Podcast: Missy Cummings Is No Debbie Downer
Guest: Professor in the George Mason University Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science departments
Featured
Buyer Beware: Weaponized SAE Levels Are Here
What’s at stake:
2023 is turning into the year of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Forsaking the futile race to full autonomy, automakers have resorted to testing how much more automation technology they can cram into vehicles while charging more, promising software upgrades and selling consumers the claim that they’ve just bought a safer car.
There’s a catch. While car companies promise drivers more “freedom and convenience” — via eyes-off, hands-off features — they are finding ways to shirk responsibility when highly automated vehicles crash.
Read More »Buyer Beware: Weaponized SAE Levels Are Here
Eyes on Mobileye’s Eyes-off Driving Claims
Mobileye’s CEO introduced eyes-off driving across a full range of operational design domains. His claim: “You can go to sleep. You can do whatever you like.”
AV Companies Got Real Data in San Francisco. NHTSA Wants It.
What’s at stake:
AV companies in early 2023 are facing an unprecedented level of scrutiny. The city of San Francisco and federal safety regulators want to know a lot more about their technologies and how their systems are set up for safer operation on public roads. The authorities’ focus is less on the promise of AVs saving lots of lives in the long run, but on the records and operational data AV companies have yet to disclose.
The data – or its absence of it – has enabled progress for autonomous vehicle (AV) developers, despite the newness of the industry. Among the advancements they have made are public road testing, deployment of AVs without safety drivers, commercial rollout with paying passengers, and even the drafting of bills — extremely favorable to AV companies — for state legislatures.
Read More »AV Companies Got Real Data in San Francisco. NHTSA Wants It.
Ex-CTO of Foxconn’s EV Biz Levels Charges, Forced to Quit
By Judith Cheng
William Wei, who helped Foxconn launch its ambitious EV platform, has sued for wrongful termination two Foxconn executives, current CEO and chairman Young Liu and HR chief Emily Hsia. Wei, formerly CTO of Foxconn’s EV business, says he was forced to resign and is now seeking compensation of Taiwan dollars $62 million (about US $2.06 million).
In Wei’s place, Foxconn has hired Jun Seki as Chief Strategy Officer for EV. Seki, a seasoned executive who worked for Nissan Motor and the world’s largest electric motor maker Nidec Corp in Japan, now reports directly to Foxconn chairman and CEO Young Liu.
Read More »Ex-CTO of Foxconn’s EV Biz Levels Charges, Forced to Quit
If Nobody’s Driving a Self-Driving Car, Who Do You Sue?
What’s at stake:
While carmakers claim their autonomous vehicles (AV) are safe enough to relegate a human driver to “rider” status, they quibble that neither carmaker nor car are liable for mishaps. Now, an AV bill proposed in Washington state goes beyond quibbling, by shielding AV companies from even the whiff of liability.
Autonomous vehicles are neither dead nor going away. Robo-taxis by Cruise and Waymo continue to operate in downtown San Francisco despite repeatedly causing traffic snafus. Next on the AV wish list are self-driving eighteen-wheelers on the highway. No drivers need apply. The industry’s first Level 3 vehicles, which no longer require the human behind the wheel to pay attention to the road (until the car requests him to take over), will hit the consumer market later this year.
Against this backdrop, AV company lobbyists have been advancing, state by state, new legislation that will pave the way for robocars. The objective is a free pass for companies to unleash and test their highly automated vehicles — without human drivers — on public roads, with few safety questions asked and few legal and financial strings attached.
Read More »If Nobody’s Driving a Self-Driving Car, Who Do You Sue?
MicroEJ Challenges IoT’s Forest of Silos
What’s at stake:
IoT device vendors are mired in a proprietary-everything business mindset inherited from the embedded market. MicroEJ believes it can break the logjam, serving as a catalyst to accelerate both software and hardware development for various IoT devices.
Every company claiming leadership in its lane on the internet of things has an angle. It might be a collection of wireless technologies, super energy-efficient microcontrollers, small hardware accelerators effectively running edge AI, or a mess of sensors.
The angle for MicroEJ (pronounced “micro-edge”) is the company’s attention to embedded software.
Read More »MicroEJ Challenges IoT’s Forest of Silos
Girding for War, Taiwan Must Also Invest In Its Economic Future
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake:
As Taiwan braces for a possible takeover by China, it must simultaneously ensure it can build upon decades of economic gains in semiconductors and services.
Taiwan is caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. It is preparing for two mutually exclusive futures, one of which is the preferred option and the other a fearful possibility it is hoping allies can help it fend off. The island could preserve its democratic, peaceful and prosperous existence or slide into the tortuous unknown of a military confrontation with China over Beijing’s demand for reunification with the mainland.
Read More »Girding for War, Taiwan Must Also Invest In Its Economic Future
Taiwan’s Illustrious But Aging Semiconductor Pioneers
By Judith Cheng
Taiwan’s pioneering generation of semiconductor entrepreneurs, many trained in the United States, are nearing the end of their careers. The list below highlights key players in the current Taiwanese chip industry, including those who will seek to maintain Taiwan’s dominance of global chip manufacturing.
Read More »Taiwan’s Illustrious But Aging Semiconductor Pioneers
Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry Must Look Outward
By Judith Cheng
Liang-Gee Chen, Taiwan’s former Minister of Science and Technology, has proven to be a genuinely rare leader among Taiwanese officials. What drove Chen was not his political ambition. Rather, it was his passion for science — rooted in his own engineering background — that made Chen a uniquely qualified and vocal policy maker.
Chen earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from National Cheng Kung University in 1979, 1981, and 1986, respectively. Add to those credentials dozens of U.S. patents. Chen is also the longest-serving Minister of Science and Technology. During his more than three-year tenure (February 2017 to May 2019), he earned the moniker, “King of Ideas”. Chen’s management style differed sharply from politicians and policymakers. For instance, he wrote weekly internal emails designed to encourage more collaboration among civil servants. He also encouraged research in AI and promoted entrepreneurship, aiming to accelerate the transformation of Taiwan’s electronic industry from hardware to full-stack systems.
Read More »Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry Must Look Outward