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News Roundup: Volkswagen Shows Off Sedric the Level-5 Autonomous Car in China, Major Players Weigh In on California’s Proposed Driverless Testing Policies, and More

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A look at some of the biggest news stories to come out of the driverless and connected-car world this past week:

Major players weigh in on California’s proposed self-driving testing policies

Representatives from major players in the autonomous drive game, such as Apple, Uber, Tesla Motors and Ford, have been sending comments to California officials on what changes they would like to see made in the Golden State’s proposed policies for testing self-driving vehicles. In particular, Apple wants to change the way companies report “disengagements,” which we assume refers to accidents or collisions. Tesla wrote that they disapprove of the idea of barring testing of vehicles that weigh more than 10,000 pounds. Uber said it should be allowed for people to pay to ride in an autonomous vehicle with a driver behind the wheel in order to provide the company with honest feedback. Tesla also warned that restrictive policies would encourage developers to leave the state. Read more from Business Insider.

 

What to do with the ‘ocean of data’ connected and driverless cars will create each day?

Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said recently that as more and more cars are outfitted with sensors, cameras and LiDAR, the more data they will begin to generate. In fact, a single autonomous car will be capable of generating as much as 100 gigabytes of data per second. “Assuming the entire U.S. fleet of vehicles - 260 million vehicles - has a similar data generation, it would create an ocean of data. To put it in context, one hour’s worth of raw data across the entire U.S. fleet would be around 5,800 exabytes in size,” Johnson said. One exabyte is equivalent to one million terrabytes. That presents a wealth of problems when it comes to the storage, management and analysis of that much data. Many big companies like Tesla, Delphi and Intel have ideas about how to tackle this problem. One idea is “edge analytics,” where information is analyzed close to the sensor itself rather than being sent elsewhere through the cloud. Read more from CNBC.

 

Volkswagen wows with ‘Sedric’ Level 5 autonomous concept car in Shanghai

We first saw “Sedric” the Level-5 autonomous car in March, when Volkswagen showed off renderings of the concept car. Now, Volkswagen is showing off the real thing. The company recently took Sedric to China to show it off at the Auto Shanghai 2017 show. The car is capable of full Level-5 self-driving, and in fact executives said all a passenger has to do it climb in, press a single button to start the car, and then control it throughout the rest of the trip via voice commands. The car has no brakes, controls or pedals. In fact, the car features no “cockpit” at all. See more from Automotive Tires and Parts.

Photo: Interior of Volkswagen’s ‘Sedric’ car / Credit: Volkswagen

 

News Roundup: California DMV’s New Proposed Driverless Car Regulations, How Alexa and Cortana May Soon Take Over Your Car, and More

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Jennifer van der Kleut

A roundup of some of the biggest headlines to come out of the driverless and connected-car industries over the past week:

Many applaud California DMV’s newly proposed regulations for testing driverless cars

This past Friday, March 10, the California Department of Motor Vehicles released new proposed regulations for the testing of driverless cars in public, which look remarkably like laws recently passed in Michigan. Many are applauding all the changes made since releasing a significantly stricter version back in September. DMV reps say they listened closely to a wealth of feedback from stakeholders after the September draft and implemented many of them. In particular, the new regulations reverse their previous requirements that driverless test cars must have a human driver in the car while testing in public, and that prototype vehicles must include a steering wheel and pedals (which reportedly made Google/Waymo executives very happy). However, if the vehicle does not include those conventional features, the manufacturer must show the DMV they have approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A mandatory 45-day comment period is currently in effect, ending April 24, after which a public hearing will take place. DMV representatives said they hope the regulations will officially go into effect by the end of the year. Read more from Bloomberg Technology.

 

Automakers turn to personal assistance tech like Cortana, Alexa to develop better connected-car voice commands

While systems like Ford’s Sync are already appearing in cars on the market today, many industry analysts say the technology still contains many flaws, with limited available commands and continuous voice recognition difficulties. As connected-car technology becomes more and more in demand, automakers like Ford, Volkswagen and Nissan are turning to personal assistant apps like Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana to improve in-car voice command systems. VW announced they are trying to combine Alexa with their Car-Net system and apps so that, while driving, you can ask Alexa to do things like add items to your ongoing shopping list that is synced between your car and your personal device. Reps say you’ll even be able to ask Alexa through your Amazon Echo at home to tell you how much gas your car has in it. Ford said it is integrating Alexa into its current Sync system, with some paired features debuting this summer. Nissan said they are partnering with Microsoft, but have not announced a launch date yet. Read more from CAR magazine.

 

Whoa! Intel buys Mobileye for more than $15 billion

In the biggest acquisition of an Israeli tech company to date, Intel announced this week that is acquiring Mobileye for an astounding $15.3 billion, after partnering with them since late last year. Mobileye is known for its computer vision systems for autonomous cars, including sensor fusion, mapping and front- and rear-facing camera technology. They are also working on crowdsourcing data for high-definition maps, as well as getting involved in policies and regulations surrounding autonomous driving. Intel has been getting involved with driverless technology as of late, most recently partnering with Mobileye and BMW and pledging $250 million to invest in the technology, particularly how much data autonomous cars can generate. The sale of Mobileye to Intel is expected to take about nine months to close. Read more from TechCrunch.

News Roundup: California DMV Proposes More New Mandates for Driverless Vehicles, Tesla Plans Level 5 Autonomy By Next Year, and More

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Jennifer van der Kleut

A roundup of interesting headlines to come out of the driverless and connected-vehicle industry this week:

Companies are once again concerned that California DMV rules will delay autonomous transportation progress

It seems California still can’t strike an effective balance when it comes to laws governing the manufacture and testing of autonomous vehicles. Previously, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said it was relieved and happy when the federal government released official policies and guidelines for states regarding self-driving vehicles, because the state felt it did not have the expertise or technical knowledge to design its own rules. Yet, despite the recent release of the federal government’s new policies, the California DMV this week held a public workshop about state rules, and industry folks say they were blind-sided by even more new state mandates, which make them concerned that once again, progress in the state will be hampered. The Los Angeles Times reports that under new rules, manufacturers would also have to obtain an ordinance or resolution from local authorities “that specify the roadways, speeds and other conditions that their vehicles are designed to operate in to ensure that communities have input on where testing occurs.” Perhaps even more surprisingly, E&T Magazine reports that companies would have to submit a full year’s worth of driverless data before being allowed to apply for a testing permit. Read more from the LA Times and E&T Magazine.

 

Tesla News: By end of next year, all cars will be fully autonomous-but we will only take responsibility for accidents in certain cases

A lot of news came out of the Tesla camp this week. First, on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk announced that all new Tesla models will be capable of complete autonomy-that, is Level 5. All current Tesla owners will also be able to update their car’s software to turn their semi-autonomous cars into Level 5 vehicles, which Musk said will require no interaction from the “driver” at all. Musk said the company hopes the Level 5 updates will be ready by the end of 2017, barely one year from now. In other news, though, Musk blasted the media for making such a big deal over the few recent Autopilot crashes that have taken place, one of which killed the driver of the vehicle. He said the few accidents should not overshadow the numerous miles Teslas have driven safely while in Autopilot. Based on that, Musk said, Tesla as a company will only be taking responsibility for crashes caused by “design flaws.” That declaration comes amid a still-brewing argument within the auto industry over where liability for crashes in semi-autonomous or fully autonomous vehicles should fall. Read more about Tesla’s announcements from the Business Journal and WIRED magazine.

 

Moscow still sees self-driving buses as 5-10 years away

Russia broached the subject of driverless transportation this week, suggesting that the nation is still wary of the concept. Representatives from the Department of Transport said they still see self-driving transit buses as being at least five to 10 years away, “after they have been recognized as safe and beneficial in other countries.” In particular, officials pointed to Singapore as a country they are following with interest. Singapore is in the process of rolling out connected-vehicle bus control systems, and just recently starting testing self-driving robot taxis in a small downtown area. Moscow isn’t ruling out the concept of driverless transportation completely, though-officials said research and development is already underway involving driverless car sharing and artificial intelligence systems for vehicles, as well as semi-autonomous features such as emergency braking and driver fatigue monitoring. Read more from Mos.ru, the Moscow City news website.

Google Self-Driving Car at Fault in Crash With Bus

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Google’s self-driving test cars in California have been in 17 accidents over the past six years, but so far, Google believes all of them have helped prove the point behind their invention-that autonomous cars can drive better than humans. How? Because so far, all of the accidents have been the fault of the other car’s human driver.

Unfortunately, that run appears to be over. Countless news outlets including CNBC and WIRED are reporting that on Feb. 14, a Google self-driving car was involved in a collision with a bus, and this time, it appears Google is accepting responsibility for the crash.

According to an accident report filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the Google car was traveling down El Camino Real in Mountain View, the city where its main headquarters is located.

As the car wished to turn right onto Castro Street ahead, the car moved into the far right lane. There, it met an obstacle-sand bags piled around a storm drain in the right-most portion of the lane. The car reportedly stopped due to the presence of the obstacle. Other vehicles behind it began passing around the Google car in the left-most part of the lane.

The report indicates the Google car’s maneuver to merge back into traffic led to the collision.

“After a few cars had passed, the Google AV began to proceed back into the center of the lane to pass the sand bags. A public transit bus was approaching from behind. The Google AV test driver saw the bus approaching in the left side mirror but believed the bus would stop or slow to allow the Google AV to continue. Approximately three seconds later, as the Google AV was reentering the center of the lane, it made contact with the side of the bus.”

The report seems to indicate the Google employee in the driver’s seat considered intervening, but misjudged what action the bus’ driver would take.

The Google car was reportedly traveling “less than 2 miles per hour” and the bus was traveling at 15 miles per hour. For that reason, Google reps say they believe the bus driver assumed the Google car would “stay put,” and therefore kept going.

“Our test driver, who had been watching the bus in the mirror, also expected the bus to slow or stop. And we can imagine the bus driver assumed we were going to stay put. Unfortunately, all these assumptions led us to the same spot in the lane at the same time. This type of misunderstanding happens between human drivers on the road every day,” The Verge quotes from Google’s monthly report, released Feb. 29, which addresses the accident.

Although there does not appear to be any official word yet on fault in the accident-both the Google car and the transit bus sustained some damage-Google appears to be accepting responsibility.

“This is a classic example of the negotiation that’s a normal part of driving – we’re all trying to predict each other’s movements. In this case, we clearly bear some responsibility, because if our car hadn’t moved there wouldn’t have been a collision,” Google said in its report.

The folks at The Verge seem to view the accident as an example of the difficulties merging autonomous cars with human-driven cars on the same roads.

“…In fairness, unless every single car on the road is autonomous, Google is right: there is some degree of negotiation involved, and false assumptions in those negotiations are where the crashes can happen. We’re many, many years away from a road free of human drivers, and until then, self-driving cars are occasionally going to hit things.”

Google also said in its monthly report that it has already gone over the accident several times in its simulators, and has already made adjustments to it software to deal with the issue in the future.

 

Calif. Proposes Self-Driving Car Laws That Would Require a Driver Behind the (Non-Existent?) Wheel

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Earlier this week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (CA DMV) announced proposed laws to regulate self-driving cars-and those laws have many in the industry smacking their heads in frustration.

The part of the proposed regulations that is frustrating companies trying to get their autonomous car divisions off their feet-Google, Ford, Tesla, Delphi and others-is the sentence that requires that a licensed driver “to be present inside the vehicle and be capable of taking control in the event of a technology failure or other emergency.”

High-profile executives such as Google’s Chris Urmson, head of its self-driving car division, say California just effectively set back the progress of technology at least five years, CNBC reports.

“This maintains the same old status quo and falls short on allowing this technology to reach its full potential, while excluding those who need to get around but cannot drive,” Urmson wrote in an online blog post Thursday.

It’s not difficult to see how this would upset Google, as the company’s famous pod-shaped test cars are known for not having a steering wheel or pedals.

Others in the industry will surely lament the word “licensed” in the proposed law. Countless industry analysts, commentators and bloggers have publicly declared again and again that once self-driving cars are mainstream, foreign tourists, underage children, the disabled and the elderly will be able to enjoy increased mobility without having to maintain or own a driver’s license.

CNBC reports that two other requirements in the proposed regulations include third-party testing of vehicles and that manufacturers must alert car operators to a cyber attack.

CNBC reports that two public forums on the proposed laws will take place sometime next year.