12.10-6th_Steve’s_Class-3/9/24

Just Published!!!  Go to Amazon.com… You can still be first on your block to have one J.

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Case-Driverless-Mobility-Vehicles/dp/0443236852/ref=sr_1_1

SmartDrivingCars ZoomCast 361 / PodCast 361 Waymo in Buffalo, NVIDIA GTC, Apple, Cruise, Tesla & more

F. Fishkin, March 9, Waymo brings driverless vehicle to the University of Buffalo, NVIDIA GTC coming soon, Apple’s Doomed Car Project, GM Cruise, Tesla and more. Episode 361 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin.

0:00 open

0:23 The Real Case for Driverless Mobility and upcoming Smart Driving Cars Summit

1:30 Waymo self driving vehicle pays visit to the University of Buffalo

15:15 NVIDIA GTC coming up soon 17:30 NY Times report-Behind Apple’s Doomed Car Project

31:30 Motley Fool headline…Things Have Gone From Bad to Worse for GM’s Cruise and Tesla may benefit

32:33 Jalopnik column… We’ve Wasted Nearly 50 Billioin Dollars on Self Driving Cars

36:36 Self Driving vehicle bill nears final passage in Kentucky

   6^th  SmartDrivingCars Summit

Alain Kornhauser, March 8, “We promise civil and lively discussions as to how to improve the Quality-of-Life (QoL) for many while disrupting the QoL to as few as possible.  Focus will be on…

Giving Oneself a Ride

• Latest on ADAS Safety, Functionality, Regulation and potential Collaboration (given anti-trust relaxation)   

Getting a Driverless Ride

• By people and goods using public roads
• “Proof-of-Concept” (Safety Update and Last “50 feet” delivery concepts )
• “Proof-of-Market” (Arizona, California, Texas, …  rural & beyond)
• “Proof-of-Politics” (Regulation + Opportunities for Collaboration (given anti-trust relaxation.))
• By people and goods on private property.
• “Proof-of-Concept” (Safety Update)
• “Proof-of-Market” ( Return-on-Investment (RoI) focus on: Private “ways”, Manufacturing, Ports, Terminals, Warehouses, Mining, Farms)
• “Proof-of-Politics” (OSHA, Unions )

Workshop

• MOVES – Style Deployments “anywhere”.  (See Example)
• Design, Analysis, Simulation, Animation & Business Case

….” Read More  Hmmmm… Please pencil in the dates. We are putting together the sponsorship and registration pages.  Given the success that we’ve had with the past Summits and the quality of the program that we’ve been able to assemble to date, we fully expect to be sold out. Some sponsorship opportunities remain available. If interested, please simply contact me via email for now while we allow those that have “penciled-in commitments” complete their opportunity to fully commit. Hope you’ll be able to join in with us. Alain

  AI’s Hottest Ticket: NVIDIA GTC Brings Together Automotive Leaders and Visionaries Transforming the Future of Transportation

M. Labrie, Feb. 16, “Generative AI and software-defined computing are transforming the automotive landscape — making the journey behind the wheel safer, smarter and more enjoyable.

Dozens of automakers and NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem partners will be demonstrating their developments in mobility, along with showcasing their next-gen vehicles at GTC, the conference for the era of AI, running from March 18-21 in San Jose, Calif., and online. These include the Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA Class, the new Volvo EX90, Polestar 3, WeRide Robobus, Nuro R3 autonomous delivery vehicle and more.

Explore myriad sessions to learn about the latest developments in mobility — from highly automated and autonomous driving, generative AI and large language models to simulation, safety, design and manufacturing.

Featured sessions include: ….” Read More  Hmmmm… Can’t wait.  Go experience & learn.    Alain

Behind Apple’s Doomed Car Project: False Starts and Wrong Turns

B. Chen, Feb. 28, “For the last decade, many Apple employees working on the company’s secretive car project, internally code-named Titan, had a less flattering name for it: the Titanic disaster. They knew the project was likely to fail.

Throughout its existence, the car effort was scrapped and rebooted several times, shedding hundreds of workers along the way. As a result of dueling views among leaders about what an Apple car should be, it began as an electric vehicle that would compete against Tesla and morphed into a self-driving car to rival Google’s Waymo.

By the time of its death — Tuesday, when executives announced internally that the project was being killed and that many members of the team were being reassigned to work on artificial intelligence — Apple had burned more than $10 billion on the project and the car had reverted to its beginnings as an electric vehicle with driving-assistance features rivaling Tesla’s, according to a half dozen people who worked on the project over the past decade.

The car project’s demise was a testament to the way Apple has struggled to develop new products in the years since Steve Jobs’s death in 2011. The effort had four different leaders and conducted multiple rounds of layoffs. But it festered and ultimately fizzled in large part because developing the software and algorithms for a car with autonomous driving features proved too difficult….”  Read More   Hmmmm… I don’t agree.  I have no inside information but this analysis seems way too simplistic.  Yes, the software is turning out to be very much more difficult than many of us expected; however, building the vehicle that runs the software is no easy task.  Waymo tried and threw in the towel.  Apple tried to make a deal with Elon, but Elon rightfully knew that making the car may actually be way harder than making the software. The only thing that makes the car practical is that, as Elon has proven, one can start with a roadster for the ultra-rich, an S for the rich, a 3 and Y for the upper class and maybe work one’s way down to the “Model T” for the masses.  With the Driverless software revolution, one doesn’t seem to have a similar evolution opportunity unless one starts with the car…. Even then we have one that threw in the towel (Ford), one that is on the ropes (GM), no hope coming from Germany or Japan, and China is an absolute  non-starter strategically.  Only Tesla is left, and that engagement collapsed years ago. 

Given how hard the software is, no potential car partner, no appetite to start a car company, Apple has been DoA for some time now.  Absolutely no surprises here.  Alain

  Rivian pauses plan to build $5B Georgia factory

Z. Hansen, March 7,  “Rivian, the electric vehicle upstart that announced more than two years ago plans to build a $5 billion vehicle and battery plant with 7,500 promised jobs east of Atlanta, is halting the mammoth project.

The California company, which promised in late 2021 to build what was then considered Georgia’s largest-ever economic development project, said Thursday at an event introducing new models that it will now start production of its anticipated R2 crossover at its sole factory in Illinois instead of in the Peach State..” Read More  Hmmmm…  Can’t be good news.   Alain

  Bill allowing self-driving cars and trucks in Kentucky is nearing final passage

M. Vanderhoff, March 7, “Supporters say autonomous vehicles will bring new freedom to the disabled and those who can’t drive while helping companies that struggle to find truck drivers.

But critics fear a tide of job losses and question how safe they are.

Despite the debate, self-driving cars and trucks appear to be headed for Kentucky’s roads.

House Bill 7, which would allow and regulate autonomous vehicles, passed out of a Senate committee on Thursday, paving the way for a final vote on the Senate floor.  ….” Read More  Hmmmm… OK.  Nice to see progressive views in Kentucky.  Alain

Return of C’mon Man Section

(in case you are wondering, yes, I did stumble upon the following Click-bait Journalism)

  We’ve Wasted Nearly $50 Billion On Self Driving Cars. Here’s Where That Money Should Have Gone

S. DaSila, March 7,  “The race for fully autonomous passenger cars is a dumb one. Businesses are playing with technology that offers massive downsides for little gain, and just end up clogging up streets with their often-confused computerized vehicles. But there’s more to the story than mere Sisyphean endeavors of trying to teach human behavior to computers: These companies have also wasted tons of money on the whole thing.  ….” Read More  Hmmmm… It would be tough to write a more ridiculous initial sentence. 

Our existing systems don’t have any ‘low hanging fruit” that $50B could pick.  Things aren’t that simple.  If we had really good improvements to the systems that we have, we would have made them years ago. What remains with existing mobility systems are only tough things that even $50B could substantially improve the world with a positive RoI .  We are going to spend between $15B and $20B for just two new rail tunnels.  There is nothing on the horizon that has the opportunity to provide more affordable and flexible mobility that driverless cars.  Nothing close! If there was, we’d be doing it.   C’mon Man! Alain

  Things Just Went From Bad to Worse for General Motors and Self-Driving Start-Up Cruise. Here’s Why I Think Tesla Is the Big Winner

A. Spatacco, March 7, “The automobile market is going through something of a renaissance right now. Car manufacturers worldwide are investing significant sums into battery-powered vehicles — perhaps the bedrock of the green energy movement.….” Read More  Hmmmm… Total click bait.  So bad!  C’mon Man!  Alain

*****

6^th  SmartDrivingCar

Summit

https://summit.princeton.edu/

May 29 (evening) -> May 31, 2024

Princeton, NJ

Save The Date!!

Preliminary Program

We promise civil and lively discussions as to how to improve the quality-of-life (QoL) for many while disrupting that quality to as few as possible.

Giving oneself a Ride:

Latest on ADAS Safety & Functionality

Getting a Ride:

Latest on Driverless

“Proof-of-Concept” (Safety Update),

Proof-of-Market” (Arizona, California & beyond)  & 

“Proof-of-Politics”

Workshop:

MOVES – Style Deployments “anywhere”
Design, Analysis, Simulation, Animation & Business Case

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