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Rivian engineers discuss self-driving technology and design

3242 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by JimmyEV, Jul 31, 2019

JimmyEV

Discussion Starter · Jul 11, 2019

TechCrunch got a chance to speak with two of Rivian's engineers about self driving capabilities and some of the design process for its vehicles.

Oliver Jerome, Rivian's associate director of self-driving, spoke about Rivian's plan for level 3 self-driving in its vehicles. He mentioned that there will be a driver monitoring camera along with hands on wheel sensors included in the driver monitoring system.

They also spoke with Zab Steenwyk, industrial designer, about how she helped research design ideas for Rivian and how she designed the R1T's cross bars.

The most interesting part for me is when Jerome talks about how the autonomous system will act with drivers when it's turned on.

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R99

· #2 · Jul 20, 2019

It's going to be fascinating to see the level 3 autonomy in action. Especially how it monitors the driver when its driving on its own.

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eHauler

· #3 · Jul 22, 2019

The real test is how they perform in the real world with owners, and self-learn over time.

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EyeOnRivian

· #4 · Jul 23, 2019

Ditto ... really curious on how it will monitor the driver while in FSD mode. However, it's my understanding (some time ago from a Rivian press release or interview comment I believe) that each Rivian EAV at launch will be "capable" of Level 3 (hardware, not software) but will be Level 2 ready, meaning it will be able to perform functions considered Level 2. I believe it was either Charles or one of the head guys of autonomy (perhaps Oliver?) at Rivian that said they will use the Level 2 data collected to help them develop the Level 3 autonomy. He didn't say how long, as you probably would expect, but if that's the case, one could imagine it will be a few years from now (2019) before it's ready for prime time. ... And probably a little longer than that for me before I let my EAV drive itself.

So in the meantime, better put on a few more pots of coffee while we wait.

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R99

· #5 · Jul 29, 2019 (Edited)

We now have an idea about what to expect for Rivian's driver monitoring system. They filed a patent application titled "Occupant Awareness Monitoring for Autonomous Vehicles,” that was published on July 25, 2019, under serial number US 2019/0225228.

The monitoring process is described to work as follows:

Connect, by vehicle, to wireless device of vehicle occupant.

Receive, by vehicle, signal from wireless device indicative of activity of the vehicle occupant and processing the signal to determine level of awareness of vehicle occupant.

Determine whether level of awareness of vehicle occupant satisfies a threshold.

Generate, by vehicle, alert based upon whether level of awareness of vehicle occupant satisfies threshold.

To accomplish these steps, Rivian proposes in the application to pair electronic devices that can track and provide driver data to the automated driving program, e.g., general smartphones or tablets, finesses trackers, and electronically connected medical devices. If a driver is watching a movie or has vital signs indicating sleep (breathing rate, pulse, etc.), the vehicle would know the driver is not ready to resume control if needed and respond appropriately.

Also described in the patent application are enforcement ideas such as a series of touch screen prompts requiring a response, and in the event of no response, the vehicle would pull over and stop. If an emergency situation were detected via the connected medical devices, the car would pull over and call 911. Along with a fitness tracker, other medical devices suggested for use in the application are glucose monitors, blood oxygen monitors, and breathalyzers.

https://www.teslarati.com/rivian-self-driving-patent-driver-monitoring-system/

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eHauler

· #6 · Jul 30, 2019

EyeOnRivian said:
Ditto ... really curious on how it will monitor the driver while in FSD mode. However, it's my understanding (some time ago from a Rivian press release or interview comment I believe) that each Rivian EAV at launch will be "capable" of Level 3 (hardware, not software) but will be Level 2 ready, meaning it will be able to perform functions considered Level 2. I believe it was either Charles or one of the head guys of autonomy (perhaps Oliver?) at Rivian that said they will use the Level 2 data collected to help them develop the Level 3 autonomy. He didn't say how long, as you probably would expect, but if that's the case, one could imagine it will be a few years from now (2019) before it's ready for prime time. ... And probably a little longer than that for me before I let my EAV drive itself.
So in the meantime, better put on a few more pots of coffee while we wait.

Even when it comes out, there will be nuances like what happened with Tesla's system.
Although not near as bad.

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JimmyEV

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 31, 2019

This is very interesting, JD Power showed the results of their "Mobility Confidence Index Study and the majority of people are not in favor of autonomous vehicles.

They did find out that the majority of people they surveyed "admit to having little to no knowledge of self-driving vehicles, but still it's pretty high.

https://www.jdpower.com/business/pr...ence-index-study-fueled-surveymonkey-audience

Mobility Confidence Index is 36 for self-driving vehicles: With an overall score of 36, consumers have a low level of confidence about the future of self-driving vehicles. Scoring lowest among the self-driving attributes are: comfort about riding in a self-driving vehicle (34); and comfort about being on the road with others in a self-driving vehicle (35).
Self-driving challenges: Industry experts say that perfecting self-driving technology is more challenging than originally thought. They also recognize the importance of marketing self-driving technology to consumers to build understanding, trust and acceptance, which is notably an industry-wide challenge.
Disparate visions for availability: Experts anticipate self-driving services—public transit, delivery and taxi/ride-hailing—will arrive to market in 5-6 years while self-driving vehicles for purchase will arrive in about 12 years. Consumers predict each mobility option will be available in closer to 10 years. Most industry experts forecast it will be 15 or more years before self-driving vehicles have a retail market share of 10%.
Tech failures, hacking and liability are top concerns: Although consumers are more hopeful than worried (65% vs. 34%) about the overall benefit of technology in their lives, 39% aren’t excited about any self-driving technology, including delivery services, public transit, taxi/ride-hailing service and personal vehicles. Serious concerns exist with the development of self-driving vehicles, of which consumers are most worried about tech failures/errors (71%); risk of vehicle being hacked (57%); and legal liability as a result of a collision (55%).
Consumers still lack knowledge about self-driving vehicles: The majority (66%) of respondents admit to having little to no knowledge about self-driving vehicles. Gen Z1 expresses the most knowledge, while Boomers express the least. Nearly three-fourths (71%) of consumers are more likely to purchase or lease a self-driving vehicle if they have a great deal of knowledge, but consideration dips to 25% for those who state they know nothing at all about them.
Safety perceptions differ with age, knowledge: Overall, consumers are split on whether self-driving vehicles will improve traffic safety (40% better vs. 40% worse). Younger generations are more confident that safety will improve (52% of Gen Z, 45% of Gen Y), but 49% of Boomers think it will be worse than today. Consumers who say they know a great deal or a fair amount about self-driving vehicles believe such vehicles will improve traffic safety (59% and 52%, respectively).

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