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.
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
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.
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.
