IIHS Will Begin to Test and Rate Autonomous Car Driving Systems

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US has announced its intention to add Autonomous Driving System safety tests to its portfolio of tests conducted on cars to determine their overall safety. The ratings program is meant to evaluate vehicles with partial automation to determine how safe they are when in use.

As with their crash tests, the IIHS will designate ratings of Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor. These new ratings will be applied to systems like Super Cruise from GM, BlueCruise from Ford and Autopilot from Tesla. The IIHS already tests forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems but uses a different ratings system.

To receive the highest “Good” rating, the IIHS is stressing the need to have an excellent driver monitoring system. It must be able to ensure that the driver’s eyes are directed at the road and their hands are either on the wheel or ready to grab it at all times. Many driver monitoring systems are already fairly effective at tracking a driver’s eyes and can sense when a driver's hand is on the wheel, but tracking their hands’ positions when they are off the wheel is new.

Additionally, “Good” rated cars will have multiple types of escalating alerts to get the driver’s attention if the monitoring finds them to be inattentive. If none of the alerts remedy the driver’s inattentiveness, then the vehicle will need a fail-safe procedure that slows the vehicle to a stop or crawl, notifies the manufacturer concierge and calls emergency services if necessary. Also, to earn a “Good” rating, the car must only perform automatic lane changes when they’re initiated by the driver for example, you tell the car you want to move into the left lane by activating the left turn signal. Another criterion to achieve a “Good” rating is that adaptive cruise control must be designed to not reactivate after traffic ahead brings the car to an elongated stop and the driver is not looking at the road.

The news of this new rating system came around the same time as a US Transportation Sub-committee hearing on the road ahead for Autonomous vehicles ended seemingly with more questions than answers and no new policy outcomes despite the urgent need for a national level strategy in the US.

Autonomous, Battery-powered Rail Cars May Boost Rail Freight Capacity

Parallel Systems, a start-up created by three former SpaceX engineers, has released details of a prototype that could bring autonomous, battery powered technology to the world of railroad freight. Parallel Systems wants to add electric powered traction motors to every car on the train. It is how many electric passenger trains operate, but this system that has been slow to migrate to the freight world.

Then they will go a step further, though by adding a package of sensors that allow it to operate autonomously. As a large portion of the world’s freight is shipped via 20-foot (6m) containers, Parallel Systems is using the containers themselves to complete the car, bridging the gap between the sets of wheels at either end of a train car, also known as bogies.

The way they envision it working is that two vehicles position themselves far enough apart to support the container, which is lowered by a crane. The vehicles then use their short- and long-range cameras to navigate the rails. As each rail vehicle has everything it needs, it does not have to be part of a long train. In theory, one container supported by two Parallel Systems vehicles could move from origin to destination by itself. In reality, they will likely end up traveling in platoons to reduce wind resistance and increase efficiency.

Unlike large US freight trains which could be up to 10,000 ft (3 km) long pulling hundreds of cars, Parallels trains would be much smaller between 10-50 cars or 200-1200 ft (60-366 m) in length. This system will allow more end point destinations for freight, however a stumbling block to the idea is the need to renew and, in many cases, build new tracks to get the most out of the idea of more distributed freight network.

Labrador’s Retriever Robot Aids Elderly to Live Independently

Labrador Systems have come up with a solution to aid people with lowered mobility around homes with a semi-autonomous mobile table. For older adults as well as those with disabilities, reliance on mobility aids may mean moving around while carrying things in arms can be dangerous, painful, exhausting and could necessitate the need for in-home help. The Labrador robot offers a place to store and transport heavy items that might be impossible for those people to carry or move on their own. In total, the robot can handle up to 11kg (24 lbs).

Labrador has designed a system of pallets and trays that allow its Retriever robot to carry out fetching tasks autonomously. Pallets can be attached to tables or countertops, and then the robot can be instructed to interface with a specific pallet and retrieve the tray.

Labrador uses 3D visual simultaneous localization and mapping, combined with depth sensors and bumpers on all sides to navigate through home environments, managing tight spaces, floor transitions, and low lighting conditions, but you will have to keep clutter and cords away from the robot’s path and possibly tape down some carpet edges.

When you first get a robot, a Labrador representative will (remotely) drive it around to build a map and to set up the “bus stops” where the robot can be sent. This simplifies control, as the user can then just speak a destination and the robot will make its way there, zero training time required. It can also be scheduled to be at specific spots at specific times. All-day battery life is achievable since the robot spends most of its time being a table and not moving.