Trump administration continues hands-off approach to self-driving cars

The Trump administration on Tuesday published the latest guidelines for self-driving cars, the first update since taking over from the Obama administration. The 36-page report, called Version 2.0 by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, continues the same hands-off approach to the emerging industry, with guidance being “entirely voluntary” with “no enforcement mechanism.”

Most of the questions raised in the guidance mimic what was found in the Obama report last year. These include questions on validation, cybersecurity, road tests, and hardware failures.

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See Also: Who is responsible for autonomous car regulation?

The rather light report comes as a bill, called the SELF DRIVE Act, makes its way through the Senate. The House of Representatives has already passed the bill, which would transfer regulatory power to Congress and let thousands more self-driving cars test on public roads.

The report does make mention of state regulations, warning the states against setting up too many regulations. Most of the states that have a large self-driving presence have already partly legalized road tests or give major auto and tech companies a pass to test on roads.

A coalition of tech and auto companies, including Waymo, Uber, Ford, Volvo, and Lyft, praised the announcement in a statement:

“The Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets is pleased to see the Trump Administration continuing the work to bring fully self-driving vehicles to U.S. roads. With more than 35,000 motor vehicle deaths in 2015, the potential safety benefits of fully self-driving technology are too important to delay.”

The report also said companies that integrate self-driving cars would receive preferential treatment in future infrastructure programs. President Trump has said there will be a $1 trillion infrastructure plan for the U.S., involving roads and bridges, but it has yet to be published.

Drive.ai and Lyft partner to test self-driving cars in Bay Area

Drive.ai and Lyft have announced a partnership to test self-driving cars in the San Francisco Bay Area. The trial will look into how Lyft can optimize the passenger experience, and expand Drive.ai’s technical capabilities with thousands of autonomous miles.

Lyft has made a few big self-driving announcements in the past few months, including a research partnership with nuTonomy and the launch of its own self-driving division.

See Also: Waymo could be a $70 billion business, says Morgan Stanley

“We’re committed to improving people’s lives with the world’s best transportation,” said Taggart Matthiesen, senior director of product of Lyft. “We’re thrilled to partner with Drive.ai to pilot self-driving cars in the Bay Area, and together help shape the future of transportation and ultimately the future of our communities.”

Drive.ai is looking to “develop a roadmap for broader commercialization” during the trial. The startup is currently building a retrofit kit, making the deployment of a self-driving system much cheaper for automakers or taxi services.

Still someone in driver’s seat

Like all tests in California, an engineer will be inside the Drive.ai vehicle at all times, to take over when necessary.

“Self-driving cars have the potential to save lives, reshape cities, and dramatically benefit the environment. Pilot programs like this are vital to build awareness and familiarity with autonomous vehicle technology, and Drive.ai is committed to working with great businesses like Lyft in order to do so,” said Drive.ai CEO Sameep Tandon.

Lyft has seen its market share rise over the past few months in the U.S., as Uber struggles to move past a series of setbacks. The second largest ride-sharing company holds between 20 and 30 percent of the market, peaking at 40 percent in San Francisco, according to data from The Information.

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That growth in market share may have pushed Lyft to become more focused on self-driving. Before 2017, it looked likely that Lyft would work exclusively with General Motors, at one point the two companies even discussed an acquisition.

Samsung granted permission to test self-driving cars in California

Samsung is the latest technology company to receive a permit to test self-driving cars in California, but does not plan on launching its own automotive anytime soon.

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The South Korean electronics giant will instead work on ‘control systems’ for self-driving vehicles. It has already conducted tests in its home country with Hyundai cars.

See Also: Samsung challenges Google with Connect Home Wi-Fi mesh

Samsung has a major investment in Renault which could be used as a partner in the self-driving development, although it has not publically tested its technology in a Renault vehicle.

The company acquired vehicle audio firm Harman for $8 billion last year, seen as a power move to enter the in-car entertainment and self-driving market.

Even though Samsung has not made as large a footprint in the self-driving market as Google, Baidu, and Uber, it has the funds and talent available to make it a prominent player.

That said, the Galaxy S8 maker may find it difficult to attract partners when rivals are showing millions of autonomous miles driven or advanced artificial intelligence, two things Samsung hasn’t shown.

Samsung’s largest rival in the mobile industry, Apple, has also kept its self-driving developments quiet. It was only a few months ago that the iPhone maker received a permit in California, and has only just started testing three Lexus cars on public roads.

Apple is reportedly planning to launch a shuttle service for employees, going from Palo Alto to the Infinite Loop headquarters. Samsung has not said if it will launch a similar service, or what cars it intends to test in California.

Domino’s and Ford to test self-driving pizza delivery service

Domino’s and Ford have partnered to test a self-driving pizza delivery service to customers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The partnership will be part of Ford’s research into how customers respond and interact with self-driving vehicles.

Randomly selected customers will have the option of trying the self-driving delivery service, according to The Verge. An engineer will be driving the vehicle and researchers will be in the back, taking notes.

See Also: How drones will change our retail experience, our cities and our skies

The customers will retrieve the pizza by using a unique four digit code that opens the Heatwave Compartment, where the pizzas are kept warm. Ford is looking to see if customers are nervous picking the delivery up from outside their home and how their interact with the car’s screens.

“We don’t want to wait until we get everything done on the tech and remove the driver,” said Sherif Marakby, vice president of Ford’s autonomous vehicles division. “We’re trying to start doing the research. We still are working on the technology, because it’s not ready to be put on public streets. It’s simulating that the vehicle is in autonomous mode.”

Domino’s recently announced its very own vehicle for delivering pizza, the DXP. The car is built for endurance and accessibility, two features that Marakby sees as key in the delivery business.

The restaurant chain has tested robots and drone delivery services as well, as a possible way of delivering pizza faster in heavily congested cities.

Ford wants to have a self-driving vehicle road ready by 2021 and is looking at taxi and delivery services as the key benefactors of its autonomous technology. The company may start by selling its vehicles directly to businesses, before launching a commercial vehicle for individuals.

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It has pledged to spend $1 billion over five years to Argo AI, an artificial intelligence startup.

Uber looked into partnering with automaker for self-driving project

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Uber’s self-driving project could have been a collaborative effort between the ride-hailing giant and a major automaker, according to a report by The Information.

In the summer, Uber rejected an acquisition offer for the self-driving unit by an unnamed automaker. That led executives to discuss the possibility of further collaboration with automakers, to offset some of the costs of running the division.

See Also: Intel to deploy 100 self-driving vehicles worldwide by end of year

Uber has made self-driving partnership announcements in the past, with Daimler and Hyundai, and Toyota made a strategic investment in the company, aimed at the self-driving division. None of these have been major collaborations, the type that Waymo has with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) or Cruise Automation with General Motors.

It was reported last year that FCA was looking to partner with Uber and Amazon, though neither of these partnerships have been confirmed.

There have been a lot of changes at Uber since the discussions were held. An internal investigation found multiple cases of harassment, co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO, and Waymo launched a lawsuit against the company for stealing trade secrets.

The lack of leadership and lawsuit may keep automakers away from signing major partnerships with Uber. The company has reportedly lost a bit of its value in the past few months, though revenue and usage is still growing.

Without a dedicated partner, Uber could find itself far behind rivals in the self-driving market. Waymo has deployed 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans as part of its partnership with FCA, and Cruise Automation is using GM’s Chevrolet Bolt EV cars to test an employee taxi service in San Francisco.

Traditional manufacturers BMW, Fiat, and Delphi have partnered with Intel and Mobileye, creating a consortium dedicated to building all the parts for a self-driving car.

nuTonomy wants to be self-driving in Singapore by summer 2018

Self-driving startup nuTonomy said it hopes to launch a commercial ride service in Singapore by the second quarter of 2018, possibly in partnership with local ride-hailing service Grab.

Originally an MIT spin-off, nuTonomy has worked on self-driving software for three years. It started trialling its tech in Singapore in 2016, and expanded its shuttle program later that year.

See also: nuTonomy comes home with Boston self-driving tests

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nuTonomy chief executive Karl Iagnemma said to Reuters that he hopes the service will start in summer, though it could be pushed back to the third or fourth quarter. Iagnemma did not say if this transport service would be ride-hailing, ride-sharing, or a shuttle.

Singapore is a hotbed for emerging technologies, with drones, IoT, and self-driving cars all tested in the city state. NuTonomy received little resistance as it expanded its trial program, and the commercial service will, we assume, see the same safe passage.

Working with Grab could be a way to build nuTonomy’s fleet quicker, possibly using drivers in the interim stage between semi-autonomous and driverless. A Grab partnership also opens up the doors to wider South-East Asian deployment, as the company is active in several countries.

NuTonomy is also working on a trial in the U.S. with ride-sharing service Lyft, expected to launch later this year in Boston. Lyft recently announced that it would be creating its own self-driving division, leading some to question the partnership between it and General Motors.

Colorado to deploy self-driving crash truck to shadow road crews

The Colorado Department of Transportation has said it will deploy a self-driving truck to protect road crews from speeding vehicles by the end of this fall, potentially extending the program to cover all road maintenance if the trial is a success.

The self-driving truck will act as a “crash truck”, which moves slowly behind road crews. The trucks are currently manned by a single driver, who faces the brunt of the damage if an accident happens.

See Also: Forrester: self-driving to make global economy “unrecognizable” by 2035

In Colorado, 21,898 crashes and 171 fatalities were reported on work zones between 2000 and 2014, according to CNN Money, highlighting the need for crash trucks and other buffers.

The self-driving truck will follow a lead vehicle further ahead via radio waves, taking notice of worker movements and other factors. The self-driving technology is developed by Kratos Defense, a supplier of autonomous vehicles for the U.S. army.

“People talk about automation and will this displace workers. Here’s a case where I think everyone will agree we want to get workers out of these trucks,” said Shailen Bhatt, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

One truck so far

Colorado has purchased one truck for the trial and will buy more if the trial is successful. Officials said that former drivers of crash trucks will be given other roles in the road crew.

Trucks are expected to make up a significant amount of the self-driving industry’s value, according to a report by Strategy Analytics and Intel. The business-as-a-mobility sector could be worth $3 trillion by 2050, most of the value coming from long-haul shipping, another job with a high turnover rate.
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Apple to test self-driving shuttle for employees in Palo Alto

Apple is reportedly working on a self-driving shuttle service for its employees, moving them between Palo Alto and 1 Infinite Loop, the company’s headquarters.

The shuttle service will use the company’s own self-driving software, which has been in development since the ‘Titan’ project started three years ago. The shuttle will be from a third-party manufacturer, a sign, according to The New York Times report, that the company has scaled back its autonomous project.

See Also: Waymo patents collapsible self-driving car design

Apple would not be the first company to test its self-driving software on employees, Cruise Automation has a service running in San Francisco and Waymo has used employees in Chandler, Arizona. Michigan University also runs a shuttle service for students.

Apple built a team but never went far

Apple had, by 2015, assembled a large team for the Titan project, covering all aspects of the self-driving car. The company was looking into doors that shut automatically and silently, a car interior without a steering wheel or pedals, and a way to get rid of the ugly Lidar sensor.

It wasn’t until last year the company realized it wasn’t getting very far with the do-it-all-at-once approach, and brought in Apple veteran Bob Mansfield to scale back and focus on software.

The refocus has placed Apple behind in the autonomous race. The company applied for a California DMV self-driving permit only a few months ago, while competitors Waymo, General Motors, and Tesla have tested self-driving cars in the state for years.

The permit showed the firm is using three Lexus cars to test its software.

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Ford to work on self-driving cars with taxi and delivery functionality

Car ownership is predicted to decline as self-driving cars hit the roads, with more people, especially in cities, opting for a taxi or shuttle. When that happens, Ford wants to be the company supplying taxi operators with vehicles.

In a blog post, Ford vice president of autonomous vehicles, Sherif Marakby, said the company is aiming to build a self-driving car that maximizes ‘utilization time’, while also evolving to the new needs of taxi operators and delivery services.

See Also: Ford patents removable wheel for self-driving vehicles

Ford makes a point that the new customer is not the individual, but a company. Instead of selling a car to a consumer, it is sold to Uber or Lyft and then used by hundreds of commuters every day.

We’re developing self-driving technology because the world is changing rapidly. For many people who live in large cities, owning a car is no longer a viable choice,” said Marakby.

“Ride sharing and hailing is on the rise, and shopping at malls is giving way to buying online, which is increasing package delivery services. Therefore, we’re building a business to capitalize on both of these trends. We plan to develop and manufacture self-driving vehicles at scale, deployed in cooperation with multiple partners, and with a customer experience based on human-centered design principles.”

Decades of experience gives an edge

The automaker has spent decades working with partners in the taxi and delivery industry, which it said gives it the edge on the competition. In the post, Marakby said the first self-driving cars to come out of Ford’s factories will be hybrids, due to their range advantages compared to electric.

Ford is also putting heavy emphasis on a “human centered design approach”, which is currently being researched at the company’s team in Palo Alto. It said it will work with partners to ensure that its self-driving cars are a force for good on the roads, instead of a disruptor.

The current goal is for a self-driving Ford by 2021, though the company’s head of research said it may be 2026 before customers can buy one of those vehicles.

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Google retires Firefly car to focus on mass-produced vehicles

Google’s self-driving division Waymo has announced it will be retiring the Firefly car, the nearly iconic pod-like vehicle that was manufactured in-house to experiment.

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Waymo is now moving to mass produced vehicles, like the Chrysler Pacifica minivan. It received 600 minivans from Fiat Chrysler last year and is in the process of outfitting the vehicles with Lidar, sensors, and artificial intelligence.

See Also: Waymo working on competitor to Uber’s self-driving trucks

“Now that we’ve moved to our next phase — letting members of the public use our self-driving cars in their daily lives — we’re ready to retire our fleet of Fireflies and focus on integrating our latest technology into vehicles like our new self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivan,” said YooJung Ahn, lead industrial designer and Jaime Waydo, lead system engineer, in a blog post.

“By focusing on mass-produced vehicles like the Pacifica minivan, we’ll be able to bring fully self-driving technology to more people, more quickly.”

A move to a more collaborative approach

The move to a mass-produced vehicle shows the change at Google from wanting to build the hardware, software, and underlying services to a more collaborative approach, where it works with Fiat and ride-sharing service Lyft to improve transportation.

Firefly has been the main vehicle of choice for Waymo over the past two years, as it transitioned away from the Lexus RX450h SUVs that made up most of its fleet.

The automobile had no steering wheel and had a speed limit of 25 mph. Waymo says that it will continue to use Fireflies for ceremonies and a few will be at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.