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Blind Don’t Have a Seat at Driverless Planning Table – Advocate

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Burney Simpson

The blind and others with disabilities are being shut out as self-driving vehicle developers like Google design the car interior and interface with users, the president of the  National Federation of the Blind said this week.

Instead, it appears as if the developers intend to unveil the completed product and just move on, said Mark Riccobono at the Federation’s Baltimore headquarters.

“Google says they are still developing the inside of its car. But they want to be done by 2020. That’s soon,” said Riccobono. “My fear is we come to that end and they say ‘What do you think?’ We think we should provide input now.”

The blind should be part of a group “that forges what the interface looks like. These vehicles present an opportunity for everybody, not a select few,” Riccobono said.

There were more than 7.3 million U.S. adults with visual disabilities in 2013, according to the Federation.

Google has said its self-driving cars could provide mobility to millions of people with disabilities who now rely on public transit or friends and relatives to get them around.

One of the first non-Googlites to ‘drive’ the test Koala car was Steve Mahan, a blind man from Morgan Hill, Calif. A Google video of Mahan’s ride around town in 2012 has had nearly 7.6 million views on YouTube.

Riccobono spoke Wednesday to Maryland’s Autonomous and Connected Vehicle Working Group as it plans policy recommendations for the operation of the vehicles in the state. The Federation hosted the group.

BLIND DRIVER CHALLENGE

Riccobono has some driving experience even though he was declared legally blind when he was five.

BlindGloves1In 2011, he completed the Blind Driver Challenge at the Daytona International Speedway (click for video) in Florida driving a Ford Escape. He drove the 3.6 mile course solo, turning the SUV, switching lanes, avoiding obstacles placed in the road, and passing another vehicle.

The Escape was equipped with sensors and other self-driving technology. Riccobono used a tactile signaling system that the Federation designed with the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. 

Riccobono wore gloves that sent vibrating signals to his right or left hand to indicate steering direction and the degree of a turn. His seat cushion vibrated at different levels to suggest accelerating or braking.

Riccobono said he never considered that the blind could drive until he learned about the autonomous technology being developed out of DARPA challenges a decade ago. The Federation began researching the idea and eventually partnered with VaTech.

The National Federation of the Blind is a 76-year-old not-for-profit with chapters in 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. It operates training and service programs, provides scholarships, advocates on Capitol Hill and at the state level, and offers an audio news service. The Federation claims about 50,000 active members, according to Wikipedia.

Maryland’s autonomous vehicle working group includes representatives from the Maryland Department of Transportation and its divisions, state police, various agencies sure to be impacted by self-driving vehicles, trade organizations from the auto OEMs and trucking groups, and others.

It plans to present its recommendations to the state’s Secretary of Transportation Pete Rahn before the next session of the Maryland legislature in January, 2017.

MDOT formed the Working Group when the state legislature twice shot down proposals to create and fund its own working group.

Photo from Google video of blind driver test. Photo of tactile equipment at Blind Driver Challenge by National Federation of the Blind Kentucky chapter.

 

‘Olli’ the Self-Driving Bus Debuts in Maryland

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Jennifer van der Kleut

The company Local Motors says autonomous driving may not be as far in the future as many are saying. In fact, their self-driving shuttle “Olli” is ready to hit the roads safely now-all that’s needed is the legal permission to do so.

Local Motors introduced Olli last week on Thursday, June 16 to much fanfare. It is now ready to begin testing at the expansive, popular shopping area called National Harbor in Maryland, just outside Washington D.C.

Olli can seat 12 people, and can be summoned with an app similar to Uber or Lyft, explains Phys.org.

One of the most amazing facts about Olli? It can be “printed” via a 3-D printer in a factory in a matter of a few hours.

“We hope to be able to print this vehicle in about 10 hours and assemble it in another hour,” said Local Motors co-founder and chief executive, John Rogers. He told Phys.org he envisions hundreds of “micro-factories” producing the vehicles around the world, for markets that are ready for them.

Rogers said the shuttles are ready for deployment as soon as laws and regulations will allow them.

Over the next few months, Olli will begin public testing at National Harbor, and is expected to hit other areas like Las Vegas and Miami, as well as international spots like Berlin, Copenhagen and Canberra, Australia in the future.

Olli uses the interface Watson by IBM, which allows users to have “conversations” with Olli, such as to name their destination.

“A vehicle that understands human language, where you can walk in and say, ‘I’d like to get to work’ — that lets you as a passenger relax and enjoy your journey,” Rogers explained.

The vehicle relies on more than 30 sensors and streams of data from IBM’s cloud, Phys.org reports.

“With Watson, passengers can ask about how the vehicle works, where they are going, and why Olli is making specific driving decisions,” Phys.org says. “And it can answer the dreaded driver question, ‘Are we there yet?'”

It also can offer recommendations for popular restaurants or historical sites based on the personal preferences of the passenger.

Rogers said Las Vegas has already purchased two shuttles, and they are in negotiations with Miami-Dade for testing as well. All in all, they have had or are currently in discussions with 50 locations across the globe.

According to CNBC, a Local Motors spokespersons says it is quite possible that several hundred Ollis could be on public roads in different locations by the end of this year.

States on Front Lines on Driverless Policy: Seminar

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Burney Simpson

State legislators will be among the most influential writers of driverless vehicle policy and an upcoming seminar will argue it is essential they are involved as the technology evolves nationwide.

The one-day “Automated Vehicle Policy and Regulation: A State Perspective Workshop” will be held on Wednesday, May 18, at the University of Maryland.

“Most transportation legislation is created at the state and local level. State legislators are on the front lines of the changes we will see with this technology,” said Stanley Young, the conference organizer and advanced transportation and urban scientist with the National Research Energy Laboratory (NREL).

“We need to get state and local officials engaged and aware of the issues as these massive changes occur in society,” said Young.

He notes that driverless transportation has the potential to reduce traffic fatalities and accidents, improve mobility for seniors and people with disabilities, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as vehicle idling and wasted trips

The seminar runs from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Howard Frank Auditorium at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, on the school’s College Park campus, near Washington, D.C.

Most states have yet to address autonomous and connected vehicle technology even though it could impact transportation for years to come. This is despite huge media attention on the topic, and a few states that are actively testing the technology.

Transportation experts will have to add autonomous vehicles to their discussion topics which traditionally have focused on highways and transit, said Young.

The workshop brings together a number of nationally-known experts in the driverless field.

Bryant Walker Smith, developer of the Center for Internet and Society website that tracks state legislative activity on driverless technology, will be on the opening panel framing the issues.

Smith will be joined by Robert Peterson, co-author of A Look at the Legal Framework for Driverless Vehicles (See “Send Lawyers, Guns and Driverless Vehicles”), and Frank Douma, who will discuss Minnesota’s initiative on mobility and people with disabilities.

Another panel features state legislators active in autonomous vehicles. State Sen. Mark Green of Tennessee (See “Tennessee Senate Scheduled to Vote on Proposed Driverless Law SB 1561 This Week”), and Del. Glenn Davis of Virginia will discuss their recently enacted legislation designed to build driverless-oriented business and encourage research on the technology (See “Careful Steps on Driverless Laws for Tennessee, Virginia”).

There will also be discussion on the opportunities for merging energy and transportation issues. The seminar will conclude with remarks from Alain Kornhauser, director of Princeton University’s Transportation Research Program.

The workshop is sponsored by the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT) at the University of Maryland, the I-95 Corridor Coalition, and NREL, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Photo: FBI Press Conference by Jay Baker, 2014

Maryland Moving on Autonomous Vehicles

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Burney Simpson

Maryland recently launched the Autonomous Vehicle Working Group to research the impact of driverless technology on safety, insurance, licensing, privacy, cybersecurity, and other major issues.

The group includes about 20 leaders  from its state agencies, along with reps from auto and trucking trade groups.

The second meeting of the working group ended last week with a sense that autonomous technology could impact virtually all ground transportation in the state. Indeed, the group decided to rename itself the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Working Group to better reflect the growth of connected technology.

During the meeting there were presentations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) of the Transportation Research Bureau (TRB).

Nat Beuse, NHTSA’s associate administrator for vehicle safety research, discussed the U.S. Department of Transportation’s call for $4 billion in driverless research dollars, its plans to release this year a model state policy on autonomous vehicles, and the Smart Cities competition.

TALKING CYBERSECURITY

Beuse noted that NHTSA is talking cybersecurity with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Md.

Ray Derr, NCHRP project manager, said his organization receives $40 million in pooled funds annually from the states. It is in the midst of several research projects related to driverless technology, including its impact on society, regulations/policies, freight, and transit.

Derr said that trucking freight firms may be early driverless technology adopters as they consider platooning of trucks.

Platooning, also known as tethering, refers to the practice of two or more trucks connected on the highway with Wi-Fi communications technology. The trucks travel closely in tandem, improving aerodynamics and lowering fuel costs by 5 to 10 percent. (See “Truck Slow Down Could Speed Truck Platooning”).

MOVING RAPIDLY

Tethering makes sense for “firms that make multiple runs, where a truck visits the same place several times on the same day,” said Louis Campion, president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association.

Trucks operated by Wal-Mart and other large retailers make these kinds of trips between their stores and distribution centers, Campion said. “This is moving fairly rapidly,” said Campion.

If platooning catches on, trucking firms will need more talented and trained technicians, he said.

Beuse and Derr also made several next-step recommendations.

In the near term, start looking at current laws that will be impacted by the technology, said Beuse.

Keep your eye on aftermarket technology and ‘shade tree mechanics’ that want to install driverless equipment in their vehicles, said Beuse. This is all so new its unknown how the technology will perform.

AVS 2016

Derr suggested working group members attend the Automated Vehicles Symposium 2016 to be held July 19-21 in San Francisco. The event, sponsored by the TRB and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, will include seminars on issues the working group is considering, said Derr.

In the meantime, check out what such leaders as California and Michigan are doing in the driverless arena, said Derr.

Long term, be prepared for public push back when there are accidents or the technology doesn’t perform as promised by some of its advocates, said Beuse.

In addition, there will be discussion on privacy issues related to the data collected by the state from connected technology.

The Maryland working group is chaired by Christine Nizer of the state’s Motor Vehicle Administration.

Members include reps from Maryland’s departments of disabilities, information technology, aging, legislative services, and others. The Maryland Insurance Administration, the state police, the State Highway Administration, and the Transportation Authority (tolls), are also involved.

There are also reps from AAA–Mid Atlantic, the truck group, and an auto manufacturer’s trade group.

The working group met as Maryland’s legislature failed to pass a proposal that would fund its own study group (See “Autonomous Vehicle-Testing Dollars Entice States”).

Autonomous Vehicle-Testing Dollars Entice States

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Burney Simpson

States are lining up for their share of driverless vehicle research dollars but each has its own approach to getting at the sizzling bacon of business bucks.

In Tennessee, State Sen. Mark Green has introduced legislation that will allow testing of Level 4 autonomous vehicles in the state. Level 4 vehicles can operate without any human intervention.

The Clarksville Republican believes testing will lead auto OEMs to consider manufacturing the vehicles in the state. Green emphasized the economic benefits of the technology in an interview with The Leaf-Chronicle.

“Because these companies that are going to manufacture them, and create all those jobs, are going to go where they can test their vehicles,” said Green.

California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation making it legal to test autonomous vehicles. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe last year proclaimed the state would allow the testing.

Green’s bill, SB 1561, is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday, February 1. A similar bill, HB 1564, has been introduced in the Tennessee House by Rep. Mike Carter, an Ooltewah Republican.

Green’s proposal would require a human operator for any autonomous vehicle being tested, and impose a use tax of one cent per mile for an autonomous vehicle with two axles, and 2.6 cents a mile for those with more than two axles.

MASSACHUSETTS MEETS

In Massachusetts, several agencies and large cities are working to make self-driving vehicles legal and ensure the state becomes a research center on the technology.

Toyota has already invested $50 million in a research facility it will operate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Meanwhile, Boston is seeking $50 million from the US DOT to integrate self-driving vehicles in its borders, and the city of Somerville has partnered with Audi to test self-parking cars.

On February 9 the state’s Department of Transportation and the Office of Housing and Economic Development are scheduled to meet with Google, Tesla, MIT, Toyota, Audi, and Uber, to discuss opportunities for self-driving vehicles, according to the Boston Herald.

MARYLAND MEANDERS

Maryland appears to be less ambitious. It is scheduled to consider matching bills in its state House and Senate that call for $50,000 annually to fund a task force that will study the issue of self-driving vehicles.

The task force would work this year and next, and report its findings by 2018, for a total cost of $100,000.

In the House, Del. Pamela Beidle introduced HB 8, and Sen. Andrew Serafini introduced SB 126. Beidle’s proposal was scheduled to be heard today, and the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee is to consider SB 126 next Tuesday.

The problem here is that the same two legislators proposed similar bills last year, but called for $100,000 per year in funding. Beidle’s proposal sailed through the House but the Senate shot down Serafini’s measure.

Photo of Bacon by Martin Cathrae, 2008.

Maryland a Step Closer to Driverless Roads

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Burney Simpson

Maryland could become the fifth state to allow the use or testing of self-driving vehicles though there’s still probably a long road ahead before it changes any laws.

The Maryland House of Delegates today passed a proposal that would fund a two-year task force that will determine best practices for self-driving vehicles after reviewing how other states are addressing the topic and calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation for guidance.

The legislation calls for spending as much as $200,000 to hire a driverless vehicle expert to advise the task force which must report its findings by the end of 2016.

The proposal also calls for a review of current state law to consider possible changes needed to accommodate driverless vehicles. The task force must also make recommendations on driver training and education, and on liability issues for crashes involving driverless vehicles.

FOUR STATES & DC

If Maryland decides to allow the use or testing of self-driving vehicles, it will join Nevada, California, Florida, Michigan, and the District of Columbia. Nevada authorized the use of self-driving vehicles in 2011, and issued a license to Google in 2013.

The chief sponsor of the Maryland proposal is Del. Pamela Beidle, a Democrat from Anne Arundel County, who has said that support for driverless transportation is growing rapidly.

The House passed her proposal 130 to seven, and requests to be on the task force have come from the State House, the Attorney General’s office, the state highway department and DOT, several police organizations, AAA, insurers, and OEM associations, according to press reports.

NEXT STEPS

The next step in the legislative process is for the Maryland state senate to pass similar legislation to that of the House bill, and send it to the governor for his signature. A sister bill – SB0778 – is scheduled to be heard March 24 by the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

It has the bi-partisan sponsorship of Sen. Andrew Serafini, a Republican from Washington County, and Sen. Bill Ferguson, a Democrat from Baltimore City.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reported that 11 states, including Maryland, considered self-driving vehicle legislation in 2013, but none of those proposals were successful.

The NCSL found that the major issues that states consider in these proposals have been liability, insurance, cyber-security, and the possible application of distracted driver laws to the person charged with responsibility for the vehicle.