A Venn Diagram of the Murky Driverless Taxi Ecosystem

August 22, 2016 at 6:56 pm

Not a day passes without us seeing some major headline about global automakers and shared mobility providers working to revolutionize the mobility landscape. Last week Uber dominated the headlines when the company announced that its autonomous cars (souped up Volvo XC90 SUVs) will be available for its ride-hailing customers in Pittsburgh. And in this process, the company announced that it bought the truck automation company Otto, founded by a couple of former Google Car research engineers.  This was followed by Ford’s major announcement that it intends to deliver high-volume, fully autonomous vehicles for ride sharing in 2021. In addition, the company announced that it is investing in or collaborating with four startups on autonomous vehicle development and doubling its Silicon Valley team.

This torrid pace of acquisitions, expansions, and investments has created a confusing picture for the consumers about who owns what and who is doing what across the domain. I found this Business Insider graph (seen below), part of a big research report (cost $495) very useful in understanding the ecosystem that covers the auto OEMs, suppliers, startups, shared-mobility service providers, etc.  Though it doesn’t capture all the entities, particularly the start-ups, engaged in automated vehicle research/development, it makes a decent attempt to organize them into “bins.”

With heavy influx of venture capital money competing alongside deep pocketed organizations like Ford, GM, Tesla, Google, Uber etc, the race to build the unmanned taxis is now reaching breakneck pace. The traditional OEMs are on a buying spree or making deals with innovative start-ups, in and outside the Silicon Valley.   It is safe to say that pretty much all the automotive heavyweights in Detroit and Silicon Valley are vying for a slice of the lucrative yet untapped “autonomous shared-mobility” space. What I’d like to see someone take a stab at capturing/mapping all those entities involved (incl. those in finance, data warehousing, etc) and present that in an infographic. All I can comfortably say today is buckle up for the ride! It will be a while before this ecosystem stabilizes and be assured that there will be a steady stream of headline grabbing news is coming your way.

Job Alert: Lead Research General Engineer – Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – McLean, Virginia

June 29, 2015 at 6:10 pm

This position is for the Team Leader of the Transportation Enabling Technologies Team in the Office of Operations Research and Development (R&D). The incumbent specializes in research management, the conduct of exploratory advanced research related to advanced traffic management and operations systems, and the development of transportation enabling technologies.

The ideal candidate will have strong transportation or transportation-related R&D experience with advanced degrees in one or more of the following enabling technology areas (listed in alphabetical order): civil engineering; computer science; cyber-physical systems; electrical engineering; mathematics/statistics; mechanical engineering; real-time data capture, management, and analytics; software engineering; or, systems engineering. He/she is a thought leader at the national and international levels and has been recognized for past scientific and engineering contributions in the development and application of transportation operations, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), or connected-automated vehicle technologies. He/she will have experience in managing a team of research professionals and conducting laboratory and field research in the fields of transportation operations, ITS, or connected-automated vehicles. The ideal candidate has expert experience facilitating the development, implementation, and/or evaluation of national technologies, policies, programs, and budgets in a research environment, and has experience communicating this knowledge, orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences.

You will be requested to do a presentation and complete a writing sample as part of the interview process.

TRAVEL REQUIRED

  • Occasional Travel
  • Occasional Travel is required less than 25%

KEY REQUIREMENTS

  • You must be a U.S. citizen & meet specialized experience to qualify.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.
  • Review Required Documents Section as documents are required by closing date
  • Job announcement may be used to fill similar positions within 30 days.
  • Announcement also advertised merit promotion: FHWA.HRT-2015-0001

DUTIES:

As a Lead Research General Engineer, you will:

  • Demonstrate classic management knowledge, skills, and abilities in leading change, leading people, being results driven, demonstrating business acumen, building coalitions, and demonstrating and promoting excellence in oral and written communications.
  • Provide expert knowledge in traffic engineering and transportation management theory specializing in one or more of the following areas: signal systems, communications, surveillance and detection, data management, cyber-physical systems, and modeling and simulation of the impacts of hardware, software, standards, and operating practices on mobility, safety, environment, energy, and other performance areas.
  • Plan, develop, coordinate, and conduct a research and development program in traffic operations and traffic management to produce transportation enabling technologies in areas such as transportation data collection and management; cyber-physical systems, sensing systems; wireless communications; connected and automated vehicle technologies; and positioning, navigation and timing.
  • Lead the planning and conduct of a national program of research by means of partner and customer inclusion and through active liaison, collaboration, and coordination with other FHWA offices, Federal agencies, state and local highway agencies, AASHTO, TRB, ITS America, ITE, IEEE, SAE consortia, user groups, universities, private industry, and the highway community in general.
  • Work closely with Office of Operations, Resource Center, and other FHWA offices, as well as with state highway agencies to translate and transfer the team’s research and development results to the highway community and to assure that research products are marketed and deployed as rapidly as possible.
  • Represent FHWA nationally and internationally to initiate technical exchange, recommend international partnerships that are potentially beneficial to FHWA and the US Department of Transportation, and coordinates U.S. research and development with foreign countries under the auspices of TRB and through the International Programs Office and interagency agreements.
  • Use essential leadership skills to enhance team productivity and commitment to research products and services that contribute to the strategic goals and objectives of the agency
    .

Fellowship Alert: University Academic Fellow in Vehicle and Road Automation – University of Leeds, UK

October 6, 2014 at 12:24 pm

For informal inquiries about the role please contact Dr Natasha Merat, tel: +44 (0)113 343 6614, email: N.Merat@its.leeds.ac.uk.   

Location:  Leeds – Main Campus
Faculty/Service:  Faculty of Environment
School/Institute:  Institute for Transport Studies
Category:  Academic
Grade:  Grade 8
Salary:  £38,511 to £45,954
Closing Date:  Sunday 16 November 2014
Reference:  ENVTR1005

In a bid to increase road safety, and reduce transport related emissions and congestion, vehicle manufacturers are increasing the degree of automation in cars by adding more systems that provide information and support to the driver. These systems are gradually reducing the driver’s involvement in actual operation of the vehicle, and increasing their potential to engage in other tasks such as reading emails, texting etc. As automation penetration increases, it is not currently clear how humans (in and out of the car) will interact with these systems and what the real consequences of vehicle and road automation are. With its world leading motion-based Driving Simulator, the Institute for Transport Studies has been at the forefront of understanding the human factors challenges these systems pose and proposing innovative new solutions. Members of the Safety and Technology group are currently partners in a number of leading projects in this area, including VRA, AdaptIVe and CityMobil2. Whilst fully automated vehicles remain a way off, initiatives such as the Google driverless car have stimulated a new set of research needs relating to the redesign of traffic systems, legal frameworks, business models and environmental performance.

This fellowship opportunity is in a vibrant research market and you will be expected to develop a research profile that will contribute to the University’s ambition to excel at the UK’s next Research Excellence Framework (REF2020), with a sustained record of internationally excellent (and some world-leading) publications and a strong record of presentations at international conferences.  In partnership with colleagues at ITS, you will be encouraged to build research proposals in this field, exploring avenues beyond the human factors of automated vehicles.

You will be able to apply knowledge from Engineering, Computer Science or other relevant disciplines to understand developments in sensor, radar and control technologies and how humans will interact with the next generation of automated vehicles. A key role of the post will be to strengthen the link between the engineering and human factors aspects of this work. You will have (potential) links with industrial organisations relevant to this field and be encouraged to maximise funding opportunities, for example, from Horizon 2020, the TSB and stakeholder organisations. You will also play a key part in bringing together interests in automation research across the University of Leeds, working closely with colleagues from Psychology, the School of Computing and the Faculty of Engineering, with an aim to build critical mass for contribution to a cross disciplinary PhD training programme in automation.  You will also contribute to current and future Masters teaching at ITS and to the recruitment and supervision of doctoral students in the area.

With a PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electronic or Mechanical Engineering or related discipline, and an interest in the human element of systems and automation, you will have a strong research record relevant to vehicle and road automation, the ability to teach at Postgraduate level, as well as a clear and compelling vision for personal academic development.

Click here to apply

Horse before the carriage? Auto Makers Seek Approval for Driverless Cars in States as Regulators, Insurers Weigh Liability (video)

August 7, 2014 at 5:01 pm

via WSJ

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece that covers the various efforts underway in the world of autonomous vehicles (aka driverless cars i lay people speak) and how manufacturers are working with legislators to introduce their products to the tech-hungry driving public at least in a few states across the  country.. here is a video that accompanies that article.

What caught me by surprise is the sheer volume of activity and how certain people are that they will see autonomous vehicles on the roads in just a few short years.. As much as I would like to believe, full automation (Level 4) is still a decade away and we still have a lot of hurdles on the technology, policy and infrastructure side.  As one of the interviewed researchers points out, there are many concerns that dog this challenge incl. the high cost of laser vision, the risk that radar and camera sensors won’t see properly in bad weather, and complex legal issues raised by giving control to a robot. Let’s hope we overcome these hurdles soon because we, as a society, are paying a heavy price in terms of human lives and hard earned treasure as we continue to drive with manual control (~33K people killed on American roads during 2012).

Click here to read the entire article.

Webinar Alert: Big Trends and Opportunities in Transportation & Infrastructure – August 14, 2014 @ 11AM

August 4, 2014 at 5:15 pm

Click here to register.

Date: Thursday, August 14, 2014
Time: 11:00 AM PT | 2:00 PM ET

Join Governing and ITS America Thursday, Aug. 14 at 2:00 p.m. EST for a state and local government market briefing webinar to learn what and where the biggest transportation infrastructure opportunities are; the outlook for the intelligent infrastructure market — from autonomous vehicles and connected cars to “cities on sensors,” smart traffic, parking and emergency response opportunities; the latest on the federal highway trust fund stopgap measures and what it means for states; and how to keep up with new opportunities as soon as they happen and grow your state and local business

Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • What and where the biggest transportation infrastructure opportunities are for companies
  • How new transportation funding models are spurring growth
  • The outlook for the intelligent infrastructure market—from autonomous vehicles and connected cars to “cities on sensors,” smart traffic, parking and emergency response opportunities
  • The latest on the federal highway trust fund stopgap measures and what it means for states
  • How to keep up with new opportunities as soon as they happen and grow your state and local business

This webinar will help you map your state and local strategy for the year ahead, so join us August 14 and bring your questions for our market experts.

SPEAKERS:
Marina Leight
Associate Publisher
Transportation Infrastructure, Governing
Joseph Morris
Director of Market Intelligence
Governing Institute

Scott Belcher
President and CEO
ITS America

For questions or more information, contact:
Anne Dunlap-Kahren
916-932-1488
adunlap-kahren@governing.com

Click here to register for the webinar.

Britain steers towards a “driverless” future – UK to allow driverless cars on public roads in January 2015

July 30, 2014 at 5:30 pm

via BBC

Today the British government has announced that testing of automated cars will be allowed on public roads from January next year. The tests are then intended to run for between 18 to 36 months. What more innovative is the approach they have taken to doing this.  The government has invited cities to compete to host one of three trials, which would start at the same time.  Cities interested in hosting the trials have until early October to declare their interest and the Department for Transport has created a £10m fund to cover their costs (BBC says the sum to be divided between the three winners but not sure what the criteria would be for this split). Quite novel! Good to see the British government pushing the envelope on its road safety agenda using the driverless cars. Hope this nudges other EU countries (and the rest of the world) to get their act together and pave way for the automated vehicles.