ChatGPT in Cars?

 MS Chat Virtual Assistants in cars?

ChatGPT could power voice assistants in General Motors vehicles

The automaker is reportedly using Microsoft’s Azure cloud service and OpenAI’s tech to develop a new virtual vehicle assistant.

By JESS WEATHERBED, Mar 13, 2023 b  in TheVerge

GM is reportedly using Microsoft’s Azure cloud service — which includes a ChatGPT API — to develop a virtual personal assistant for its vehicles. Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The AI language models behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT could soon be powering virtual assistants in General Motors vehicles. As reported by Reuters on Friday, an executive for GM has revealed that the American automaker is exploring potential uses for ChatGPT as part of a broader collaboration with Microsoft. Semafor similarly reported last week that “people with knowledge of the product” had specified GM was using Microsoft’s Azure cloud service — which includes a ChatGPT API — to develop a virtual personal assistant for its vehicles. 

GM Vice President Scott Miller provided some details for the project in an interview with Reuters last week, saying that “ChatGPT is going to be in everything.” Miller claimed that the chatbot could push things beyond voice commands currently used in vehicles by providing drivers with information about their vehicle’s features, such as advising the driver on what action to take when a diagnostic light appears on the dashboard or instructing the user on how to change a flat tire by displaying a video demonstration on the vehicle’s infotainment system.

GM’s voice assistant likely won’t behave exactly like ChatGPT as OpenAI’s technology will be adjusted specifically for vehicles.

Ford’s as-yet-unnamed assistant could also program functions like garage door codes, or integrating user schedules from a calendar to remind the driver of any upcoming meetings and tasks. According to Semafor, GM’s voice assistant won’t necessarily behave like ChatGPT or Bing Chat as the company plans to apply a “car-specific layer” to OpenAI’s tech.

“This shift is not just about one single capability like the evolution of voice commands, but instead means that customers can expect their future vehicles to be far more capable and fresh overall when it comes to emerging technologies,” a GM spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

Microsoft already has a “long-term strategic relationship” with General Motors, having partnered with the automaker’s self-driving subsidiary Cruise in 2021 to use Microsoft’s Azure platform to develop GM’s autonomous vehicles. There’s no release timeline or even a formal announcement for General Motor’s ChatGPT integration plans as yet, and with details being so slim, it could be a while before we’re recreating scenes from Knight Rider in a new Chevrolet.   ... ' 

Battery Metals Scramble

 Car makers are going mining. 

Tesla, GM Among Carmakers Flocking to Mining Events Amid Battery Metals Scramble

February 24, 2023 Bloomberg      in SupplyBrainChain

Top automakers including Tesla, General Motors, and Ford are heading out on the mining conference circuit as soaring demand for metals used in electric vehicles ignites a scramble to lock in long-term supplies.

Those major U.S. firms, along with Rivian Automotive Inc. and European counterparts Stellantis N.V., Mercedes-Benz Group AG, and Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, will be mingling with the crowds of mining industry executives attending a major metals conference in Florida in early March.

The four-day event is expected to attract almost 1,500 participants to Hollywood, Florida. Bank of Montreal, which is organizing the annual gathering, sees strong interest from several car manufacturers that are seeking to secure supplies of lithium, nickel, graphite and other battery metals.

“There’s an urgency to it now that wasn’t there a few years ago,” said Ilan Bahar, co-head of global metals and mining business at BMO Capital Markets.“If three or four years ago we had invited car companies to our conference, they probably wouldn’t have made it a priority.”

It’s unusual for massive end-users of raw commodities, like auto manufacturers, machinery producers or aerospace companies, to attend large mining conferences. But the huge demand for raw materials to support the electrification of those industries is changing that.

Bahar said a number of automakers are attending, including officials in procurement or corporate development, and are focused on securing supply and investing.

“They’re there as investors,” he said. “They want to meet with companies, and the companies want to meet with investors.”  ... ' 

Mercedes-Benz cars to have 'supercomputers', unveils Google Partnership

Mercedes and Google partner for Supercomputer Cars

  Mercedes-Benz cars to have 'supercomputers', unveils Google partnership

By Victoria Waldersee and Joseph White

Mercedes-Benz holds a strategy update event focused on software in California

[1/6] A guest looks at the dashboard display of a Mercedes-Benz prototype during a strategy update event focused on software at the company's North American Research and Development center in Sunnyvale, California U.S., February 22, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

BERLIN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) said on Wednesday it has teamed up with Google (GOOGL.O) on navigation and will offer "super computer-like performance" in every car with automated driving sensors as it seeks to compete with Tesla (TSLA.O) and Chinese newcomers.

Automakers new and old are racing to match software-powered features pioneered by Tesla, which allow for vehicle performance, battery range and self-driving capabilities to be updated from a distance. ...  ' 

Comment on Hands-Free Driving

 Received the below of interest, linking to Automotive hands-free, I will also link to Spiritcar, and pass along things I think are useful to my readers: 

  ... My name is Alexis Walker, and I’m working with Spiritcar.com. I noticed you shared an article about hands-free driving on this page: http://eponymouspickle.blogspot.com/2020/08/more-seeing-around-corner.html

We have published a more recent article presenting tips for getting the most out of Android Auto. Before presenting the 14 tips, our article notes that Android Auto features like the handsfree feature enhance safety and overall driving experience. 

Here's the article if you want to read more: https://spiritcar.com/14-tips-for-getting-the-most-out-of-android-auto/  .... ' 

Airless Car Tires

Useful, how soon?   A future shift in the history of automotive?  Goodyear.

Could flat tyres soon be a thing of the past?

By Russell Hotten, Business reporter, BBC News

The sight of a car limping along on a near-flat tyre, or a roadside wheel change are still common.

So is the expense of replacing tyres that have worn out prematurely, perhaps because the driver may not have been checking the pressure as regularly as they should.

Sometimes it's difficult not to feel tyres are a car's weak link. But is this about to change? Is it the end of the black rubber air-filled doughnut first used on vehicles in the 1890s - a product designed to be indestructible, and therefore not easy to recycle?

On a test track in Luxembourg, a Tesla Model 3 is twisting through tight corners, accelerating rapidly, and doing emergency stops. Standard stuff. What's remarkable, though, is the car is sitting on four airless tyres - made by Goodyear, the US manufacturer.

Special plastic spokes, support a thin, reinforced rubber tread. The spokes flex and contort as the car goes through its paces.  .... ' 

Bluetooth Hack can Unlock Tesla

This will get further attention. 

Bluetooth Hack Can Unlock Tesla, Devices  By Ars Technica

Sultan Qasim Khan at U.K.-based security firm NCC Group has devised an exploit for unlocking Teslas and countless other devices by hacking the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. The simplest form of this relay attack involves two hackers who share data through an open Internet connection, and are respectively close to the Tesla and the authenticating phone. 

Attacker 1 captures the authenticating request from the Tesla and sends it to Attacker 2, who forwards the request to the phone and records and sends the phone-transmitted credential to Attacker 1, who then can unlock the car. The hack thwarts countermeasures like encrypting phone-transmitted credentials, and Khan said practically any BLE device that authenticates on proximity alone is susceptible., 

The hack, which exploits weaknesses in the Bluetooth Low Energy standard, can be used to unlock doors, open and operate vehicles, and gain unauthorized access to a host of laptops and other security-sensitive devices  ... 

In Ars Technica: 

Real Direction of Automotive Tech

Real Direction of Automotive Technology?

EVs Are on the Way, But Can AVs Keep Up?  In SupplyChainBrain

Advances in automotive technology aim to bring an end to the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. Will the human driver be jettisoned along with it?

Electric vehicles (EVs) are well on their way to dominating the auto market. The Biden administration has set a target of zero-emission vehicles accounting for half of U.S. new car sales by 2030. And at least a quarter of global Fortune 500 companies have already signed on to that goal.

U.S. transportation policy views EVs as a plus in two distinct areas: the environment and social equity, according to attorney Melody Drummond Hansen, a member of the Automated & Connected Vehicle Group of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. “You’ll see a gold rush in the U.S. in the next several years,” she says, “as people take advantage of investments available at the federal and state level for infrastructure for EVs.”

... According to attorney Melody Drummond Hansen, a member of the Automated & Connected Vehicle Group of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. “You’ll see a gold rush in the U.S. in the next several years,” she says, “as people take advantage of investments available at the federal and state level for infrastructure for EVs.” .... 

NHTS Approval of LED Headlights

Further automotive directions, regulations, 

Adaptive LED Headlights Get NHTSA Approval in the U.S.

By motor1.com, February 18, 2022

The U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration issued a new rule permitting the use of adaptive light-emitting diode (LED) headlights on U.S. roads.

The $1-billion infrastructure bill passed in November contained a measure allowing the rule against use of such headlights in the U.S. to be modified.

The housings of adaptive headlights contain computer-controlled LEDs that can be aimed in specific locations; they can illuminate the road ahead of the driver similar to the way high beams can, while also focusing the light away from oncoming traffic.

Luxury automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Audi have been using adaptive headlights in their vehicles for years; while the legal hurdles have been cleared, their U.S. deployment will likely not happen quickly ...

Adaptive headlights feature banks of computer-controlled LEDs that can be aimed in very specific locations; they can illuminate the distant road in front of the driver similar to high beams, and also aim the light away from oncoming traffic ... 

From motor1.com  

Ahead for Augmented Reality

Heads up for the road ahead.  Good piece.

Home/News/The Road Ahead for Augmented Reality/Full Text

The Road Ahead for Augmented Reality, By Keith Kirkpatrick

Communications of the ACM, December 2021, Vol. 64 No. 12, Pages 20-22   10.1145/3490317

Automotive head-up displays (HUDs), systems that transparently project critical vehicle information into the driver's field of vision, were developed originally for military aviation use, with the origin of the name stemming from a pilot being able to view information with his or her head positioned "up" and looking forward, rather than positioned "down" to look at the cockpit gauges and instruments. The HUD projects and superimposes data in the pilot's natural field of view (FOV), providing the added benefit of eliminating the pilot's need to refocus when switching between the outside view and the instruments, which can impact reaction time, efficiency, and safety, particularly in combat situations.

In cars, the main concern is distracted driving, or the act of taking the driver's attention away from the road. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, distracted driving claimed 3,142 lives in 2019, the most recent year for which statistics have been published. Looking away from the road for even five seconds at a speed of 55 mph is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with one's eyes closed.

As such, the desire to ensure that drivers keep their eyes focused on the road, instead of looking down at the gauges on the dashboard, was the impetus for the development of HUDs suitable for use in production automobiles. The first automotive HUD that was included as original equipment was found on the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Pontiac Grand Prix; both were monochromatic, and displayed only a digital readout of the speedometer.

Thanks to the increasing inclusion of a variety of automotive sensors and cameras, advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features and functions (such as automatic braking, forward collision avoidance, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot monitoring, among others), and more powerful on-vehicle processors, automakers have been installing HUD units in commercial vehicles that provide more essential driving data, such as speed, engine RPMs, compass heading, directional signal indicators, fuel economy, and other basic information, allowing the driver to concentrate on the road instead of looking down to check the dash or an auxiliary screen.

The technology enabling most types of HUD is based on the use of a processor to generate a digital image of data coming from sensors. These images then are digitally projected from a unit located in the dash of the car onto a mirror or mirrors, which then reflect that image onto either a separate screen located behind the steering wheel, or onto the vehicle's windshield, directly in the driver's forward view. Common projection and display technologies used include liquid crystal display (LCD), liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), digital micromirror devices (DMDs), and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which have replaced the cathode ray tube (CRT) systems used in the earliest HUDs, as they suffered from brightness degradation over time.

The HUDs that project the information onto a separate transparent screen are called combiner HUDs; these were popular because the physical space required to install the system was modest, and because the system was fully integrated, OEMs did not need to design a system that accounted for each vehicle's unique windshield angle or position. However, this type of HUD was limited by several factors; namely, the optical viewing path of a combiner HUD is shorter than looking through a windshield, and the driver's eyes must refocus slightly to the shorter visual distance when switching between looking out the windshield and checking the display. Furthermore, there is a practical limit to the size and field of vision (FOV) offered by combiner units; adding mirrors and a larger combiner screen would apper obtrusive and less elegant in a modern vehicle than simply using the windshield as a display surface.

Because HUDs were far from being standard automotive equipment in most vehicles, companies such as HUDWAY and Navdy had produced phone mounts and screens designed to allow a smartphone to operate as a head-up display. Essentially, these designs functioned as combiner systems, in that they required a separate screen on which to view the display and suffered from many of the same limitations as OEM-equipped combiner HUD systems. While Navdy went out of business in 2018, HUDWAY is still accepting orders for its HUDWAY Drive system at a cost of $229 per unit.

The technical limitations of combiner systems have driven most automotive OEMs to offer HUDs that project information directly onto the windshield and contain a far greater amount of data, known as W-type HUDs. These more-advanced systems incorporate ADAS system status information (such as displaying the status of adaptive cruise control systems, automatic braking systems, collision-avoidance technology, infrared night-vision technology, lane-keeping assist technology, and, eventually, semi-autonomous self-driving system data.

The most advanced systems include augmented reality technology, which involves superimposing specific enhanced symbols or images into the HUD onto real-world objects or roadways to provide more information, detail, and clarity to the driver. Some systems will also incorporate data from GPS navigation systems, such as clear directional graphics, street names, augmented lane markings, signposts and route numbers, and even representations of other vehicles/objects on the road. Examples of vehicles that include this technology today include the Audi Q4 E-tron, Mercedes Benz S Class, and the Hyundai IONIQ 5.   ..... ' 

CarPlay Expands it Reach to AC, Stereo and Seats

 Interesting view of what we might expect for new and updated capabilities, but not driving interfaces in the 'smart home' automotive division.   So far there have not been many impressive examples.   In part because of the safety sensitivity of driving.   And also privacy considerations for related data being used and generated.   Also potentially opening your car, as an IOT device, to malware attack.

Apple CarPlay could control more parts of your vehicle in the future

‘IronHeart’ could build a new CarPlay that easily controls your car’s A/C, stereo, and seats

By Richard Lawler@rjcc 

Ever since it was introduced in 2015, Apple CarPlay has represented a notable upgrade over the user interfaces most cars have by default, but many of our concerns about it, and Android Auto, come up due to their limitations. Newer features like dual-screen support and third-party apps like Google Maps could help, but there are still huge parts of the driving experience that exist outside of Apple’s control panel. Now, Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg that Apple’s “IronHeart” push envisions tying settings like climate controls, seat positioning, and even specific surround sound tweaks to your iPhone.

This is a gap that Google has closed by cutting deals with automakers like Polestar, Ford, Honda, and GM to use Android Automotive as the basis for their UI. According to Bloomberg, while Apple’s plans would require carmaker participation, this isn’t a plan to provide the basis for an infotainment system like Android Automotive.

Instead, Bloomberg suggests it could resemble Apple’s smart home push with HomeKit, with an API that devices (in this case, cars) access with varying levels of support for control and sensor communication. One interesting wrinkle is the mention that with iOS 15, Apple removed several API features from SiriKit, making its occasionally disappointing assistant less capable than before. That includes controls that could, on compatible vehicles, manage these exact settings, like seat position, climate control, or audio source.

If the plans turn into real upgrades, that could mean different cars have different levels of feature support, with some using CarPlay to customize seat position, while others might not support that but could configure the vehicle’s A/C settings based on your iPhone preferences. As the report notes, so far, there has been limited support for things like manufacturer-provided CarPlay apps that can access these deeper control settings, and only BMW supports Apple CarKey so far.

So what does this mean for Apple’s not-so-secret Project Titan car program? Bloomberg reports that the CarPlay expansions wouldn’t collect car or user data, so whatever project Kevin Lynch is now leading will need to glean useful insights in another way.... ' 

Quantum Safe Trust for Vehicles

 Threats of Quantum Powered Cyberattacks, safety of vehicles and their data. 

A 2019 claim by Google AI on groundbreaking quantum computations, while welcomed by many, was met with an intensified sense of urgency by security professionals who face the challenge of how to respond to threats of quantum-powered cyber attacks.

In the Queue Case Study, "Quantum-safe Trust for Vehicles: The Race is Already On,"  Michael Gardiner, Alexander Truskovsky, George Neville-Neil, and Atefeh Mashatan discuss the potential risks posed to the automotive industry by quantum computing.

Among the concerns are over-the-air software updates for smart cars; the telemetry data cars send to manufacturers; sensors in autonomous vehicles that talk to engine control units; and the challenges the automotive industry faces in implementing quantum-resistant public key infrastructure.

Auto manufacturers can begin addressing the challenge by ensuring that engine hardware designed and built today is capable of handling the cryptography that will become essential once attackers are able to take advantage of quantum-compute capabilities. Additionally, quantum-safe algorithms can be tested on vehicle components and quantum-safe trust anchors can be embedded in vehicles.

Queue is ACM's magazine for practicing software engineers. Written by engineers for engineers, Queue focuses on the technical problems and challenges that loom ahead, helping readers to sharpen their own thinking and pursue innovative solutions.  .. '

Alexa Roadside Assistance

Been examining some voice in car applications of smart home solutions.  Extending the confines of the home.  Here is one sent to me by Walter Riker.

Alexa-enabled roadside assist provides fast, intuitive help for U.S. motorists in a bind  By Betsy Amy-Vogt  in Silicon Angle

Remember that feeling of frustration when your car won’t start? Or a flat tire strands you on the side of the road? Instead of speeding down the highway, you’re digging through the glove compartment or searching online for a tow-truck company. Now, thanks to voice-activated assistant technology, there’s an easier way to get help.

“You just say, ‘Alexa, help me with my flat tire,’” said Beth Davidson (pictured, left), chief marketing officer at Agero Inc., which provides connected vehicle, roadside assistance and claims management services.

Davidson and Raj Behara , vice president and chief technology officer at Agero, spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed Agero’s Alexa integrated Blink Roadside Assistance plan.  

AWS cloud provides Agero the ability to help millions of stranded motorists

Each year in the U.S., one in three people need roadside assistance, according to Davidson, which translates to 12 million events per year for Agero.  ... 

GM Can Manage an EV's Batteries Wirelessly and Remotely

Seems quite a considerable improvement of automotive battery use and management for electric vehicles.

Exclusive: GM Can Manage an EV's Batteries Wirelessly—and Remotely

The new system eliminates the rat's nest of wiring and collects information that can be used to design better batteries.   By Lawrence Ulrich

When the battery dies in your smartphone, what do you do? You complain bitterly about its too-short lifespan, even as you shell out big bucks for a new device. 

Electric vehicles can’t work that way: Cars need batteries that last as long as the vehicles do. One way of getting to that goal is by keeping close tabs on every battery in every EV, both to extend a battery’s life and to learn how to design longer-lived successors.

IEEE Spectrum got an exclusive look at General Motors’ wireless battery management system. It’s a first in any EV anywhere (not even Tesla has one). The wireless technology, created with Analog Devices, Inc., will be standard on a full range of GM EVs, with the company aiming for at least 1 million global sales by mid-decade. 

Those vehicles will be powered by GM’s proprietary Ultium batteries, produced at a new US $2.3 billion plant in Ohio, in partnership with South Korea’s LG Chem.    ... " 

Alexa Will Voice Pay for Gas

Been looking for how services like Amazon Alexa can add to automotive experiences.  Well here is the newest, just announced:

Safe. Simple. Swift.

Now, you can use your Echo Auto or other automotive device with Alexa Built-in to safely and easily pay for gas at Exxon and Mobil stations nationwide. No need to swipe your card, enter your zip code, or touch the keypad the next time you fuel up your car. Secured by Amazon Pay, it’s simple and safe. No additional sign-up required. Just pull up to the pump and say, “Alexa, pay for gas.”

Try it out now

1. Pull up to the pump at your Exxon or Mobil gas station.
2. Using your Echo Auto or other automotive device with Alexa Built-in, say, “Alexa, pay for gas.”
3. Follow Alexa’s prompts to activate the pump.
4. Fuel up and be on your way! Payment is handled automatically after fueling.

Connected Cars Run on Open Source

Why and how this is being put together as a broader solution.

Why the connected car rides on open source in VentureBeat
Tom Canning
August 23, 2020 12:12 PM
Transportation

The automobile is one of the most exciting frontiers in our connected lives today. Infotainment systems, real-time maps, and advanced driver assistance systems are already commonplace in newer vehicles, but it is still relatively early days for the fully connected car. The exhilarating vision of the driving experience of the near future includes augmented reality dashboards, progressively more autonomous operations, and increased integration with the outside world, from interacting with smart home devices to automatically finding parking spots nearby.   ... " 

BMW Sees Car as Digital Platform

Interesting regards the breadth of integrated technology, but the reaction of consumers to 'microtransactions' or payment/subscription for many elemental features in already high cost luxury vehicles, may be very negative.   But it does depend on the value positioning of such premium capabilities.

BMW is going all-in on in-car microtransactions.  Like in-app purchases, but for your car
By Sean O'Kane@sokane1  Jul 2, 2020,  in TheVerge  ... "

And directly from BMW:

BMW Connected Car Beta Days 2020: July will bring a comprehensive software upgrade with numerous new services.  From BMWUsaNews

Justin  Berkowitz
Mariella  Kapsaskis

New services such as the cloud-based navigation BMW Maps, Digital Key for iPhone and an update for the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant.

Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG:
“Digital technologies belong to the core of BMW – because hardware and software are of equal importance for premium cars. Our mission is to integrate advanced digital technologies with highest product excellence to enhance our customers’ experience and driving pleasure even more.”

1.     Overview.
In July 2020, BMW will release its most comprehensive vehicle software upgrade to date, with new and improved features for vehicle connectivity and navigation. These features will be included straight from the factory with every BMW vehicle that has Operating System 7, such as the new BMW 5 Series. And for certain compatible BMW vehicles built before July, already in customers’ hands, these great new updates can even be added with a free over-the-air software upgrade, available from third quarter onwards.

BMW Maps offers a completely new navigation experience: Faster, more intuitive, and more accurate. Destinations can be entered more easily. New cloud-based route calculation brings a significant improvement in performance. BMW Maps also provides contextual information for points of interest, such as ratings, business hours and images. Connected Parking also supports the search for parking spaces with additional services.
The BMW Digital Key, which has just been announced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, turns an iPhone into a fully digital – and secure - vehicle key.
With the upgrade, BMW vehicles receive wireless support of Google’s Android AutoTM.
The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is getting a new design and has been enhanced with numerous intelligent functions. For example, the virtual character now turns towards the person talking and can distinguish between addressing the driver and the passenger.
Since 2018, the Remote Software Upgrade has enabled BMW drivers with compatible vehicles to keep their vehicle up to date with the latest software, just like with a smartphone. The new functions can be downloaded and installed over-the-air. This is particularly convenient and extremely fast: even for extensive upgrades, hardly more than 20 minutes of installation time is required.

2.    Digital personalization with functions on demand.

Flexible offers, available immediately, simple to book and easy to use.

BMW sees the car as a digital platform. More than two decades ago, BMW ConnectedDrive paved the way to more individual mobility. Since then, the company has been enabling its customers to benefit from the rapid technological development at any time with the continuously added digital services. With Remote Software Upgrade, BMW has created the technical basis for keeping vehicles up to date, adding additional vehicle functions, and installing them quickly and easily over the air.

BMW already offers its customers digital services and additional vehicle functions in the form of digital after-sales, some of which are deeply embedded in the vehicle's software. In the US, BMW Drive Recorder is offered through a pilot program. In the near future, additional functions will be added that can access the vehicle's existing hardware and software, such as certain comfort functions or driver assistance systems.  ... 

Seeing Around the Corner

The general idea has been brought up a number of times.  Bouncing radar and cooperative systems can get more data, and if we interpret it to detect dangers, we can react.   Even to things around the corner. Back to the better sensors and smarter reactions to get better results.   As suggested much work to do to get all the data and reactions  in place

Radar Allows Cars to Spot Hazards Around Corners
Princeton University
John Sullivan
June 25, 2020

Researchers at Princeton University, Germany's Ulm University and University of Kassel, Mercedes-Benz, and Canadian software firm Algolux have developed an automated radar system that will enable cars to look around corners and spot oncoming hazards. The system employs Doppler radar to bounce radio waves off surfaces at an angle to detect occluded objects and determine if they are moving or stationary. Radar's spatial resolution is relatively low, but the researchers think they could design algorithms to read the data to allow the sensors to operate. The team used artificial intelligence techniques to refine processing and interpret the images, focusing on background noise rather than usable information to distinguish objects. Princeton’s Felix Heide said, “In terms of integration and bringing it to market, it requires a lot of engineering. But the technology is there, so there is the potential for seeing this very soon in vehicles.”  .. " 

Amazon Takes Auto Echo to UK, Canada and Parts of Europe

Thought I had detected less support to auto assistants by Amazon, but this indicates they are going again, to new regions and likely regulation.     Extending in a sense the smart home to the car.    Competing now with related assistance capabilities in many new cars.  But considerably cheaper too if you have invested in the Amazon infrastructure.   Have had one installed since launch.  Found it to be somewhat tricky to install and maintain,  but useful if you spend significant time in your car.

Amazon's Echo Auto comes to the UK, Canada and parts of Europe   Two years after the US launch.   By Rachel England, @rachel_england in Engadget

Amazon launched Echo Auto in the US back in 2018, designed to bring Alexa voice commands to vehicles where they wouldn’t normally be an option. Now, finally, it’s arrived in the UK and Canada, as well as Germany, Italy and Spain (it was previously also available in Australia and India).  ... "

Innovative AR in Automobiles

Some quite innovative AR systems being used to compete among upscale automobiles.   But ultimately distracting? 

With In-Car AR, Drivers Get a New View of the Road Ahead  By  Alex Davies in Wired
Navigation screens with augmented reality are the latest in an arms race among upscale auto makers like Mercedes and Cadillac.

"... The addition of augmented reality to navigation is the latest in the unending arms race among upscale auto makers hoping to lure wealthy customers with ever fancier tech. Cadillac just announced that the 2021 Escalade will offer a similar guidance system. Hyundai’s luxury brand, Genesis, is debuting the technology in Korea on the GV80 SUV. And like many such novelties—massage seats, perfume systems, gesture controls—it’s a very cool idea with a lot of room for improvement.  ... " 

Who Will Build the Next Moon Rover?

A natural move forward:

NASA wants the auto industry to build its next Moon rover     in TNW

We've narrowed down who we think will win the contract
ASA earlier this week released an official contract inquiry seeking help from the automobile industry in designing a new Moon rover.

While this isn’t exactly out of character for NASA, we thought the timing was interesting. After all, if there’s one vehicle that screams “I belong on the Moon,” it’s Tesla‘s recently unveiled Cybertruck.  ... "