Driverless Vehicles Make Inroads in Military - Velodyne Lidar

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Mercedes-Benz vehicle-to-vehicle LED collision warning system. Many commercial car companies have been debuting driver-assist technology in a ramp up to eventual driverless cars. Photo courtesy Mercedes-Benz. the level of autonomy shown by the entrants to the DARPA Urban Challenge of 2007. All successful entrants to the DARPA challenges used lidar-based systems, and many of those engineers have moved onto working with Google and the automakers. It could be that the automakers are significantly more advanced than they have publicly declared, but if that is the case then why let Google undercut the date at which they can provide full autonomy Google has been talking about retrofitting driverless car technology onto existing vehicles. A draft of the proposed autonomous vehicle bill for the District of Columbia refers to retrofitting vehicles manufactured in 2009 or later. Motivating the Consumer The driverless car community has heard the discussions about major, show-stopping obstacles, such as liability, legal, union resistance, unwillingness to hand over control to a robot, cybersecurity, etc. But perhaps the tipping point will be when an average person can save a significant portion of their salary by not owning a car. Furthermore, the main motivator for self-driving cars will be the millions of lives saved by this technology. Human error is a factor in 93 percent of the approximate 1.2 million road fatalities that occur worldwide every year. There are massive downsides too — taxi drivers and freight truckers may soon be out of a job. However, with every great industrial and technological revolution, there is turmoil and employment displacement. Driverless Car HQ anticipates, however, that many of the people who are displaced will move into the new industries created by this technology. For example, someone will need to build, maintain and manage all those driverless delivery bots. And although this may be a disruptive technology, millions of lives will be saved and countless more injuries and accidents avoided. For us at Driverless Car HQ, it can’t come soon enough. Paul Godsmark is a highway safety expert who now consults on self-driving car issues for regional governments. He and Gabriel Sniman are both part of the writing team at DriverlessCarHQ. To visit the website, go to www.driverlesscarhq.com or contact Editor Matt Newton at contact@ driverlesscarhq.com. 20 MISSION CRITICAL • May 2013
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS INTEGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES The Federal Aviation Administration currently has heavy restrictions on unmanned aircraft flying in the nation’s airspace. In a recently released economic report, AUVSI explores the economic implications to the United States once these restrictions are lifted. Congress has set a 2015 September 30 deadline for this integration. Bottom line, a multibillion commercial market will quickly emerge in the United States with applications ranging from precision agriculture to precision taco delivery, creating more than 100,000 jobs by 2025 just in manufacturing for these new products. WHY UAS In the most basic sense, UAS allow for similar capabilities of manned aircraft except without the added weight and size of the pilot and related pilot protection equipment. In the report, AUVSI focused on markets that have existing data (agriculture and public safety) and made projections. However, when it comes to new applications, soon the sky will no longer be the limit. LEGISLATIVE BARRIERS Though the FAA will find safe, effective ways to integrate UAS in the nation’s airspace, lifting what is the only current hurdle to mass commercial adoption, new legislation is under development that will may hinder commercial adoption of UAS. Michael Toscano, president and CEO of AUVSI, recently spoke to US Congress on the matter. Looking purely at the economic implications, states or municipalities that limit UAS use will miss out on the benefits of such systems and will likely quickly change their ways after other states prove out the potential of UAS and alleviate current concerns. However, it may be too late for states that adapt slowly, as companies will likely already be established in states without excess restrictions. TO READ THE FULL REPORT ONLINE, SCAN THIS QR CODE OR VISIT http://www.auvsi.org/econreport MISSION CRITICAL • May 2013 23
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME 3 NO.2 • May 2013 • AUVS
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS VOLUME 3 NO.2 • May 2013
Page 5 and 6: Editorial Vice President of Communi
Page 7 and 8: Essential Components Someday, Will
Page 9 and 10: STATE OF THE ART OXFORD, U.K. Unive
Page 11 and 12: Self-driving trucks take to the roa
Page 13 and 14: Orlando2013_Rotor_ad_LISA_REV_Layou
Page 15 and 16: Technology Gap Driving Down the Cos
Page 17 and 18: Q & A for the infrastructure to com
Page 19 and 20: TIMELINE 2005 - DARPA reconvened fo
Page 21: model of incremental improvements,
Page 25 and 26: Testing Testing The industry can ad
Page 27 and 28: Spotlight Fleet Automation Forum Wo
Page 29 and 30: End Users Is Your Guy Fraker Driver
Page 31 and 32: 12-15 August Walter E. Washington C

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