forbes
Report from first person to give up their car for a robotaxi
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-04-11 11:23
I'm back from another electric car road trip -- more later on that -- but here's a story where I provide a report from a Waymo One user on how he sold one of his family's two cars and replaced it with robotaxi service. He's an early adopter, but he helps us examine just what some of the issues are around getting people to do that.
Dockless scooters change the economics of downtown parking
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-04-04 12:07
Review of the LG OLEDs -- it's time for a 4K HDR TV, but it still thinks it's a TV
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-04-03 11:12
I recently purchased an LG 4K OLED HDR TV. In spite of the high price, I am pleased with it, and it's made old HDTV look somewhat dull. There is now enough content to upgrade.
Read my review and also my comments on how the TV hasn't yet figured out that many of us just want it for streaming.
Motel charging beats Supercharging for Electric Car Tourism
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-03-28 10:44Tales of an Electric Car Road Trip and Supercharging strategy
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-03-27 09:11
This month we took an electric car road trip in the California desert to see the flowers. The idea of a road trip in the desert with an electric car would have been crazy not too long ago. Now it's becoming possible, soon it will be easy, but there's still lots to learn.
A taxonomy of the many choices in flying cars
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-03-25 13:02
There are over 100 companies out there developing small VTOL "flying cars." And they're all making different decisions on several important design choices. I've written a breakdown of the key design decisions and what they mean, which forms a sort of taxonomy.
Government Testing Labs Can't Certify Robocar Safety
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-03-21 11:13Nvidia simulator and Safety Force Field and other news from GTC
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-03-20 10:05This week I am at the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference, which has become a significant conference for machine learning, robots and robocars.
Here is my writeup on a couple of significant announcements from Nvidia -- a new simulation platform and a "safety force field" minder for robocar software, along with radar localization and Volvo parking projects.
Putting solar panels on the roof doesn't change emissions from driving an electric car
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-03-11 12:01
Earlier, I wrote about what happens when we put renewables on the grid and how complex it is.
Putting renewables on the grid to green your electric car is complicated
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-03-11 11:53No criminal charges for Uber in fatality
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-03-06 11:37
Yesterday, it was announced the state attorney in Arizona will not press criminal charges against Uber around the fatality a year ago in Tempe. It is still not decided if charges will apply to the safety driver.
I have a Forbes.com piece on the nature of fault in the Uber crash:
Where's my flying car? Coming in for a landing...
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-03-04 10:09
Readers all know I love robocars and write about the tremendous effect they will have on our lives and cities. But a new technology, running about a decade behind but now real, is coming which could have even more dramatic effects, the e-VTOL or "flying car."
Autopilot review Update
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2019-03-01 15:19Of course, just after releasing my review of Tesla Autopilot they announced new pricing and features, with some explanation of what "full self drive" is.
For now, it turns out it's still driver assist, but on city streets. It's an interesting question if that's a good idea. I offer some additional analysis and updates.
Read my Update to Tesla Autopilot Review
We need a world where open source robocars are possible
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-02-25 12:49
We all love open source. But the usual rules of open source break down if every vehicle deployed on the road has to have gone through a complex and expensive safety certification process. You can't just download, patch and go.
So we need other solutions to allow the world of the tinkerer/hacker and the innovation and superior function it can provide.
Ethics professors solve the "Trolley Problem" by debating switching tracks to kill 1 person vs. 5. Engineers solve it by fixing the brakes.
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-02-21 11:08Since the famous Trolley Problem has come up again recently thanks to the MIT Moral Machine, it's time for what seems to be an annual debunking of the notion.
This time, to illustrate the pithy headline above, I tell the story of why the hypothetical situation is even rarer than people imagine because of the way braking and steering systems are designed on robocars, and how their driving patterns will be designed to minimize risk.
Waymo shows off how it obeys a cop redirecting traffic.
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-02-20 12:45The end of the A380 and California HSR teach us smaller is better
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2019-02-15 11:08
I have written often about the new economies in transportation that future technology like robocars provide. In my research I've learned something that seems to not be well known in the transportation world -- that often, smaller is better and more energy efficient.
Will Robocars fight break-ins by moving or fighting back?
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2019-02-11 10:36No, cars won't circle around in traffic to avoid paying for parking
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-02-07 10:01For many years, people have wondered if people might tell their robocars to just drive continuously around the block rather than pay for parking. I've written before about how that doesn't make sense, but a recent paper from Adam Millard-Ball of UC Santa Cruz tries to make a real case that it could make economic sense, even if it's antisocial.