Report on Next-generation Sensors for Automated Road Vehicles

Report on Next-generation Sensors for Automated Road Vehicles

I am proud to announce that I published another SAE International report in the field of automated vehicles. This one is titled Next-generation Sensors for Automated Road Vehicles

It is essentially the follow-up to the 2018 inaugural SAE EDGE Research Report on Unsettled Topics Concerning Sensors for Automated Road Vehicles and reviews the progress made in automated vehicle sensors over the past four to five years. We also discuss persistent disagreement and confusion regarding certain terms for describing sensors (near-/mid-/long-range, “bad weather”, …), the different strengths and shortcomings of particular sensors (camera, radar, LiDAR), and procedures regarding how to specify and evaluate them (test procedures, evaluation, comparison…).

All in all, “Next-gen Automated Road Vehicle Sensors” summarizes current trends and debates (e.g., sensor fusion, embedded AI, simulation) as well as future directions and needs.


Report on Energy Options on the Path Toward a More Sustainable Transportation Sector

Report on Energy Options on the Path Toward a More Sustainable Transportation Sector

I just published another SAE International report, this time related to sustainability in transportation: Energy Options on the Path Toward a More Sustainable Transportation Sector

The transportation sector has an enormous demand for resources and energy, is a major contributor of emissions (i.e., greenhouse gases in particular), and it is defined largely by the kind of energy it uses—be it electric cars, biofuel trucks, or hydrogen aircraft. Given the size of this sector, it has a crucial role in combatting climate change and securing sustainability in its three forms: environmental, societal, and economic. 

Energy Options on the Path Toward a More Sustainable Transportation Sector examines the many questions concerning alternative energy options for mobility: 

  • Is hydrogen the fuel of the future?
  • Is there is enough electricity to power a fully electric transportation sector?
  • What happens when millions of electric vehicle batteries need to be decommissioned?
  • Which regulatory measures are effective and appropriate for moving the sector in the right direction?
  • What is the “right” direction?


Report on Visual Communication Between Automated Vehicles and Other Road Users

Report on Visual Communication Between Automated Vehicles and Other Road Users

I am glad and proud to have another SAE EDGE Research Report published. This one discusses “Visual Communication Between Automated Vehicles and Other Road Users”.

As automated road vehicles begin their deployment into public traffic, they will need to interact with human driven vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc. This requires some form of communication between those automated vehicles (AVs) and other road users. Some of these communication modes (e.g., auditory, motion) were previously addressed in “Unsettled Issues Regarding Communication of Automated Vehicles with Other Road Users.”

We had the general overview already out earlier in the year, and now this one focuses on visual communication and its balance of reach, clarity, and intuitiveness, and discusses how different visual modes (e.g., simple lights, rich text) can be used between AVs and other road users. A particular emphasis is put on standardization to highlight how uniformity and mass adoption increase communication efficacy.

Road Vehicle Automation Vol 8 is out

Road Vehicle Automation Vol 8 is out

Happy to report that the 8th volume of Road Vehicle Automation is out! Year after year I am enjoying the collaboration with Gereon Meyer on this book, and reading the papers before we forward them for publication helps me tremendously to stay current in the field of driving automation.

Thanks to all the great authors for letting me learn from you!

Alright, more to come, ARTS21 (Automated Road Transportation Symposium) is starting on Jul 12 and soon after Gereon and I will start Road Vehicle Automation 9. Stay tuned!


Silicon Valley Mobility Chart of the Month, February 2021

Silicon Valley Mobility Chart of the Month, February 2021

Chart of the Month by Silicon Valley Mobility for February 2021: Most innovative companies – Tesla of course!?

There is a lot of talk about innovative companies and often Tesla ranks at the top; together with Amazon, Alphabet / Google, and other tech firms. I took a closer look at different rankings and found that those actually don’t agree much as to who is “innovative”. Some conduct surveys to determine a ranking, others compare stock price vs. revenue (the latter in particular favoring Tesla). Here is my chart that gives some pretty interesting insights into this:

The chart shows that Tesla shows up in three recent rankings, which also makes it the overall leader – fair enough. However, going down in those rankings, one sees very different companies listed.

In the left third of the chart there is also a comparison how the top 10 of Forbes Most Innovative Companies ranked in 2018 vs. 2011. Most of them were not listed at all in 2011, incl. Tesla. However, I would content that was when Tesla certainly was innovative and only today we see the results. Conversely maybe Apple, they were high on everyone’s list in the early 2010s and where are they headed now?

This is a reminder that (a) innovativeness lies in the eye of beholder and (b) innovation is a constant battle.

Which companies would be on your list?

The Future of the Automated Mobility Industry: A Strategic Management Perspective

The Future of the Automated Mobility Industry: A Strategic Management Perspective

I am proud to have co-authored this paper with Prof. Robert Burgelman at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Our paper examines the automation and sharing aspects of the competitive dynamics of the emerging automated mobility industry. It applies strategic management, technological innovation and forecasting frameworks to examine how the different categories of industry entrants position themselves and interact with one another, and their differential chances for success.

Related to the different types of entrants it considers various criteria of success, including expected market share of vehicle sales versus miles serviced, and the number of systems, technology solutions, or licenses sold. Whether firms enter the automated mobility industry with a lateral move from an adjacent industry or as startups without preexisting experience turns out to be an important strategic distinction for predicting success.

The rate at which the industry is shifting also plays an important role because it defines how much time incumbents have to adapt to change and how much time new entrants have before their investments must begin to generate positive cash flows.Our analysis suggests that tech companies, ADAS suppliers, and startups with a welldefined focus are most likely to succeed. The paper ends with highlighting important strategic issues for further discussion with automotive industry researchers, industry analysts, and leading practitioners.

Keywords: automotive industry, automated driving, autonomous driving, autonomous vehicles, shared mobility, driver assistance, ADAS, strategy, disruption, innovation management


Unsettled Issues in Determining Appropriate Modeling Fidelity for Automated Driving Systems Simulation

Unsettled Issues in Determining Appropriate Modeling Fidelity for Automated Driving Systems Simulation

Here’s the other SAE International EDGE Research Report that we published already some months ago: “Unsettled Issues in Determining Appropriate Modeling Fidelity for Automated Driving Systems Simulation”

It discusses the challenges of achieving optimal model fidelity for developing, validating, and verifying automated vehicles. The primary questions raised are:

  1. How to make sure that simulation models represent their real-world counterparts
  2. How to define a universal simulation model interface
  3. How to determine the different requirements for sensor, vehicle, environment, and human driver models

Thanks to the team for your great contributions!

https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/epr2019007/


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A Detailed Commercialization Analysis of Autonomous Vehicle Technology in the Trucking Industry

A Detailed Commercialization Analysis of Autonomous Vehicle Technology in the Trucking Industry

The study on autonomous trucking by Michael Wishart and Joey Skavroneck, with whom I have been working at Stanford Business School is now online on Medium. It addresses key points regarding:

Market Landscape of Traditional Trucking
– Vehicle Manufacturers and their partners
– Carriers (Operators)
– Brokers and Dispatchers
– Regulators and Unions
Key Trends Facing the Industry
– Demand
– Supply
– Technology
Market Landscape for the New Self-Driving Trucks
– Technology Providers
– Truck OEMs
– Carriers (Operators)
– Shippers
– Regulators
Scenarios for New Self-Driving Trucks
– Driver in the vehicle – ADAS
– Transfer Hub Model
– Automated end-to-end (E2E) w/ TeleOps
Economics of New Self-Driving Trucks
– Unit of Economics
– Technological Feasibility
– Non-Market Risks
Conclusions


A Detailed Commercialization Analysis of Autonomous Vehicle Technology in the Trucking Industry
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Unsettled Issues in Balancing Virtual, Closed-Course, and Public-Road Testing of Automated Driving Systems

Unsettled Issues in Balancing Virtual, Closed-Course, and Public-Road Testing of Automated Driving Systems

Great to have two new SAE EDGE Research Reports out there! The first report discusses three main issues:

  1. Determining what kind of testing an ADS needs before it is ready to go on the road.
  2. The current, optimal, and realistic balance of simulation testing and real-world testing.
  3. The challenges of sharing data in the industry.

We have been discussing a lot how to develop > test > certify autonomous vehicles and always get to the point of simulation vs. road testing. So we went deeper into this to at least agree on the “right” questions.

Thanks to the team for a great collaboration!

https://saemobilus.sae.org/content/epr2019011


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