Satellite Navigation for the Age of Autonomy

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) brought navigation to the masses. Coupled with smartphones, the blue dot in the palm of our hands has forever changed the way we interact with the world. Looking forward, cyber-physical systems such as self-driving cars and aerial mobility are pushing the limits of what localization technologies including GNSS can provide. This autonomous revolution requires a solution that supports safety-critical operation, centimeter positioning, and cyber-security for millions of users. To meet these demands, we propose a navigation service from Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites which deliver precision in-part through faster motion, higher power signals for added robustness to interference, constellation autonomous integrity monitoring for integrity, and encryption / authentication for resistance to spoofing attacks. This paradigm is enabled by the 'New Space' movement, where highly capable satellites and components are now built on assembly lines and launch costs have decreased by more than tenfold. Such a ubiquitous positioning service enables a consistent and secure standard where trustworthy information can be validated and shared, extending the electronic horizon from sensor line of sight to an entire city. This enables the situational awareness needed for true safe operation to support autonomy at scale.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 2020 IEEE/ION Position, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS

Safety-related challenges and opportunities for GPUs in the automotive domain

GPUs have been shown to cover the computing performance needs of autonomous driving (AD) systems. However, since the GPUs used for AD build on designs for the mainstream market, they may lack fundamental properties for correct operation under automotive's safety regulations. In this paper, we analyze some of the main challenges in hardware and software design to embrace GPUs as the reference computing solution for AD, with the emphasis in ISO 26262 functional safety requirements.Authors would like to thank Guillem Bernat from Rapita Systems for his technical feedback on this work. The research leading to this work has received funding from the European Re-search Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 772773). This work has also been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under grant TIN2015-65316-P and the HiPEAC Network of Excellence. Jaume Abella has been partially supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under Ramon y Cajal postdoctoral fellowship number RYC-2013-14717. Carles Hernández is jointly funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER funds through grant TIN2014-60404-JIN.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Automates: the future of autonomous cars

El futur dels cotxes autònoms sembla brillant, tot i així, personatges com el mateix Elon Musk, entre d'altres, ens porten prometent que serien part de les nostres vides des de fa gairebé deu anys. Tot i això aquí seguim, amb els nostres vehicles que sí, que són genials, però de moment encara no es condueixen sols. Aquestes falses promeses i el concepte de que una màquina condueixi el cotxe per nosaltres encara genera rebuig a la majoria de la població, quan de fet més d'un 90% dels accidents de trànsit avui dia són a causa de l'error humà, i aquestes màquines seran moltes coses, però precisament humanes de moment no són. En aquest projecte s’indaga sobre l’estat actual d’aquests vehicles, que de fet certs serveis de cotxes autònoms ja ronden els carrers d’algunes de les ciutats més grans del món, com ara San Francisco. La clau és descobrir si els vehicles autònoms tenen el potencial real de convertir-se en el servei del futur. Per això, es recorre a les metodologies de Disseny de Futurs, analitzant les tendències del sector i així presentant una sèrie d'Escenaris Futurs. Aquestes metodologies ens permetran entreveure cap on ens porten els desenvolupaments actuals, per així descobrir els passos que hauríem de seguir i els que no per a una correcta i eficient implementació d'aquestes tecnologies en un futur més aviat proper que llunyà.El futuro de los coches autónomos parece brillante, aún así, personajes como el mismísimo Elon Musk, entre otros, nos llevan prometiendo que iban a ser parte de nuestras vidas desde hace ya casi diez años. Sin embargo aquí seguimos, con nuestros vehículos que sí, que son geniales, pero de momento aún no se conducen solos. Estas falsas promesas y el concepto de que una máquina conduzca el coche por nosotros aún genera rechazo en la mayoría de la población, cuando lo cierto es que más de un 90% de los accidentes de tráfico hoy en día son a causa del error humano, y estas máquinas serán muchas cosas pero precisamente humanas no son. En este proyecto se indaga sobre el estado actual de estos vehículos, que de hecho ciertos servicios de coches autónomos ya rondan las calles de algunas de las ciudades más grandes del mundo, como por ejemplo San Francisco. La clave es descubrir si los vehículos autónomos tienen el potencial real de convertirse en el servicio del futuro. Para ello, se recurre a las metodologías de Diseño de Futuros, analizando las tendencias del sector y así presentando una serie de Escenarios Futuros. Estas metodologías nos permitirán vislumbrar hacia dónde nos llevan los desarrollos actuales, para así descubrir los pasos que deberíamos seguir y los que no para una correcta y eficiente implementación de estas tecnologías en un futuro más próximo que lejano.The future of autonomous cars seems bright, even though, famous people like Elon Musk himself, among others, have been making promises around the fact that those cars would be part of our lives for almost ten years, but here we are, with our vehicles that are great, but for now they still don't drive for themselves. These false promises and the concept of a machine driving a car for us still generates rejection in the majority of the population, when the fact is that more than 90% of traffic accidents nowadays are due to human error, and these machines will be sort of things but not humans at all. This project investigates the current state of these vehicles, that in fact these autonomous car services already transit the streets of some of the largest cities in the world, cities like San Francisco. The key is to find out if autonomous vehicles have the real potential to become the service of the future. Therefore, Futures Design methodologies are used, analysing the trends of the sector and thus presenting a series of Future Scenarios. These methodologies will allow us to understand where current developments are leading us, so then we can understand the steps that we should follow as a society and those that we should not for a correct and efficient implementation of these technologies in the near future

Availability, demand, perceived constraints and disuse of ADAS technologies in Spain: findings from a national study

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), created for enhancing the driving experience and actively preventing road crashes have been progressively incorporated in vehicle designing essentially during the last decade. However, the literature has shown how some of these assisting technologies are not used by drivers in tandem with their potential. The aims of this study were first, to examine the availability and demand of ADAS technologies among Spanish drivers and, secondly, to explore the perceived constraints and discouraging reasons for avoiding the use of available ADAS in their vehicles. For this national cross-sectional study, data from 1,207 Spanish drivers were analyzed. The results of this study show that, on one hand, GPS navigation, rain sensors and automatic lightning are the most frequently used and, on the other, gestural control, E-call and post-collision emergency braking are the less demanded ADAS features in Spain. Also, low perceived value, lack of confidence and potential distractibility constitute the main constraints perceived by drivers for using these assisting technologies while driving. In this regard, and jointly with a progressive vehicle automatization, a deeper emphasis on driver training, safety and efficiency-related benefits of ADAS technologies may strengthen its acceptance and progressive inclusion in everyday driving

Road Infrastructure Challenges Faced by Automated Driving: A Review

Automated driving can no longer be referred to as hype or science fiction but rather a technology that has been gradually introduced to the market. The recent activities of regulatory bodies and the market penetration of automated driving systems (ADS) demonstrate that society is exhibiting increasing interest in this field and gradually accepting new methods of transport. Automated driving, however, does not depend solely on the advances of onboard sensor technology or artificial intelligence (AI). One of the essential factors in achieving trust and safety in automated driving is road infrastructure, which requires careful consideration. Historically, the development of road infrastructure has been guided by human perception, but today we are at a turning point at which this perspective is not sufficient. In this study, we review the limitations and advances made in the state of the art of automated driving technology with respect to road infrastructure in order to identify gaps that are essential for bridging the transition from human control to self-driving. The main findings of this study are grouped into the following five clusters, characterised according to challenges that must be faced in order to cope with future mobility: international harmonisation of traffic signs and road markings, revision of the maintenance of the road infrastructure, review of common design patterns, digitalisation of road networks, and interdisciplinarity. The main contribution of this study is the provision of a clear and concise overview of the interaction between road infrastructure and ADS as well as the support of international activities to define the requirements of road infrastructure for the successful deployment of ADS

Measuring, analysing and explaining the value of travel time savings for autonomous driving

Autonomes Fahren (AF) wird potenziell die Präferenzen für die im Auto verbrachte Zeit stark beeinflussen und dementsprechend den Wert der Reisezeit, der ein Schlüsselelement von Kosten-Nutzen-Analysen im Verkehr ist. Die Untersuchung dieses Aspekts des AF ist daher entscheidend für die Analyse potenzieller Auswirkungen der Technik auf die zukünftige Verkehrsnachfrage. Trotz der steigenden Anzahl an Studien zu diesem Thema, gibt es noch erhebliche Forschungslücken. Der Fokus der Dissertation ist die potenziellen Änderungen des Reisezeitwerts, die durch das AF entstehen, zu messen sowie ihre Determinanten zu analysieren. Es wurden sowohl qualitative Ansätze als auch quantitative Methoden verwendet. Dabei wurden zwei Konzepte von AF betrachtet: privates und geteiltes autnomes Fahrzeug. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen zeigen einen niedrigeren Wert der Reisezeitersparnis beim AF im Vergleich zum manuellen Fahren, allerdings nur auf Pendelwegen. Das private Fahrzeug wird als eine attraktivere Option als ein geteiltes Fahrzeug wahrgenommen, jedoch unterscheiden sich die Nutzerpräferenzen für geteilte Fahrzeug stark zwischen den durchgeführten Studien. Individuelle Charakteristiken, wie Erfahrung mit Fahrassistenzsystemen, beeinflussen stark die Wahrnehmung der Zeit im AF; andere sozio-demographischen Faktoren, wie Alter und Geschlecht haben vor allem einen indirekten Effekt auf den Reisezeitwert indem sie Einstellungen potenzieller Nutzer beeinflussen. Die Verbesserung des Fahrterlebnisses durch das AF und das Vertrauen in die Technik sind wichtige Determinanten der Reisezeitwahrnehmung. Fahrvergnügen und andere wahrgenommene Vorteile vom manuellen Fahren gleichen in einem gewissen Ausmaß den Nutzen vom AF aus. Es wurden Reisezeitwerte für unterschiedliche potenzielle Nutzersegmente berechnet. Abschließend wurden politische Implikationen, Empfehlungen für die Entwicklung von AF sowie Empfehlungen für künftige Studien und potenziellen Forschungsgebiete abgeleitet.Autonomous driving will potentially strongly affect preferences for time spent in a vehicle and, consequently, the value of travel time savings (VTTS). As VTTS is a key element of cost-benefit analysis for transport, these interrelations are crucial for analysing the potential impact of the technology on future travel demand. Despite the increasing number of studies dedicated to this topic there are still many unanswered questions. The focus of the thesis is to measure potential changes in the VTTS resulting from the introduction of autonomous driving and analyse their determinants. Qualitative approaches and quantitative methods were used. Two concepts of AVs were considered: a privately-owned AV (PAV) and a shared AV (SAV). The analysis results suggest lower VTTS for autonomous driving compared to manual driving, but only on commuting trips. A PAV is perceived as a more attractive option than an SAV, but user preferences for SAVs vary between the conducted studies. Individual characteristics, such as experience with advanced driver assistance systems, strongly affect the perception of time in an AV; other socio-demographic factors, such as age and gender, affect mode choices and the VTTS mainly indirectly by influencing the attitudes of potential users. The improvement in travel experiences due to autonomous driving and trust in the technology are important determinants of the perception of travel time. Enjoyment of driving and other perceived benefits of manual driving partially counterbalance the utility of riding autonomously. VTTS for different potential user segments were calculated. In conclusion, several policy implications, development recommendations for AVs as well as recommendations for future studies and potential research avenues are derived from the findings