In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Tesla (Cybercab/Robovan & Optimus), AMCI, Gatik, J.D. Power, AeroVironment and OMNIVISION.
Telsa Cybercab Robovan & Optimus Revealed
The big Tesla Cybercab and Robovan reveal party was held Thursday at Warner Bros. Studios with cocktails, conversations and games served by Optimus robots with the help of remote human operators.
The Telsa Cybercab does not use LiDAR but uses cameras and AI for vision and no charging point, using conductive charging. It also does not have a steering wheel, rear window, accelerator or brake controls. Elon Musk estimated that the vehicle will sell for below $30,000.
The Tesla Robovan can carry up to 20 people and goods for mass transit, construction or food service.
The Optimus (Optimi?) voiced different reactions to questions from the crowd, indicating that different people were operating them.
Meanwhile Telsa’s current FSD is not doing a great job.
Tesla FSD AMCI Test Failures
After over 1000 miles evaluating Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) on the West Coast with very disturbing results, AMC revealed its test results for New York City.
New York City, in addition to the prevalence of taxi cabs, has a population density and unique street layout that presented challenges for FSD even beyond what we experienced in Southern California.
In keeping with AMCI Testing’s protocol, assessment in New York City was carried out with a ” Hardware 4″ equipped 2024 Model 3 running the most-current software, 12.5.4. Over the course of the latest evaluation- in NYC traffic and surrounds:
FSD AVERAGED EVEN HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS “INTERVENTION” RATE OF 1 EVERY 11 MILES.
Remember, AMCI Testing’s professional drivers only” intervene” if FSD’s actions put the occupants, the public or other motorists at risk.
Among the most EGREGIOUS intervention scenarios encountered:
- Accelerating to 37mph in a 25mph zone on a one-lane, one-way neighborhood street at night, with parked cars on both sides.
- Abruptly braking from 40mph to 15mph inside tunnels after losing GPS signal, seriously risking a rear-end collision.
- Abruptly braking from 70mph to 40mph on state highway with no vehicle or obstacle in its path.
- In situations with two left-hand turn lanes, attempting U-turns from the most distant lane, across left-hand turning traffic.
- Running stop signs at the end of highway entrance ramps.
- Making a left-hand turn from a divided boulevard on green, but not stopping at the islands successive red for opposing traffic.
- When traffic made it impossible to enter the left-turn lane to turn left from a one-way boulevard, FSD attempted the left from one lane over- across the path of a NYPD patrol car.
- Driving with aggressive speed across an intersection, FSD didn’t brake for a teenager running out from between parked cars, outside a painted crosswalk.
- Right turn on red, illegal in New York.
Guy Mangiamele, the Director of AMCI Testing said ” If Tesla’s Robotaxi is running Hardware 4/v 12.5.4 it may well work in a film studio carpark, but AMCI Testing’s assessment shows it falls well short of any true autonomy in the real world.”
We wait with interest to see what Tesla shows and the veracity of their autonomous Robotaxi performance claims.
AMCI Testing has 6 videos of its previous Tesla evaluations intended to demonstrate the complex issues of trust and performance that FSD continues to pose to drivers and the public. Please follow the link https://amcitesting.com/tesla-fsd to view them. Go to www.amcitesting.com to sign up to receive updates as they occur.
Gatik Commits to Safety
Gatik AI Inc., the leader in autonomous middle-mile logistics, announced an unprecedented commitment to safety by unveiling the scope of a comprehensive safety case assessment for its Freight-Only operations (deliveries without a human driver onboard) across North America. With this announcement, Gatik is committed to launching Freight-Only operations at scale once it satisfies the most rigorous evaluation ever performed on its autonomous driving system by independent third parties. This industry-first initiative underscores Gatik’s dedication to setting the highest standards possible for safety in autonomous trucking.
Central to this effort, Gatik has engaged two companies that, combined, provide the expert resourcing and independence necessary to scale safety. Edge Case Research, a leading global autonomy risk management provider, has already deployed dedicated resources and personnel to implement its DevSafeOps® process to support system development, testing, and safety engineering. Separately, TÜV SÜD, a globally recognized independent testing, inspection, and certification organization with extensive experience in autonomous system safety assurance, has been engaged to assess Gatik’s approach to safely deploying Freight-Only operations, and ultimately confirm that Gatik’s comprehensive Safety Case has fully conformed to the requirements, including UL4600.
Gatik’s Freight-Only operations at scale is a groundbreaking achievement in the AV industry, poised to revolutionize middle-mile logistics with safe, reliable AI-driven autonomy. Undergoing an independent safety case assessment before establishing the nation’s first Freight-Only network is a critical exercise for an autonomous transportation company to undertake. Such an exhaustive process ensures that all key stakeholders, including customers, federal, state and local government, the first responder community and the public have confidence in the independently verified safety of Gatik’s technology and deployment practices.
“The assessment of our safety case goes beyond a basic review of safety practices and mission statements,” said Gautam Narang, Gatik’s CEO. “We are assessing our complete autonomous ecosystem to ensure safety in the real world, not just on paper. Our goal is to create safer roads for everyone. We’re taking the bold step of mandating an external assessment of our safety case to not only hold ourselves accountable but to help establish a standard for the entire industry. Now, we encourage our industry peers to adopt this framework.”
“While we applaud the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) leadership in establishing the Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment (VSSA) process, we at Gatik have chosen to go far beyond what a VSSA calls for with this incredibly comprehensive assessment,” said Dr. Adam Campbell, Gatik’s Head of Safety. “Our Safety Case approach is tangible, comprehensive, and leverages the benefits of Gatik’s B2B short haul use-case to safely scale across our freight networks. Arriving at this moment in our safety journey has taken 8 years because we move at the speed of safety and learn from our extensive experience in real-world deployments.”
The assessment will encompass over 700 identified safety portfolios and must be completed and closed before Gatik can achieve Freight-Only operations at scale. It will address key pillars of AV safety: organizational safety culture, engineering quality (functional, behavioral and operational safety of the self-driving system), cyber security, vehicle safety, and Safety Case conformity to UL4600.
“TÜV SÜD has developed its reputation of providing credible and independent safety assessment expertise for over two decades with more than 300 experts across the globe. Our collective experience has been brought to bear in developing comprehensive autonomous vehicle safety assessment programs. As Gatik embarks on its expansive safety journey, we are excited to provide assessment services as they prepare for scaled Freight-Only deployments,” said Dr. Fabian Schober, CEO of TÜV SÜD America.
“Edge Case Research is proud to partner with Gatik in their pursuit of the highest safety standards in autonomous trucking,” said Michael Wagner, CEO at Edge Case Research. “Their commitment to independent safety assessment sets a benchmark for the industry. We hope others in the space will follow suit in this transparent approach, and believe it will contribute to building public trust and ensuring the safe integration of autonomous vehicles on our roads.”
Gatik’s comprehensive Safety Case intends to allow traceability and transparency to all claims of safety that are made. By using Edge Case’s Open Autonomy Safety Case Framework as a starting point, Gatik is working to conform with the UL4600 standard, including all facets of the technology, operational and organizational factors in the safety case as well is emblematic of the breadth and depth of safety efforts being undertaken that go well beyond any requirement imposed by regulations.
As part of the company’s commitment to transparency across all aspects of its approach to safety, Gatik will be publicly sharing information on progress made towards completion of the safety case program prior to deployment of Freight-Only operations.
J.D. Power 2024 Robotaxi Study Shows Riders Have More Confidence
Climbing into a car with no driver—and expecting that car to take the rider to a predetermined destination—is something about which most consumers are skeptical. However, once someone rides in a robotaxi, they like it. Consumers’ level of satisfaction with the experience is 8.53 (on a 10-point scale), according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Robotaxi Experience Study,SM
Consumer confidence when riding in a fully automated, self-driving vehicle is 56 percentage points higher among those who have ridden in a robotaxi (76%) than the general population who have not had the experience (20%). Exposure to the technology, as seen by non-riders in cities with robotaxi deployments, also improves consumer confidence (34%). These are indications that experience continues to be a main driver of trust and acceptance.
As an industry leader in measuring consumer readiness for automated vehicle transportation, J.D. Power gathers valuable, unfiltered feedback from robotaxi riders and those who have interacted with robotaxis (non-riders) in their community. This year, the study expands to five markets—Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. It also includes brand-level insights for Cruise, May Mobility, Motional, Waymo, and Zoox and includes feedback from a national sample to measure consumer opinions of robotaxi brand imagery and preferences.
“The robotaxi segment is still anyone’s game, given that most people are not familiar with robotaxi brands and haven’t formed a clear associative imagery,” said Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power. “Industry leaders like Cruise and Waymo, along with lesser-known companies such as Zoox, May Mobility and Motional, need to look beyond their deployment markets and find ways to educate and build trust with all consumers.”
When asked to describe their ideal robotaxi service, consumers consistently selected image attributes of safe, reliable and trusted. The consistency with which these metrics are prioritized among riders and non-riders (78% selected safe; 71% selected reliable; and 66% selected trusted), as well as the general population, indicates the foundational expectations of consumers. However, upon examination of brand association with these key metrics, there are notable differences between riders and non-riders in the five markets, as well as compared with the general population. As a result, the reputation of robotaxi brands is somewhat insulated to the testing markets, making it paramount to expand market exposure and brand awareness.
Following are some key findings of the study:
- Consumers seek safety features: When asked what the ideal robotaxi service should offer, the most important items are emergency button to connect with local emergency services; shares location with authorities; ability to select a vehicle that has the safety features they want; and the ability to set the route beforehand.
- Unmet needs drives novelty usage: Currently, consumers are using robotaxis as a novelty, as they do not fulfill the riders’ needs pertaining to the service area coverage and cost of the services. Until robotaxi providers can fulfill these and other needs, the service will remain a novelty transportation method.
- Obeying the law: Attributes in the technology category that score highest among robotaxi riders are vehicle obeys traffic laws (8.36 on a 10-point scale) and the vehicle’s performance maneuvering in normal traffic conditions (8.30).
- Robotaxi vs. rideshare: When given a series of scenarios assuming the cost for either service would be the same, 77% of riders say they would prefer to utilize a robotaxi service without a human driver when needing to have a private conversation in the vehicle, while a ride-hailing service (e.g., Lyft, Uber) is preferred when traveling in an area they don’t know well.
The U.S. Robotaxi Experience Study, now in its second year, is based on responses from 3,773 respondents comprised of 773 consumers living in cities where robotaxi services are available (Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco) and a national sample of 3,000 consumers to better understand their perceptions and knowledge of the technology. To qualify in the targeted cities, respondents had to ride in a robotaxi and/or observe a robotaxi operating in their community. These two groups of participants are classified as riders and non-riders, respectively.
The study is based on five categories (in alphabetical order): comfort and convenience; initiating the ride; riding in the vehicle; service availability and cost; and vehicle technology. The study was fielded in August 2024.
AeroVironment DEVCON in FL
AeroVironment (AV), a global leader in intelligent, multi-domain robotic systems, hosted the inaugural Defense Robotics Developers Conference (DEVCON) in Orlando, Florida. The premier event brought together key stakeholders in defense robotics to explore the latest innovations in uncrewed systems and promote collaborative advancements in technology and operational solutions.
Brad Truesdell, AV’s senior vice president of global sales, business development, & inside sales operations, outlined AV’s vision for the future of defense robotics, emphasizing interoperability across multiple domains, streamlined software integration, and faster, more cost-effective solutions for defense partners. “At AV, we are committed to delivering cutting-edge capabilities that enable our partners to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving defense landscape. Our focus on collaboration within the U.S. supply chain ensures we continue to drive innovation while meeting the critical needs of our defense customers,” said Brad Truesdell.
Wahid Nawabi, AV’s chairman, president, and CEO, emphasized the broader strategic importance of the conference: “DEVCON represents the future of defense robotics. By bringing together the best minds and fostering collaboration, we’re shaping the defense solutions of tomorrow, ensuring they are interoperable, scalable, and adaptable to meet the complex needs of our nation’s defense ecosystem.”
DEVCON 2024 featured presentations from distinguished leaders across the defense industry. Captain Jonathan Haase (U.S. Navy) discussed strategies for building resilient robotics and AI systems capable of operating under extreme conditions. Lieutenant General Rudder (Ret.), former Commanding General of Marine Forces Pacific, addressed the strategic importance of uncrewed systems in the Asia-Pacific region. Lane Duhon, Army Portfolio Manager for Reveal Technology, highlighted how AI can enhance real-time operational intelligence, and Derek Davis, CRO for Vermeer, discussed autonomous solutions for navigation in GPS-denied environments.
The event provided an opportunity to engage with influential decision-makers, strengthening partnerships and ensuring the continued deployment of next-generation defense robotics solutions.
Aeva Used by OEM
Aeva® (NYSE: AEVA), a leader in next-generation sensing and perception systems, announced that a major European passenger vehicle OEM, together with a simulation and validation technology leader, will use Aeva’s 4D LiDAR technology in its automated vehicle development program. Aeva’s Aeries™ II sensors will gather ground truth data, considered to be the “gold standard” in environmental modeling, to provide the OEM with accurate data to validate its next-generation vehicle automation systems. This new validation program points to the growing interest for adoption of Aeva’s FMCW technology and is in addition to Aeva’s other ongoing automotive opportunities including previously disclosed production RFQs with Global Top 10 Passenger OEMs.
Aeva’s unique FMCW technology is being incorporated into the OEM’s vehicle automation projects in collaboration with a leading simulation and validation technology provider. For the validation program, vehicles equipped with Aeva 4D LiDAR™ sensors will gather precise data of the environment around the vehicle. The data will serve as the benchmark for validating its next-generation vehicle automation systems including sensing, perception, decision-making, and control systems.
“As automation advances across consumer vehicle manufacturers, we are seeing increased interest in next-generation sensor technology like Aeva 4D LiDAR due to its ability to natively provide an additional dimension of instant velocity data that is missing in conventional LiDAR sensors,” said James Byun, Managing Director of Business Development at Aeva. “This OEM’s adoption of Aeva 4D LiDAR for their validation project is another datapoint demonstrating the industry’s transition toward FMCW-based sensing and shows the OEM’s commitment to using advanced sensor and perception technologies as they develop their next-generation of automated vehicles. We look forward to supporting them to bring safe automated vehicles to the market.”
Aeva 4D LiDAR sensors can simultaneously detect precise range and velocity at long ranges. Leveraging the instant velocity channel, point cloud data from Aeva’s sensors can be easily separated into static and dynamic scenes. This separation helps the automated driving system quickly identify and distinguish static objects like drivable road boundaries, lane markings, and road signs from dynamic objects like moving vehicles, especially those that are smaller, such as pedestrians or motorcyclists.
OMNIVISION Total Camera Solution for Robots
OMNIVISION, a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions, including advanced digital imaging, analog, and touch & display technology, announced that its total camera solution, comprising the OG02B10 color global shutter (GS) image sensor and OAX4000 ASIC image signal processor (ISP), is now verified and available with the NVIDIA Holoscan sensor processing platform and the NVIDIA Jetson™ platform for edge AI and robotics. A premier demonstration of the combined solution will was held at the VISION 2024 show in the OMNIVISION booth (Hall 10, Booth 10G82), October 8-10, 2024, at Messe Stuttgart in Germany.
Humanoid robots, which resemble and act like humans, represent a growing sector that was valued at $1.8 billion in 2023 and is predicted to increase to more than $13 billion by 2028, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets1. The robots are engineered to imitate human expressions, interactions and movements; to do this, they require an array of cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.
NVIDIA Holoscan is a full-stack AI sensor processing platform for low-latency sensor and network connectivity that includes optimized libraries for data processing, AI and core microservices to run streaming, imaging and other applications, from embedded, to edge, to cloud. It can be used to build streaming AI pipelines for a variety of domains, including medical devices, high-performance computing at the edge, industrial inspection and more.
NVIDIA Jetson is a platform for robotics and embedded edge AI applications. It offers compact, yet high-performance compute, supported by the NVIDIA JetPack™ software development kit for accelerated software development and NVIDIA application frameworks like NVIDIA Holoscan, NVIDIA Metropolis and NVIDIA Isaac™ for faster time to market.
“Humanoid robotic systems are complex and demand high processing capabilities for AI. OMNIVISION’s total camera solution supports four cameras simultaneously capturing high-resolution color images with an integrated ISP, which serves as a backend resource to support more AI functions. The solution has been verified and is ready with the NVIDIA Holoscan sensor bridge, which features an Ethernet output and supports long-distance transmission for flexible robotic camera placement,” said Kelly Yan, senior product marketing manager, OMNIVISION. “Our roadmap for robotics includes bringing an even more compact design to market in the future, using our recently announced 2.2-micron GS product family.”
OMNIVISION’s high-performance 2-megapixel (MP) OG02B10 GS sensor uses advanced 3 x 3-micron OmniPixel®3-GS pixel technology. This technology eliminates motion artifacts and blurring and dramatically improves low-light sensitivity. OMNIVISION’s OAX4000 companion ISP is capable of processing up to four camera modules with 140 dB high dynamic range (HDR), reducing design complexity and space and improving overall reliability.
For more information, contact an OMNIVISION sales representative: www.ovt.com/contact-sales. Or visit OMNIVISION at VISION 2024.