Tag Archives: autonomous

IPMI Blog, Resources

Ford Launches Mobility Lab in Detroit

Leave a comment

The future of real-world mobility will be the subject of a new research facility established by Ford in Detroit. Corktown, one of Detroit’s oldest neighborhoods, will become a learning lab for driverless vehicles.

With the cooperation of multiple stakeholders, including local government, Ford will use the neighborhood’s streets to study how new mobility systems will interact with existing infrastructure, including pedestrians. The main goal is to learn how real people will leverage new mobility solutions to get from place to place.

Read the whole story here. 

IPMI Blog, Resources

Autonomous Cars as Game-changers for the Elderly?

Leave a comment

Will autonomous vehicles be game-changers for the way elderly people live their lives? At least one research team is looking into it and it’s not as cut and dry as it seems.

Dr. Shuo Li, an expert in intelligent transportation systems at Newcastle University, and Phil Blythe, a professor there,  say while AVs might allow elderly people to avoid some of the safety measures they take now, including not driving in bad weather, avoiding some turns, and staying off busier roads, they also struggle to take back control of a driverless car when necessary. At 60 miles per hour, their study found, elderly passengers needed 10 more car lengths than younger people to assume control of the vehicle. So while AVs might make life easier sometimes, they may also pose extra challenges.

Read the whole story here.

EV HUB, IPMI Blog, Resources

Preparing for a Connected, Autonomous Future

Leave a comment

By Michelle Wendler, AIA

The development of connected and autonomous technology has opened up a future of endless possibilities for the parking and mobility industry, all with the potential to not only change the way we park and move but also open up new avenues of sustainable design that will make our world a better place.

Sustainability is already an integral part of everyday best parking practices, from installing photovoltaic panels to pursuing Parksmart certification. As we continue to innovate and get closer to a truly connected future, we will create even more green opportunities. The continued proliferation of electric vehicles will further reduce emissions. The evolution of driverless cars may open up possibilities to densify and reduce street and lot parking. Connected cities have the potential to reduce congestion and create more sustainable mobility solutions.

While we may not have definitive answers as to what the impact of connected and autonomous technology will be and how and when our infrastructure will evolve, this exciting new horizon provides us with some unique opportunities to help shape that future. The value we as parking professionals can offer our clients is to design today’s projects with an eye on tomorrow, to put them in a better position to adapt when the time comes.

Things owners can do now to prepare today’s parking facilities for tomorrow’s needs are to design with future electrical capacity, wireless needs, and EV charging technology in mind. Even if this infrastructure is not necessary today, it can avoid costly upgrades in the future. Owners can also view structured parking as park-once transportation hubs and as such, incorporate bike lockers and information about public transit options available once you park.

Likewise, evaluating the possibilities and upfront costs of adaptive reuse can help owners make informed decision on how to make the most out of their facility during the course of its lifespan. Adaptive reuse is an exciting topic, but it is also a costly undertaking that requires careful consideration to determine if it is the right approach for a specific project. For more information on the cost of adaptive reuse, click here.

This Earth Day, let’s celebrate the possibilities a connected and autonomous future offer us, with an eye on the steps we can take now to help prepare for it.

Michelle Wendler, AIA, is principal with Watry Design, Inc.

IPMI Blog, Resources

What Boeing’s Troubles May Mean for Autonomous Vehicle Development

Leave a comment

Boeing’s 737 MAX jet problems may have a ripple effect that could slow down autonomous vehicle development, experts say, though how much remains to be seen.

The company’s autonomous flight stabilization system is suspected to have played a role in two crashes of the new line of planes in five months, causing more than 300 deaths. And that may make investors wary of dealing with artificial intelligence (AI) startups and put the brakes on autonomous transportation across the board; both developers and consumers may become more skittish than they are now.

Read an analysis from Barron’s here.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Will AVs Avoiding Parking Cause Gridlock?

Leave a comment

A new study says autonomous vehicles may decide to cruise around rather than parking when not in use, raising concerns that they may add to gridlock in downtown areas.

Human-driven cars must be parked when the humans get out of the vehicle. But driverless cars can just keep going and won’t have the same incentive to actually park for periods of time, the study says. Their decision may be to keep moving around rather than entering a lot or garage and paying to park; one expert said an AV is expected to cost about $0.50 per hour to operate, so it’ll be cheaper to keep driving. And that could spell traffic trouble in already crowded areas.

Read the whole story here and let us know in the comments–do you share the study’s concerns?

 

IPMI Blog, Resources

Autonomous Technology Good News for Detroit

Leave a comment

Waymo, Google’s self-driving vehicle arm, is looking for a built factory in Detroit to outfit cars with its autonomous technology, giving Motor City a major role in future transportation. The company received an $8 million grant from the state of Michigan to locate there, and says the factory will be the first one in the world dedicated to mass production of AVs.

Waymo is looking for a factory of up to 200,000 square feet in the Detroit area, and says it will be used to install AV technology in Chryslers and eventually Jaguars. The grant mandates it must be up and running by the end of 2021 and employ at least 100 people.

Read the whole story here.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Lawrence Burns and the Future of Parking and Mobility

Leave a comment

Talk about the future of mobility–specifically, shared, electric, autonomous vehicles–and it won’t be long before somebody brings Lawrence Burns into the conversation. That’s for good reason; before he wrote the bestseller “Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car–and How it will Reshape Our World,” he was the expert Waymo (formerly Google’s self-driving car project) and General Motors turned to for guidance. He’s also, among other things, behind much of the AV infrastructure of Babcock Ranch, the world’s first community built for autonomous transportation, and he’s one of the world’s foremost experts on the future of transportation.

So what does Burns think that AV future looks like? He recently talked with The Parking Professional about it:

  • “If Google hadn’t stepped up and said they were going to go for it, I don’t think the auto industry would have done this on its own. They’re just not inclined to disrupt themselves to the extent of taking the driver out of the car.”
  • “What will convince you is when you get your first chance to take a ride in a truly autonomous car. You ride in those cars and you’re blown away by what they can do. Are there things they can’t do still? Yeah. But the things they can do are phenomenal.”
  • “What we see now is a once-in-a-century chance to design a transportation service that gets rid of all those negatives and at lower cost than owning and operating a car, and it’s much safer. People loved horses when Henry Ford came along, and people still love horses. No one is going to say you can’t drive your car.”
  • “The traditional model of parking having to be adjacent to the destination is going to be disrupted considerably.”
  • “Parking is a really important part of this future story. A really important part. People who have a stake in the industry need to anticipate what’s coming. I think there will be some big winners, but I think there will be some big losers too.”

Read the whole interview, including Burns’ thoughts on how cities and organizations should be setting themselves up for AVs, how parking professionals should be rethinking things, and exactly when he thinks everything will change, in the January issue of The Parking Professional.  And then get ready for more–Burns will join parking and mobility professionals from around the world in Anaheim, Calif., next June as the 2019 IPMI Conference & Expo keynote speaker. We can’t wait!

IPMI Blog, Resources

Cybersecurity Concerns and AVs

Leave a comment

What happens if the autonomous vehicle you’re in gets hacked? Experts say it’s not a small concern and keeping the driverless cars’ data and systems secure should be top of mind. But they also say developers may not have considered all the possible risks.

Tripwire‘s State of Security blog addresses several areas AVs might be at risk:

  • If a hacker accesses the cloud database used by an AV, the car can be manipulated remotely.
  • Encrypting data for some safety features could slow down those features, but leaving them open makes them very vulnerable to hacking–and hackers could shut them down completely.
  • Every system made by each manufacturer uses its own coding system–there is no universal standard. If those manufacturers don’t all adhere to security standards or consider all risks and address them, some cars could be easily accessed by criminals.

Manufacturers’ resistance to sharing their technologies with each other, the blog says, raises the risk of hacking or other security flaws. And that’s a very scary thing. Read more about it here.  Then let us know in the comments: Valid concerns or not enough information in play?

IPMI Blog, Resources

Waymo Test Vehicles Under (Literal) Attack

Leave a comment

Not everyone is in love with the idea of autonomous vehicles and Waymo, formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project, is learning about it firsthand, as a slew of their test vehicles have come under attack.

Waymo vans on the road in Arizona have had tires slashed and their safety drivers have had weapons pointed at them at least 21 times in the last two years, and police believe the incidents are likely under-reported. Theories as to why vary from people being afraid of the technology to those who may fear losing their jobs when self-driving cars start taking to roads around the world.

Read about it in Newsweek.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Thirty-two Hours in the World’s Self-Driving Car Capital

Leave a comment

What will the world and its communities be like when autonomous vehicles rule the roads? Wired sent a reporter to Chandler, Ariz., where Waymo is large-scale testing on real streets, to find out.

The first surprise was how engaged the fire department is in the testing. Would Waymo’s cars run over hoses in the street? Would they hear sirens behind them and pull over? And how does an emergency crew rescue a passenger trapped in a car with no driver?

Other questions: Who gets the ticket if the car performs an illegal maneuver–the car or the safety driver? What happens when a regular car parks in a space reserved for self-driving vehicles (it’s already happening in Chandler)? And what does it really meant to road safety when autonomous vehicles start mixing with human-driven cars?

It’s an interesting read. Check it out here and let us know in the comments–what do you think will happen when self-driving cars come to your town?