What We’re Reading
Tesla secures a deal to make cars safer through an over-the-air update (ZD Net, October 13, 2022)
Tesla drivers in North America soon will have access to the Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (HELP) developed by Emergency Safety Solutions (ESS). The technology is intended to solve the highly-publicized problem of Tesla vehicles failing to detect and colliding with stationary first responder vehicles—an issue that remains under investigation by NHTSA.
According to Electrek’s report, “ESS’ Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (H.E.L.P.®) is designed to provide highly conspicuous lighting and digital communication using existing vehicle lighting systems, in-vehicle telematics, OEM cloud platforms and navigation application systems.
HELP will be made available to Tesla drivers through over-the-air updates.
Software company Zenseact uses cutting-edge AI to boost safety systems in Polestar 3 (PR Newswire, October 13, 2022)
Polestar’s latest model, the Polestar 3, will incorporate OnePilot, an AI-powered “precautionary safety” software designed by Zenseact. Zenseact was founded by Volvo with the goal of improving vehicle safety by “designing the complete software stack for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving.”
OnePilot will allow the Polestar 3 to adjust speed and position, and keep the car centered even without visible lane markings, through real-time data inputs and over-the-air software updates. At the same time, the OnePilot software will “gradually learn to handle more complex traffic scenarios and be increasingly capable of eliminating collisions” through its collection of data from the Polestar fleet.
For more information about OnePilot, watch this promotional video from Zenseact.
Why Cruise is making its own chips, and a lot more besides (TechCrunch, October 16, 2022)
Beginning in 2019, GM’s Cruise began to develop its own hardware, including boards and sensors, for its robotaxi fleet. This unusual shift to in-house production came following the company’s realization that “the price of chips from suppliers was too high, the parts were too big and the reliability of the third-party technology just wasn’t there.” In addition, Cruise found that “a lot of the components that have the robustness needed to operate in a harsh automotive environment didn’t have the capabilities needed for an AV” while the “components that did have the (AV) capabilities needed weren’t capable of operating in those harsh environments.” The cost savings of this in-house move is significant; for boards and radar, for example, Cruise’s long-term cost reduction is around 90%.
Cruise still relies on third-party suppliers for long-range lidars and ultrasonic sensors, but has moved nearly all other parts manufacturing in-house, including for cameras and shorter-range lidar and radar. Cruise’s in-house parts are being used in the Bolt and in the forthcoming Origin robotaxi, and likely will find their way into GM’s planned consumer AV line.