over new cities to expand testing- it appears Google may actually be eyeing the United Kingdom.

News reports this week quote Google Alphabet’s chairman Eric Schmidt as saying that the tech company is seriously evaluating the viability of testing in Britain.

The Telegraph reported back in December that Google had actually had five meetings with the UK’s Department of Transport over the past two years about autonomous cars. The Telegraph said Sarah Hunter, head of policy for the company’s “experimental division” known as Google X, said the company appreciated “the non-regulatory approach being taken in the UK, [which] places the UK in a good position and could be seen as an example of best practice.”

According to The Telegraph, driverless cars can be legally trialled on public roads anywhere in the UK, as long as they are covered by insurance. Currently, public trials are being conducted in five UK areas: Milton Keynes, Greenwich, Bristol and Coventry.

In addition, a driverless and connected-car “living lab” launched in Greenwich recently. The UK Smart Mobility Lab will reportedly function as an “open innovation environment” where companies and researchers can design and develop self-driving and connected-car technology, test it in a realistic environment, and then work to integrate the finished product into the public.

International Business Times UK quotes Isabel Dedring, deputy mayor of transport, as saying, “It is still very early days, but we would be keen for trials to happen in London whenever Google are ready to move them into other countries.”

Google is currently testing its self-driving cars in and around Mountain View, California, where the company’s headquarters are located, as well as in Austin, Texas and Kirkland, Washington. In February, permit applications revealed Google was looking to expand testing to four new cities, one of which turned out to be Kirkland. The other three cities have not yet been revealed.

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Careful Steps on Driverless Laws for Tennessee, Virginia

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Burney Simpson

State legislatures in Tennessee and Virginia are working methodically in their review of driverless technology laws.

For now, the focus is on ensuring that the language of any new law fits current definitions and statutes covering vehicle technology and driver requirements.

“There’s excitement and cautiousness. (People) get concerned when you talk about a fully autonomous vehicle,” said Del. Glenn Davis, a Republican in the Virginia General Assembly.

Right now states are hesitant to pass any rules on driverless technology, said Anne Teigen, a program principal, and policy specialist transportation, with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

“The challenge for the states is that they want to react but they don’t want to stifle innovation. They are trying to find a balance,” said Teigen.

Teigen in January updated the NCSL’s page devoted to autonomous legislation, noting there were then 32 proposals in state legislatures related to the vehicles. The website doesn’t cover connected vehicle activity.

In Tennessee, state Sen. Mark Green introduced SB 1561 that would allow road testing of the driverless vehicles. Green argues this will encourage auto manufacturers to start building the cars in the state.

GM, Nissan, and Volkswagen, and Tier 1 supplier Denso already operate manufacturing plants in Tennessee.

Green declined to share names but says he has had discussions with auto OEMs and suppliers on driverless testing in the Volunteer State.

The bill is far from a sure thing. Green must rewrite some of the language so a driverless vehicle operator meets the state’s definition of a vehicle driver. He plans to officially propose it to the Senate Transportation Committee in a few weeks.

This summer, the state’s DOT, its motor vehicle department, and others may designate a road corridor for testing vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, says Green.

OLD DOMINION STAYS NEW

In Virginia, the House and Senate have approved a proposal from Del. Davis that legalizes monitors showing live images in a vehicle when the vehicle is being operated autonomously.

The bill’s language is convoluted but it was necessary to override an existing law that fought distracted driving, said Davis.  

“We needed to address this. This is a first step. We need to make sure the laws are safe both for standard mode (vehicles) and autonomous vehicles,” said Davis.

The proposal now goes to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe for his signature. McAuliffe last year launched Virginia Automated Corridors, a state initiative on the research and development of automated vehicles.  

Davis also proposed a bill that would define autonomous vehicles but it got bottled up in committee and will probably expire when the state’s legislative session ends in March.

He might reintroduce the proposal next year, expanding it to include a definition of automated-vehicle technology, like lane assist and cruise control, along with that of autonomous vehicles.

That combination of familiar technology with cutting-edge driverless could sway more legislators to vote for the bill, says Davis.

“New vehicles are bringing this combination of automated technology and driver control,” said Davis. “Once people are comfortable with (lane assist), you will see more acceptance of (autonomous).”

While the states move slowly, the U.S. Department of Transportation is setting the pace on federal policy.

Its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) division will release this summer a policy foundation for autonomous vehicles. This will include a definition of the vehicles, testing policies, and guidance on their deployment and operation.

NHTSA will also release a model driverless car policy for the states.

The feds just may overtake the states on this one.

Graphic by brisray.com.

Todd Stone-BritishColumbia-Canada-Transport Minister

One Canadian City is Saying ‘No’ to Self-Driving Car Testing

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Every day, more and more cities across the globe are saying Yes to testing and preparing for autonomous transportation. However, it appears Vancouver, Canada will not be one of them-at least, not any time soon.

News outlets are reporting that Transportation Minister Todd Stone says British Columbia has no plans to test self-driving vehicles on public roads in the province any time soon.

Furthermore, he is warning cities across the province that they do not have free reign to begin testing without the federal government’s approval.

“I don’t believe the City of Vancouver has regulatory authority over the operation of motor vehicles, that’s a provincial authority, and safety standards is a federal role,” Stone said, according to CBC News.

MetroNews Canada says Stone is not against driverless cars; he says, rather, he is “keenly interested” in the technology and its potential transportation benefits, but that there’s much more discussion that needs to take place within the government before that can or should happen.

Stone also acknowledged that other provinces across Canada-such as Ontario-are already moving forward with testing, and said that perhaps British Columbia should see how that turns out first.

“Our preference at the moment in British Columbia is to stand pat and just keep a close eye on these other jurisdictions,” he said, according to MetroNews Canada.  “There probably will come a day where driverless vehicles will be on roads across North America. For us, safety will be the most important consideration.”

MetroNews reports that, last week, Transport Minister Marc Garneau asked the Senate to “launch a study of the regulatory, policy and technical issues” associated with driverless vehicles so that Canada does not miss out on the potential benefits.

Vancouver City Councillor Geoff Meggs appeared to be disappointed in Stone’s statement, and said he wishes the city and province would be more proactive in exploring the valuable technology.

“It would be great to see the province step forward in a more comprehensive way because I think all the municipalities will be asking questions about it,” he said, according to CBC News.

 

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NHTSA: Google’s Artificial Intelligence System Counts as a ‘Driver’ for Self-Driving Cars

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Jennifer van der Kleut

You may remember the big upset a few months ago, when California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) proposed new legislation that would require all vehicles-even self-driving ones-to include a human driver, steering wheel and pedals.

Naturally, Google was quite unhappy about the proposed law, since its large fleet of self-driving test cars feature neither steering wheels nor pedals, and though employees are always in the cars to collect data, the eventual idea is that the cars would be fully autonomous.

Therefore, it was big news this month when the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) went in the other direction and said that Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) system could satisfy the requirement for a “driver.”

In other words, a car’s “driver” doesn’t have to be human.

“This is a critical first step for Google towards commercializing self-driving cars—a goal it wants to meet by 2020,” said Fortune Magazine.

At this point, though, the victory is still only in theory. As Fortune points out, the challenge now will be for Google to prove that its AI meets the same high standards as human controls.

“NHTSA’s interpretation doesn’t mean fully autonomous vehicles are legal for public use. The next question is whether, and how, Google could certify that the self-driving system meets a standard that currently applies to vehicles with a human driver, says NHTSA’s chief counsel Paul A. Hemmersbaugh in a letter,” Fortune writes. “This, in turn, leads to the next obvious hurdle: NHTSA must first test or find some way to verify such compliance.”

Karl Brauer, senior analyst for the Kelley Blue Book automotive research firm, told Reuters that though he believes there are still important legal questions that need to be answered before autonomous cars can go mainstream, NHTSA’s declaration could help that process.

“If NHTSA is prepared to name artificial intelligence as a viable alternative to human-controlled vehicles, it could substantially streamline the process of putting autonomous vehicles on the road,” Brauer said.

Industry experts and Google reps appear to be cautiously optimistic about NHTSA’s declaration.

“In general, NHTSA’s determination seems to be a victory for Google, letting it go forward with its intended self-driving vehicle design,” said the folks at CNET. “However, individual state rules will still apply as to how Google’s cars can be operated on public roads.”

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Google Wins Patent for Driverless Delivery Trucks

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Jennifer van der Kleut

In an exciting development, news outlets are reporting this week that Google has won a patent for self-driving delivery trucks.

According to publications like Quartz and The Verge, the patent application includes illustrations of trucks that would have a series of lockers that could be opened with an exclusive pin number by the person waiting for the delivery. Alternate options include allowing the person to swipe the credit card they used to make the purchase. The application implies the customer could choose a delivery window and the method of retrieving the package from the truck.

The Verge reports that the patent application indicates that the technology that would navigate the self-driving trucks functions similarly to that of its fleet of self-driving test cars.

The application implies that the person waiting for the delivery would be texted when the truck was close, or if the truck was running behind its specified time window.

Quartz writes that this patent application “dovetails nicely” with Google Alphabet’s current patent for autonomous delivery drones-an idea for which Amazon hopes to beat them to market, though there’s no telling when that might happen. Amazon has already released a handful of commercials promoting its future “Amazon Prime Air” service.

“…Whenever the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration figures out how to incorporate commercial drones into the national airspace, [Amazon] will be ready to set up its service,” Quartz writes.

There’s no telling when we might see driverless delivery trucks from Google. The Verge speculates that Google merely wants to patent all aspects of the idea before any competitors can do so.

“Most of the patent is taken up with covering every possible base. Google doesn’t pay these fancy lawyers for nothing.”

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Could China’s More Relaxed Regulations Push Baidu’s Driverless Car Past Google, Ford and Others?

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Jennifer van der Kleut

When one thinks about driverless car testing these days, names like Google, Ford, GM, Tesla Motors and potentially even Apple instantly come to mind.

But perhaps there’s one other company whose name is escaping you-one that some experts think could possibly even speed right past the others-Baidu.

Baidu is a Chinese company that many don’t realize is already out there, testing driverless cars in varying weather conditions  in different spots around China. And, thanks to China’s more relaxed regulations, some think they could very well leave industry leaders in the dust and get a driverless car to market first.

It certainly seems as though Baidu has the clout to succeed, as the company is valued at around $55 billion.

In addition, Motley Fool reports, “Baidu also has the big ambitions to go with its big size: The company hopes to have driverless cars in 10 Chinese cities within three years. By comparison, Google has been working on the technology since 2009 and only has driverless cars on the road in two cities — Austin, Texas and Mountain View, Calif. Ford has driven a driverless test vehicle at Mcity, a simulated city at the University of Michigan, while GM hopes to begin road testing one on its campus by the end of this year. None of these American companies have taken any steps toward testing in China.”

Motley Fool also points out that the Chinese seem eager to adopt the technology, where most surveys still indicate at least half of Americans remain skeptical of it.

“Baidu is focusing on China, where the market for autonomous vehicles could be nearly as large as North America’s by 2035, according to data from IHS Automotive. Indeed, according to a recent University of Michigan survey, 96 percent of Chinese drivers would be interested in purchasing an autonomous vehicle, compared to only 66 percent in the U.S.”

Plus, regulations in America complicate a move toward autonomous transportation-there is currently no consistent national policy, and a small handful of states have conflicting regulations, while others have no law on the books at all.

By contrast, in China, Motley Fool points out that there is a one-party, “top-down” regulatory system, where local laws are not allowed to contradict national laws.

To its benefit, Baidu has reportedly made several presentations to China’s president on the merits of autonomous and connected vehicle technology.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly considers autonomous vehicles and digital technology key areas of opportunity for Chinese manufacturers,” Motley Fool reports.

Though historically, China has been a century behind other nations in automotive technology, Baidu’s co-founder and CEO says he is confident Baidu has the technical expertise to reach its autonomous transportation goals.

“Robin Li, Baidu’s co-founder and chief executive officer, has invested heavily into a subfield of artificial intelligence known as deep learning, which aims to improve search results and computing tasks by training computers to work more like the human brain,” Bloomberg Business reports. “[Wang Jing, Baidu’s senior vice-president in charge of its autonomous drive division,] thinks the company can leverage its expertise in artificial intelligence, data mapping and Internet connectivity to excel in autonomous driving technology.”

“Google enjoys a huge lead in autonomy today. But don’t underestimate the Chinese will to compete,” Michael Dunne, president of Dunne Automotive Ltd. in Hong Kong, said to Bloomberg.

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Google Expands to Kirkland and Possibly Contra Costa?

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Burney Simpson

Google will begin testing its driverless cars in Kirkland, Wash., joining Mountain View, Calif., and Austin, Texas, as public laboratories for the revolutionary vehicle.

Kirkland is about 12 miles east of Seattle and home to a large Google campus, according to the Associated Press. Google said testing in hilly Kirkland will help its cars better learn how to navigate various elevations.

Meanwhile, farther south on the Pacific Coast, another city could become a test ground for the vehicles.

The California State Assembly may soon hear a bill that appears to have been written specifically to entice the Mountain View-based division of Alphabet.

The proposal, AB-1592, would allow for the testing of autonomous vehicles without a steering wheel, a brake pedal, an accelerator pedal, or a driver in the vehicle, as long as the vehicle goes less than 35 MPH, and the test is conducted at the GoMentum Station or a business park operated by the Contra Costa (California) Transportation Authority.

That pretty well describes the Google car, though it can go over 35, a little. In addition, Contra Costa is a short jaunt from Mountain View.

The measure’s sponsor is Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, a Democrat whose district includes Contra Costa County. The proposal was sent to the Transportation Committee but a hearing hasn’t been scheduled.

NO OFFICIAL POSITION

For its part, Google doesn’t “have a view on (the proposal) at all,” said spokesperson Johnny Luu. “We are aware of it but have no official position on it.”

GoMentum is a 5,000 acre facility with 20-some miles of roads that calls itself “the largest secure test facility in the world.” Formerly a Naval weapons testing area, it opened for vehicle testing in 2014 and signed up Honda and Mercedes as clients.

This summer GoMentum will be part of a test of an Easy Mile EZ10 driverless electric shuttle at the nearby Bishop Park business park (See “Driverless Shuttle Gives Momentum to GoMentum Station”).

GoMentum got a lot of mileage out of a report last August from The Guardian that Apple might start testing a driverless car at the facility. Since then, however, no news.

GoMentum could soon become very attractive for Google as it expands.

According to a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission Google has already chosen several other places to test (See “Google Reportedly Expanding Self-Driving Car Testing to 4 More Cities”).

Adding Google would be a coup for GoMentum as it competes with Michigan for driverless testing clients.

Michigan last month announced it would create a state-of-the-art autonomous vehicle testing facility in Willow Run, near the 32-acre Mcity, a test bed that opened last July and already is bursting at the seams with business, according to leaders there. (See “Michigan launches 330-Acre Autonomous Vehicle Test Site”).

WEpod driverless shuttle

‘WEpod’ Autonomous Shuttle Takes 6 Passengers For Successful Ride on Dutch Public Roads

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Jennifer van der Kleut

An autonomous shuttle took the first-ever drive on public roads in the Netherlands, taking six passengers along for the ride.

WEpod driverless shuttle with passengers

Bloomberg Business reports that autonomous “WEpod” shuttles are now serving the college town of Wageningen, Netherlands.

WEpod’s first test on a public road took place last week, marking the first such test in Europe, IEEE Spectrum reports.

The shuttles, inspired by the work of French company EasyMile, which designed the successful EZ-10 shuttles, were developed by three Dutch companies-navigation provider Mapscape, Robot Care Systems and the Technical University of Delft.

In the beginning, Bloomberg says the six-passenger shuttles will travel very slowly-around 25 km per hour-and will not be operated at night or during inclement weather. But if testing goes well, the autonomous shuttles could replace human-driven buses on less popular, less profitable routes.

IEEE Spectrum explains that the WEpod vehicles have onboard computers to control all the braking and steering commands, and also come equipped with cameras, radar sensors, and laser sensors to detect their surroundings. Interestingly, though, a human operator monitors the autonomous vehicle’s progress remotely from a control room and can also intervene remotely if necessary.

Interestingly, WEpods are specifically designed to travel amongst other vehicles, including human-driven ones, instead of requiring their own dedicated lanes.

Many in the industry hope that these successful runs will help give a necessary push to the European Union (EU) to get moving with self-driving vehicle guidelines and regulations.

With the Netherlands currently holding the EU presidency, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure Melanie Schultz van Haegensaid said she will try to get counterparts in April to reach an agreement “on what we’ll adjust, research and need to do in the coming period,” Bloomberg reports.

Current concerns of European leaders include issues of liability, and how to classify different types of autonomous transportation, Bloomberg reports.

“The WEpod is outside all existing categories,” Schultz van Haegensaid told Bloomberg. “It’s not a car, it’s not a bus, it’s not a motorized vehicle as the speed is limited — it’s an object on wheels at most.”

Tesla Model S

Tesla Recruits Creator of iPhone’s Processor to Work on Self-Driving Cars, AutoPilot

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Tesla Motors has recruited former Apple engineer Jim Keller to work on its AutoPilot and self-driving car projects.

“Jim Keller is joining Tesla as Vice President of Autopilot Hardware Engineering,” Tesla confirmed to ZDNet. “Jim will bring together the best internal and external hardware technologies to develop the safest, most advanced autopilot systems in the world.”

Keller is famously known as the creator of the A4 and A5 processors that powered most of Apple’s mobile devices, including the iPhone, from 2010 to 2012, ZDNet reports, speculating that Keller will “presumably take a big role at Tesla, under Elon Musk, to develop chips that power AutoPilot.”

AutoPilot is a feature of Tesla’s Model S, which debuted in late 2015. So far, AutoPilot has been plagued with widely-reported problems.

As The Verge reports, within days of the feature’s rollout, users were posting frightening videos on the Internet of how their car performed with the AutoPilot mode engaged. One video showed the car suddenly jerking to the right, almost crashing the car into a bush, as it exited the freeway.

Other videos showed drivers simply making bad decisions including climbing into the backseat and letting the car drive itself, even though Tesla urged users to keep their hands on the wheel at all times, as AutoPilot is still in its “beta” phase.

Perhaps with Keller aboard, Tesla will continue to improve upon AutoPilot, as well as make progress toward fully autonomous cars.

As for its traditional models, however, Tesla continues to encounter obstacles. On Tuesday, several news outlets reported that its efforts to begin selling its cars in Michigan were met with a fight, as Governor Rick Snyder made a move toward changing its laws by a single word, presumably to keep Tesla out.

CNN Money reports Michigan changed its law to specify the word “dealer”-meaning that only dealers can sell cars in the state.

Many say that change was explicitly directed at keeping Tesla out, because Tesla does not sell its cars through dealers, but rather only through Tesla retail stores, cutting out the middle-man and selling cars directly to consumers.

CNN estimates around 400 Michigan residents already own and drive Teslas, which they had to either drive out of state to buy, or had to order online, “sight unseen.”

 

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Google Reportedly Expanding Self-Driving Car Testing to 4 More Cities

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Jennifer van der Kleut

News outlets like Fortune and IEEE Spectrum are reporting this week that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document suggests Google is planning to expand its famous self-driving car testing program to four more U.S. cities.

Fortune said the document was a renewal request from Google to the FCC for testing of radio transmitters in the 76GHz range, which is most likely for the radar systems on its driverless test cars.

The request reportedly asks to renew the current licenses for testing in Mountain View, California and Austin, Texas-the two cities in which Google currently tests its cars-as well as four additional cities. Unfortunately, the locations of the cities were redacted from the request, so there’s no way to know at this time where it plans to expand to.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently drafted a law that requires driverless test cars to feature both pedals and a steering wheel, and have a “driver” in the car that is capable of taking control of the car back in a dangerous situation. Google and others publicly lamented the law as hindering progress, particularly since Google’s test cars have no pedals or steering wheels.

Fortune speculates that the expansion to four more cities reflects the fact that Google needs to test its cars in varying environments and weather conditions, especially if its still plans to introduce a mass-market driverless car to consumers by 2020 as it initially declared.