I can’t tell you how many times I have sat down with executives of large companies and startups who have tried to get me excited about geo-fencing. Geo-fencing is a clever little technology that can allow a device maker to restrict access to a device, service or content when that system roams beyond a particular zone of acceptable… Read More
Author: Roger C. Lanctot
From Tragedy to Triumph for Tesla
Tesla Motors has done it again. Dragged before the investigators of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla was found faultless and its vehicles flawless in connection with the fatal Florida crash last year.… Read More
Fed Panel Asks Today: Why Waymo?
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is holding the first meeting today of a new advisory committee focused, in its own words: “on automation across a number of modes.” The committee, made up of an array of experts from a variety of fields, is “to immediately begin work on some of the most pressing and… Read More
California Rules the Road
California’s influence on the global automotive industry remains intact at the start of 2017 in spite of the state’s strict licensing for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads. California managed to chase Uber away with that licensing requirement, but in the process the state has established a benchmark for… Read More
Tesla’s (and Uber’s) Teflon to be Tested in 2017
For the past two years the impression has been spreading that Tesla Motors can do no wrong. (I can’t really say the same for Uber after the recent San Francisco licensing debacle.) There is no question that Tesla’s legal department is growing by the month as fights persist over opening stores and forestalling liability… Read More
Will Lawsuits Stall Automotive AI?
The roster of automotive artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives is growing rapidly with Softbank working with Honda on the Emotion Engine for the Neuv self-driving commuter vehicle, IBM’s collaboration with General Motors and BMW, and, now, reports of Microsoft bringing AI to Volvo in the form of Cortana. It was Google… Read More
Vox Clamantis in Deserto
If you are headed to Las Vegas for your New Year’s celebration, the annual Consumer Electronics Show or just a good time, beware! According to some estimates Nevada is the fourth most dangerous state for pedestrians and Las Vegas is ground zero for what the city calls an ePEDemic of roadway fatalities.
It’s difficult… Read More
They Kill Pedestrians, Don’t They?
I came upon the scene of a crash investigation yesterday afternoon in my hometown of Herndon, Va. A mother and two children were hit by a 20-year-old motorist making a right turn at an intersection. I did not see the crash, but I strongly suspect the motorist was looking left to anticipate oncoming traffic and never noticed the pedestrians… Read More
Asimo Creator Talks to Waymo
It’s been 16 years since the debut of Honda’s Asimo robot. By now, millions of people around the world have seen Asimo and its offspring at trade shows and on television. The robot is still capable of drawing a crowd wherever it is found especially since it is not only capable of walking and running but also of recognizing… Read More
V2V: Loose Talk about Talking Cars
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a proposed rule this week which may ultimately require the installation of a communications box in every car manufactured or sold as new in the U.S. The U.S. is alone in the world in pursuing such a mandate and the proposal, which requires years of additional evaluation, testing and definition… Read More
What is Wrong with Intel?