Imagine a world of driverless pickups, cars and motorhomes. Where one can set the course to a campground 700 miles away, press start, then go back and play cards with the family. Or one could drive the open road and then, when coming up to annoying city traffic, switch into driverless mode and take a nap. These all seem like far off distant fantasies of the future. And, in some ways, perhaps they are. Interestingly, though, the groundwork is being made to make ideas like this a reality.
A lot of those in the forefront are meeting at the 4th Annual Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Sensors conference on March 20-21 in Detroit. What is ADAS? Essentially, they are systems that assist drivers in driving. The Tesla Autopilot, debuting in 2014, is a dramatic and well-known example. Autopilot made it possible for some Tesla cars to be able to park by themselves, automatically change lanes, adapt cruise control to the rate of traffic, and the car could amazingly be summoned from a parking spot.
A lot of ADAS are not as striking at this point, however their influence is being felt everywhere in the current line of vehicles and clearly point to a trajectory of autonomous vehicles. Some of them, like lane departure warnings, automatic braking when getting to close to vehicles, were explored in The Buzz's article on the new pickups hitting the market next year. There are many complex systems that go into each of these processes and the conference will provide opportunities for companies to show off their product.
Voxel51 is a small startup based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Buzz talked to its CEO, Jason Corso, about how the company helps the automotive industry implement Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. "We let clients build an understanding of what is in their data set," Corso says, "For example, if Ford or whoever is building an autonomous vehicle, they log in a lot of road miles. Unfortunately, they can only easily search their videos for simple things like who was driving and the route. We give them the ability to find what they really care about."
Tesla autopilot mode engaged on dash in Model X. [Photo by Ian Maddox]
Voxel51's products, the Platform and the Scoop, work together to analyze video and find specific attributes in it. And what it is able to find is very impressive. Their products can find specific models of cars or what kind of car (van, truck, semi, etc), along with pedestrians, parked cars, specific signs like stop signs, one way, etc, and also recognize what sort of intersection the car is at. This gives clients the ability to search and find specific scenarios and see how their algorithms are performing under set conditions. As a result, the video data that the company has becomes a lot more useful and efficient. "For example, if a company is looking for all the instances of vans being at a three way intersection, we make it so that can be done in minutes or hours instead of a month’s worth of work," Corso says.
Their product is generic enough to be able to be used in many different industries. Corso points out that one client is using their product to pinpoint fashion items in videos. "So if you watching Netflix, with this product you could pause and see what the character is wearing, how much it is, and where to buy it," he says. Corso says, though, that their primary focus is public safety and security, as well as automotive currently.
Like many smaller tech companies, some of which will be present at the conference, they are a relatively new company. Voxel51 started in 2016. "I am a faculty member at University of Michigan in electrical engineering," Corso says, "And have written over 150 technical papers on the topic. So we decided the time is right to put a decade of research into a practical system."
Voxel51 will have an exhibit at the upcoming conference, as well as many companies showcasing their own contributions to ADAS. Most of the companies are like Voxel51, in that they specialize in one specific aspect of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and market their product in a way to contribute to the goal of autonomous driving and extremely helpful driver assistance systems. Utilizing lasers, ultraviolet light, sensors, 3D mapping, and more, these products are cutting edge and fill gaps in these systems and push research, technology, and ultimately consumer products.
Because, after all, autonomous driving is not easy. They say that most accidents are caused by human error. Think of all the decision-making skills that go into driving a car safely and avoiding accidents, especially when most accidents happen when someone does something that is unexpected or irrational. A robotic mechanism accounting for these things is not something as simple as an if/then statement. There are many dynamics that go into being a safe driver. Not to mention, if an autonomous car, “gets into an accident, who is at fault? The car maker? The person who owns the car? The engineers? It’s a difficult question to answer,” Corso reflects. As such, companies like his and others in the ADAS business are taking time and energy to give car makers and others the ability to utilize testing information as effectively as possible, paving the road for the future.
So maybe it will be a little while before you can sit back and enjoy the view while your robot car gets you where you want to go. However, every day it gets easier and easier for drivers to stay safe because of these systems. For the RV owner, brake assistance, lane departure warnings, and similar products are such a benefit to both the person driving the RV, as well as drivers around RVs and bigger vehicles who need more time for reaction. And, really, who knows? Things that were read in science fiction novels decades ago have come to fruition and more. It’s only a matter of time before things we haven’t imagined yet become part of our daily life and existence.
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