Author: Neil Kennett

Neil is MD of Featurebank Ltd. He launched Carsofthefuture.co.uk in 2019.

More questions than answers as self-driving delivery robot enters Los Angeles crime scene.

Real world edge case as self-driving delivery bot has run-in with LA law

Video of a self-driving delivery robot entering a crime scene in Los Angeles has gone viral, prompting reasonable questions and hyperbolic headlines.

The unusual event, on 13 September, was captured in a 1m46s video by Twitter user “Film The Police LA”, receiving over 3k retweets and £21k likes:

He also posted it to Youtube:

“I wanna see this so badly,” says someone at the start. Near the end someone muses: “That’s gonna be the easiest way to bomb people, with a robot”.

NBC News ran the story under the headline “Skynet Fights Back: Food Delivery Robot Drives Through LA Crime Scene”, a reference to The Terminator films.

The incident itself – a suspected shooting – thankfully turned out to be a false alarm.

Was it self-driving?

However, the appropriation of blame is complicated by human intervention – a bystander lifting up the police tape to enable the robot to proceed, and the later claim that a human operator was responsible.

On 17 September, Serve Robotics, took to Twitter to clarify that: “This week a Serve robot failed to reroute around a police barrier because of human error. While robots are capable of operating autonomously in most circumstances, they’re assigned to human supervisors to ensure their safe operation, for instance when navigating a blockage. We respect the important work of law enforcement and are taking steps to ensure our operating procedures are followed in the future.”

As with the Cruise robotaxi drive-off back in April – “Ain’t nobody in it!” the officer says – in America, autonomous vehicles are having real-world run-ins with the law.

It’s only a matter of time before similar incidents happen here in the UK.

Aurrigo’s self-driving vehicles arrive in Taunton, Somerset, as part of CCAV trial.

The Great Self-Driving Exploration in Taunton

The good people of Taunton, Somerset, were treated to rides in Aurrigo’s self-driving Auto-Pod and Auto-Shuttle as The Great Self-Driving Exploration continued this week.

Run by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), and research specialist BritainThinks, a similar trial took place at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland in June.

Self-driving feedback

Lucy Bush, Research Director at BritainThinks, explained: “It offers an opportunity to understand what people think of self-driving vehicles as they are now, and also their expectations for the future.

“This will provide crucial insight to government and industry to support the development of self-driving technology that benefits everyone across the UK.”

At Cars of the Future, we’ve been following Coventry-based Aurrigo since 2019, when it partnered with Blind Veterans UK for the world’s first driverless trial involving disabled people.

For this event, it supplied three different vehicles:

Aurrigo self-driving vehicles at Alnwick Castle, June 2022
Aurrigo self-driving vehicles at Alnwick Castle, June 2022

On the left, the ten-seater Auto-Shuttle is the first road legal vehicle to be manufactured by the Group. It can operate fully autonomously or be driven manually.

In the middle is the Auto-Deliver, a one-off prototype designed for home deliveries.

On the right is the four-seater Auto-Pod, designed for non-road passenger transportation, such as airports, university campuses and care communities.

At Taunton, the Auto-Pod operated at the picturesque Vivary Park, close to the town centre, while the Auto-Shuttle ran at Somerset County Cricket Club, where the Auto-Deliver was also on display.

Aurrigo self-driving Auto-Delivery vehicle atSomerset County Cricket Club, September 2022
Aurrigo self-driving Auto-Delivery vehicle at Somerset County Cricket Club, September 2022

At Alnwick, the Auto-Shuttle took passengers from the bus station up to the castle – a 1.2km route shared with cars, bikes and pedestrians – while the Auto-Pod carried passengers on a shared 500m path between the castle and Alnwick Gardens.

Aurrigo self-driving Auto-Pod at Alnwick Castle, June 2022
Aurrigo self-driving Auto-Pod at Alnwick Castle, June 2022

Ricky Raines, Operations Manager at Aurrigo, said: “We believe these types of first and last miles transport will be key to supporting people with mobility issues.

“These events are extremely useful in helping understand how individuals in rural locations feel about self-driving technology.”

Further afield, also in September, Aurrigo had a Pod at the joint Department for Transport (DfT) and Innovate UK stand at the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress 2022 in Los Angeles.

Aurrigo self-driving Pod at ITS World Congress 2022
Aurrigo self-driving Pod at ITS World Congress 2022

For further information see the Aurrigo, CCAV and BritainThinks websites.

Nvidia boss says new DRIVE Thor computer will be epic for self-driving.

Nvidia’s 2k teraflop super chip for self-driving and assisted driving

On Tuesday 20 September, Nvidia unveiled a new computing platform, DRIVE Thor, designed to centralise self-driving and assisted driving, along with other digital functions such as in-car entertainment.

Succeeding the successful DRIVE Orin, Nvidia founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, describes Thor as “a superchip of epic proportions… an incredible leap in deep neural network accuracy”.

The system-on-a-chip (SoC) is built on the latest central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) advances, delivering 2,000 teraflops of performance.

Self-driving superchip

“DRIVE Thor unifies traditionally distributed functions in vehicles — including digital cluster, infotainment, parking and assisted driving — for greater efficiency in development and faster software iteration,” said Huang.

“Manufacturers can configure the DRIVE Thor superchip in multiple ways. They can dedicate all of the platform’s 2,000 teraflops to the autonomous driving pipeline, or use a portion for in-cabin AI and infotainment.”

Nvidia DRIVE Thor: distributed v centralised computer
Nvidia DRIVE Thor: distributed v centralised computer

Nvidia says the SoC is capable of multi-domain computing, enabling a car to run Linux, QNX and Android simultaneously on one computer. Realistically, it could be fitted into carmakers’ 2025 models.

Danny Shapiro, head of Nvidia’s automotive business, told Reuters: “You can imagine a tremendous savings in terms of cost, in terms of reduced cabling, in terms of reduced weight, in terms of reduced energy consumption overall.”

As we noted in our “Connected car data surge” feature last year, there are pressing questions around data privacy, but there’s no doubt this technology is phenomenal.

Computational horsepower

Check out the “computational horsepower” of DRIVE Thor compared to Orin, which was itself highly rated:

Nvidia Thor computational power
Nvidia Thor computational power

For more on DRIVE Thor see this Nvidia blog.

University of Tokyo ‘gazing’ self-driving car aims to improve pedestrian safety.

Tokyo uni studies eye cue for self-driving cars

New research by a team at The University of Tokyo indicates that fitting robotic eyes to self-driving vehicles could improve pedestrian safety.

The images below show first-person views of an experiment conducted using virtual reality (VR), with participants deciding whether or not the cart had noticed them. The researchers called it the ‘gazing car’.

Toyko uni scenarios on giving eyes to self-driving cars
Toyko uni scenarios on giving eyes to self-driving cars

The team set up four scenarios – two where the cart had eyes and two without. Was the eyeless cart intending to stop? How did results change when the cart had eyes, either looking towards the pedestrian or looking away?

University of Tokyo gazing car video

The study was small: only 18 participants – nine women and nine men, all aged 18-49, all Japanese – but there did seem to be differences in reaction according to gender.

Self-driving gender differences

More male participants reported “feeling that the situation was more dangerous” when the eyes were looking away. While more female participants said they “felt safer” when the eyes were looking at them.

Project Lecturer Chia-Ming Chang, a member of the research team, commented: “The results suggested a clear difference between genders, which was very surprising and unexpected.

“While other factors like age and background might have also influenced the participants’ reactions, we believe this is an important point. It shows that different road users may have different behaviours and needs that require different communication.”

Self-driving communication

Professor Takeo Igarashi, from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, added: “There is not enough investigation into the interaction between self-driving cars and the people around them.

“Moving from manual driving to auto driving is a huge change. If eyes can actually contribute to safety and reduce traffic accidents, we should seriously consider adding them.

“I hope this research encourages other groups to try similar ideas. Anything that facilitates better interaction between self-driving cars and pedestrians, which ultimately saves people’s lives.”

Here at Cars of the Future we have, of course, explored similar concepts before. Notably, in our interview with Yosuke Ushigome, Director at design innovation studio Takram.

For further info on The University of Tokyo study, see the team’s project page. 

UK self-driving organisation Zenzic issues statement on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Self-driving sector pays tribute to The Queen

The longstanding connection between Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the automotive industry is well documented. She famously drove an army ambulance in World War II and trained as a mechanic.

Representing the UK self-driving sector, Zenzic said: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and send our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family at this time.”

Picture credit: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Lying-in-State ©UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor.

Our editor is quite pleased with his new self-driving bus…

We’ve bought one of the world’s first self-driving buses… ok, it’s a 2019 Matchbox toy

Thanks to James Long of Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) on Linkedin for alerting us to the fact that Matchbox have made a self-driving bus toy.

Well, it took a few days but I now own one! A yellow MN1212 from 2019 by designer Abe Lugo.

Cars of the Future editor Neil Kennet with his Matchbox self-driving bus
Cars of the Future editor Neil Kennet with his Matchbox self-driving bus

The website Matchbox Fandom tells us there are others. A blue and white version is reviewed here by BusBoy501 Productions on Youtube:

BusBoy501 Productions on Youtube reviews a Matchbox self-driving bus

Unfortunately, he considers it something of a disappointment in modelling terms. “I don’t really care for it,” he says, noting that it is not to the usual 1/64 scale.

He isn’t convinced about real-world deployment either, saying: “I don’t think this is something we’ll see in school transportation for quite some time, if ever.”

He should subscribe to our free Cars of the Future weekly newsletter!

Self-driving (sort of)

As a bonus, I just so happen to own a rather battered example of the first ever Matchbox model – 1953’s Coronation Coach with its team of eight horses.

So, just for fun, here’s the past and future of clean fuel transport:

Matchbox self-driving bus and 1953 Coronation Coach
Matchbox self-driving bus and 1953 Coronation Coach

New survey on ADAS and self-driving by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in America raises questions for UK legislators and motorists

Who wants self-driving anyway? US survey finds 80% love ADAS but not hands-free

A new survey on full and partial self-driving by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in America has found significant mistrust of automated lane changing systems, with drivers preferring to stay hands-on and initiate the manoeuvre themselves.

The IIHS – a respected non-profit educational organization dedicated to reducing deaths from motor vehicle crashes – surveyed over 1,000 drivers on questions related to partial automation between September and October 2021, with the results published in June 2022.

The headline finding was that 80% wanted to use “at least some form of lane centering” – a strong endorsement for what we Brits call automated lane keeping systems (ALKS).

Report covers ADAS & ADS

IIHS report on consumer demand for ADAS and self-driving June 2022
IIHS report on consumer demand for ADAS and self-driving June 2022

36% preferred “hands-on-wheel” lane keeping, compared to 27% for “hands-free”, with 18% having no preference between the two types, 16% not wanting to use any form of lane keeping and 4% being unsure.

If you think that shows an appreciation of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) but a mistrust of conditionally automated driving systems (ADS), the next finding appears to confirm that.

Asked about lane changing assistance (as opposed to just lane keeping), 73% said they would use some form of auto lane change. However, 45% said they’d prefer to use driver-initiated auto lane change compared to only 14% for vehicle-initiated auto lane change. 23% said they wouldn’t use either type, 13% had no preference and 5% were unsure.

What’s more, on self-driving technology, 35% said they found it “extremely appealing” while 23% said it was “not at all appealing”.

Alexandra Mueller, the IIHS survey’s primary designer, commented: “Automakers often assume that drivers want as much technology as they can get in their vehicles. But few studies have examined actual consumer opinions about partial driving automation.

“It may come as a surprise to some people, but it appears that partially automated features that require the driver’s hands to be on the wheel are actually closer to one-size-fits-all than hands-free designs.”

Another eye-catching finding was the high number of people “at least somewhat comfortable” with in-cabin driver monitoring to support such systems: 70% for steering wheel sensors, 59% for camera monitoring of driver hands and 57% for camera monitoring of driver gaze.

“The drivers who were the most comfortable with all types of driver monitoring tended to say they would feel safer knowing that the vehicle was monitoring them to ensure they were using the feature properly,” said Mueller.

“That suggests that communicating the safety rationale for monitoring may help to ease consumers’ concerns about privacy or other objections.”

Self-driving questions

For us, the study is particularly interesting in terms of the UK government’s plan to list vehicles approved under the Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) Regulation as self-driving.

For the drivers of certain new high tech cars, this could be the first time that any hands-free driving becomes legal on UK roads. The current suggestion is for this to be restricted to slow motorway traffic (max 37mph), initially at least.

Further still, the acceptance of driver monitoring seems relevant to point four of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Connected and Automated Mobility’s seven expert recommended red lines: “Establish minimum standards for data sharing and handling to ensure transparency and effective governance”. 

The full IIHS report is available here.

Transport Select Committee to scrutinise the development and deployment of self-driving vehicles on UK roads.

August 22 deadline for evidence to new Transport Select Committee inquiry into self-driving vehicles

On 27 June, the Transport Select Committee announced a new inquiry into self-driving vehicles and issued a Call for Evidence.

Chaired by Huw Merriman MP, with a remit to hold Transport Ministers to account and to investigate matters of public concern, the influential cross-party group will scrutinise the development and deployment of self-driving road vehicles.

Transport Select Committee chair Huw Merriman MP to scrutinise self-driving
Transport Select Committee chair Huw Merriman MP to scrutinise self-driving

It follows confirmation that the Transport Bill announced in the recent Queen’s Speech will introduce comprehensive legislation for self-driving vehicles in the UK.

Other heavyweight issues currently before the Transport Select Committee include the integrated rail plan, the national bus strategy and road pricing.

Call for evidence on self-driving

The Call for Evidence on self-driving vehicles reads: “We are particularly interested in receiving written evidence that addresses: 

  • Likely uses, including private cars, public transport and commercial vehicles;
  • Progress of research and trials in the UK and abroad;
  • Potential implications for infrastructure, both physical and digital;
  • The regulatory framework, including legal status and approval and authorisation processes;
  • Safety and perceptions of safety, including the relationship with other road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and conventionally driven vehicles;
  • The role of Government and other responsible bodies, such as National Highways and local authorities; and potential effects on patterns of car ownership, vehicle taxation and decarbonisation in the car market.”

The deadline for evidence is Monday 22 August 2022.

Law Commission issues paper on reform options for remote driving on shared roads.

Law Commission invites views on remote driving ahead of 2023 report to Government

On 24 June, The Law Commission published a 93-page issues paper on reform options for remote driving, inviting feedback from the public.

It notes: “Technology that enables an individual to drive a vehicle from a remote location already exists today – operating in controlled environments such as warehouses, farms and mines.” The new paper considers how the existing legal framework applies to shared roads.

Remote driving

Whether you see it as a bridging technology or a long-term solution, remote driving – where a person outside a vehicle uses connectivity to control it, often from many miles away – will certainly be part of the mix on the road to self-driving.

Indeed, in May, Project Encode demonstrated transfer of control across three states – manual driving, autonomous driving and teleoperation – in live vehicle tests in Oxford and London.

Project Encode remote operation
Project Encode remote operation

The issues paper press release highlights four safety challenges:

  1. Connectivity: how can a reliable connection between the remote driver and vehicle be ensured and how can safety risks be mitigated if connectivity is lost?
  2. Situational awareness: how can drivers remain aware of their surroundings through a screen without (for example) the “feel” of acceleration?
  3. Keeping remote drivers alert: how can the risk of fatigue, motion sickness and distraction be overcome?
  4. Cybersecurity: how can unauthorised takeover of vehicles be prevented?

From a law enforcement perspective, tricky questions arise from the possibility that a vehicle on British roads could be remotely driven from abroad. The Law Commission therefore invites views on whether this should be prohibited.

Remote driving terminology

Of course, for anything related to self-driving, there are questions around terminology. In addition to a good old-fashioned driver, and a user-in-charge, we could soon also have an Entity for Remote Driving Operation (ERDO) – a corporate entity rather than an individual that uses and operates vehicles rather than develops or manufactures them.

Nicholas Paines QC, Public Law Commissioner, said: “Remote driving technology is already capable of being used on our roads. We hope our issues paper can contribute to a healthy debate about the appropriate regulation of this technology and what can be done to maximise protection of road users while encouraging innovation.”

The new project – via the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and the International Vehicle Standards team at the Department for Transport (DfT) – builds on the recent three-year review of legislation to enable the deployment of automated vehicles (AVs) on British roads.

Views on remote driving can be submitted here until 2 September 2022.

The Law Commission will then draft advice for the UK Government by January 2023.

Highlights from BSI’s June 2022 self-driving white paper “Connected and automated vehicles: A review of the UK’s legislation and good practice”

New BSI white paper on UK self-driving legislation and good practice

Best known for its Kitemark scheme, the British Standards Institution (BSI) has published a helpful review of UK self-driving legislation and good practice.

The June 2022 white paper “Connected and automated vehicles: A review of the UK’s legislation and good practice” was written by Lucy Pegler, Partner at law firm Burges Salmon and technical co-author of the PAS 1882 standard.

Exec summary

The stated purpose of the publication is to assist those developing, trialling, testing and deploying CAVs in the UK. In particular, it provides guidance on the interrelationship between the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles’ Code of Practice (CCAV CoP), BSI’s own CAV Standards Programme and current legislative requirements.

The executive summary consists of a diagram explaining what’s legally binding and what’s only advised.

BSI self-driving white paper executive summary diagram
BSI self-driving white paper executive summary diagram

CCAV CoP

On the CCAV CoP, the white paper notes that: a) A driver must be present, in or out of the vehicle, who is ready, able, and willing to resume control of the vehicle; b) The vehicle must be roadworthy; and c) There must be appropriate insurance in place.

Top of the list under “aims and objectives” is increasing public confidence.

BSI CAV Standards

On the BSI CAV Standards Programme, it notes that: “BSI have developed and published a number of standards relating to CAVs with the aim of providing a set of industry standards.” These include:

PAS 1880 on the design guidelines for developing CAV control systems.

PAS 1881 on the requirements for operational safety cases. 

PAS 1882 on the collection, curation, storage and sharing of information during CAV trials.

PAS 1883 on defining operational design domains (ODD).

PAS 1884 on the requirements for the use of a safety operator.

PAS 1885 on protections against cyber security threats.

BSI Flex 1890 – the CAV vocabulary – on consistency of terminology.

Self-driving law

Section 5 covers The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission’s review of the legal framework for automated vehicles, plus relevant rules under the following:

The Road Traffic Act 1988 

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

The UK General Data Protection Regulation

It reiterates once again UK Government’s controversial plan “to list ALKS models as automated vehicles from 2022” and highlights the Law Commissions’ recommendation that automated vehicles must be able to record and store data necessary for incident investigation.

Conclusion

The conclusion concludes: “Adopting the recommended good practice in the PAS standards supports trialling organizations compliance with current legislation and may support preparation for compliance with a future automated vehicles act enshrining the Law Commissions’ recommendations.”

To request a free copy of the BSI white paper, please click here.