[Page 3] Autonomous vehicles and UAVs hot topics at ROBOTICA 2016

Editor's note: This is page 3 of a 4-page article.

Intelligent and automated vehicles: "My Driver, My Robot"

Moderated by Paul Schmitt, Director, Automated Vehicles, MassRobotics, this session was quite the event. Prior to introducing the panel, a number of headlines were mentioned that highlighted the proliferation and interest of self-driving car technology in the world today. These included:

• Ford (Mark Fields) saying they want to become a data company
• GM purchasing Cruise Automation
• Google partnering with Fiat Chrysler for self-driving cars
• Uber– expanding facilities for self-driving cars, made a deal with Toyota
• Apple spending $1B on Uber rival
• Optimus ride, NuTonomy (testing autonomous taxi service in Singapore this year)

From there, he introduced the individual members of the impressive panel, which I’ve listed below:

• Bryan Reimer, Ph.D, Research Scientist, MIT AgeLab and Associate Director, The New England University Transportation Center at MIT
• Jonathan Koopman, Project Manager, Intelligent Transportation Systems Automated Vehicle Research, Volpe Center
• Frank Serma, Principal Director, Strategic Initiatives, Draper
• Jeff Ruel, Director, Business Development, Autoliv Active Safety
• Carmine Senatore, Ph.D, Senior Associate, Vehicle Engineering, Exponent

Each panelist provided information on their work, as well as what their company or organization does, but for the brevity’s sake, I’ll cover the big highlights from the discussion.

After the introductions, Schmitt posed two big questions to each member of the panel, the first of which was "What is the most significant bit of news you’ve heard in the last year?" See each panelist’s summarized responses here:

Reimer:Tesla’s autopilot. This is the first higher-level automation system that was put into the consumer’s hands. This could have used geo-fencing and state modeling, but it was deployed regardless, he noted.

Koopman:The increased collaboration among industry players. Barriers are being broken down in the industry in terms of collaboration.

Serma:The automotive engineering opportunities and the fact that this is now a "cool" industry to be in. This is a big positive. Second, the DOT initiatives are very positive, as we have placed a bigger emphasis on this. Third, significant opportunities in the commonwealth, in terms of economic development.

Ruel:New car assessment programs (NCAPS). As we look toward NCAPs and the future, there is a rapid progression toward things like requiring automated braking systems, and so on. Democratization of safety is well on its way. On the other side, lot of money and interest from new entrants (Google, Uber, Apple, etc.) This gives me a lot of confidence and hope.

Senatore:Tesla’s autopilot, and using event data recording to learn from mistakes. Automotive industry becoming "big data" companies. Seems to also be a lot of good will in the automotive industry to share data and learn from each other to create disruptive technologies.

Next page:Conclusion

Keynote | Protecting our skies | Intelligent and automated vehicles | Conclusion