
How a billion dollar autonomous vehicle startup lost its way - Ibethewalrus
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-08-13/how-a-billion-dollar-autonomous-vehicle-startup-lost-its-way
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Animats
Oh, Quanergy, the vaporware LIDAR company. "Quanergy is the leading provider
of solid state LiDAR sensors and smart sensing solutions." They announced a
flash LIDAR in 2016, but don't seem to have shipped the product.

I expect that Continental, the German auto parts company, will be the winner
here. They bought Advanced Scientific Concepts, which makes good but expensive
flash LIDAR units for military and space applications. Now they have to make
them cheaper and in volume, which is what auto parts companies do. They
already have some shorter-range, lower resolution LIDAR products on the market
for anti-collision systems, so they have experience with the automotive LIDAR
environment.

Delco, the US auto parts maker, is also working on self-driving components,
including LIDAR. They're not saying much, but they have a California
autonomous vehicle testing license and some cars on the road. Bosch also has a
self driving car in test. It's entirely possible that self-driving will just
be an auto part, sourced from the usual big auto parts makers.

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mikestew
_It 's entirely possible that self-driving will just be an auto part, sourced
from the usual big auto parts makers._

I've always assumed that this is the eventual outcome, even if there is a
brief period where SelphDrivin, LLC, et. al., sell their own cars. For decades
Bosch would sell a whole fuel injection and ignition system for your new
model. Brembo and Bendix will sell you some brakes. I don't know who makes ABS
sensors and computers, but I'd guess it's not GM (probably Delco, though) and
Ford. MobileEye's lane assist was an option on the Mercedes Sprinter we
bought. The next logical step in my mind is self-driving systems.

~~~
azernik
Speaking of MobileEye, from what I understand their goal is to slowly work up
their parts offerings from driver assist to self-driving.

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ejlangev
I suspect this will be a fairly regular story in the next few months/years.
Self-driving tech seems to be a lot further off than people think so a lot of
companies that were formerly very exciting will not be able to deliver and
will need to close up shop. I think there's some possibility that it will go
the way of flying cars at least for now.

Fortunately a lot of the tech that does work can find a second life as
progressive enhancement for human drivers. Blind spot detection, auto lane
following, and smart cruise control are great features that ease some of the
burden in driving and I think it's good to see them being more widely
distributed in newer cars.

~~~
curo
I thought Waymo has pretty much cracked that nut. They've covered several
million miles of testing in AZ and CA. You might be right, but do you have any
links where I could see where your skepticism is coming from.

Waymo vs Quanergy is apples and oranges I think

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paganel
Not the OP, but I think rain and especially snow and fog don’t happen that
often in those two States and afaik driving autonomously under those
circumstances is still an unsolved problem with no easy solution in sight.

Now, if you want to extend the self-driving thing to other parts of the world
you’ll most probably need to solve the singularity problem, at least for
driving in the Eastern European capital city where I’m currently living where
you have to actually “guess” what the other traffic participants will do next:
is that kid going against the flow of traffic on his bike? (answer: yes) Is
that cab going to cut me off in the middle of the intersection and should I
take my foot off the acceleration pedal so that we won’t crash? (answer: yes
to both questions). Are those pedestrians going to jaywalk without checking
for any incoming vehicles? (answer: yes). All these things happened to me
during my short city drive half an hour ago.

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azernik
All of those scenarios are definitely a thing in sunny clear Oakland, CA. And
San Francisco, where a lot of the testing has been run, is notorious for both
its hostile and unpredictable driver/biker/pedestrian behavior, and for its
fog. Rain and snow, which change the observed road surface, seem to be the
harder problems.

~~~
GFischer
That said, no North American city comes within an order of magnitude of the
complexity of driving in Latin America.

You can forget about traffic rules, and you very often have to check the other
driver´s body language to make split-second decisions, and play a game of
"chicken" to cross a busy thoroughfare (inch through, then force yourself in
front of an incoming car and expect him to stop). Giving way to other cars
means you might be stuck in a traffic jam, so drivers can be incredibly
aggressive - and I wouldn´t want to drive with an AI trained to try to
battering ram their way around.

There are cities where I wouldn´t trust myself to drive (Lima, Peru is one
I've experienced firsthand).

I'm hopeful for self-driving, but it's going to be very tough (and might take
decades to adapt to the third world)

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rossdavidh
I'm not saying this is as extreme a case, but I got a whiff of similarity to
Theranos, in the aspect of an emphasis on loyalty making it difficult for the
CEO to listen to debate. Of course, that could also be because the journalists
covering tech businesses nowadays are looking for the next Theranos story.

~~~
rhizome
And Theranos was kept alive for too long by a _lot_ of symbolic value.

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nafizh
“I hate the word ‘wall’. We are anti-wall. We have a technology solution,” -
Oh, the amount of self-unconsciousness there.

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mgaffneyny
pony.ai

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xvector
> _In Eldada’s vision, lidar sensors could be deployed along the border,
> monitoring remote regions for movement, then determining whether there were
> people attempting unauthorized crossings [...] Eldada acknowledged that a
> contract for a virtual wall would be controversial, but he described it as a
> kind of protest against Trump’s version of border security. “I hate the word
> ‘wall’. We are anti-wall. We have a technology solution,” he said._

This physically nauseates me. Where are our ethics? Just because we _can_
engineer something does not mean we _should._

It makes me glad that this company seems to be nothing but vaporware.

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notfromhere
i dont think the arguments about a border wall were ever about morality, but
more about it being a huge waste of money

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zaroth
Would the border wall be a huge waste of money?

It’s a weird game where the stricter you enforce the less people try to come
in the first place. So it’s all about signaling.

And if a wall is to be built, should it not be a virtual wall to reduce cost
and improve the likelihood that one day it can be merely switched off?

Wouldn’t broad sensors of this type have massive secondary applications?

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jasonbarrah
This is by far the best solution.

Plus by charging a small border crossing fee, Mexico could pay for the wall
within a few years.

No massive environmental damage, no massive cost, and we could even help slow
down the flow of guns back into Mexico.

Plus with a reliable and profitable entry program we could set up a WAY more
reliable temporary work visas that would allow people to live and work freely
without breaking US laws, stealing identities, or placing anyone at risk on
either side!

Plus, police, tax officials and family services will get to know who everyone
is and where they are working!

Everybody is a winner! No immigrant communities in fear. Prosperity for all.
And did I mention Mexico pays for the wall?

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madengr
There already is a legal entry program.

