Carter Stern of Cruise and I had a great discussion on Operational Design Domains (ODDs) for automated vehicles at the Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) panel.

Our overarching theme was “Where, Not When: Why Domains Matter” and it was nice that Carter and I could build off of one another’s perspectives from the tech and auto industries.

Here’s one of my key points:
“An Operational Design Domain can be anything. It can be what is sometimes called the ‘Four Ws’ – wherever, whenever, whatever the weather. And that is what is called ‘level 5’ or all ODDs you can imagine. But level 5 driving is similar to infinity in math: it is important to prove your concept, but you never get there.”

Tabitha Colter did a fantastic job moderating the discussion and putting thoughtful questions in front of us. Thanks very much!