Brave New Road

This article discusses the future of autonomous cars and its impact on the society in the future. The engineering community is building a future and is focused on making autonomous vehicles safe, efficient, and attractive to use. Autonomous transport of goods will allow a complete reimagination of the future of the global supply chain. AARP’s interest is important for another reason: the elderly vote; and if they want self-driving cars, lawmakers will quickly tackle some of the thorniest policy hurdles—such as regulation, local traffic laws, and insurance. The future of autonomous cars is expected to change lives in both dramatic and subtle ways, but the ways that will be most interesting are the things that are forgotten, the things that the next generation deem useless and frivolous. Google's self-driving car is a street-legal vehicle; however, autonomous golf carts might be more practical. Experts believe that the most interesting changes that will be brought by autonomous cars will be the cultural shifts.

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Witness of Things

International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems ◽

10.1108/ijius-05-2018-0011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 72-87 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Serkan Ayvaz ◽

Salih Cemil Cetin

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Vehicular Networks ◽

Autonomous Vehicle ◽

Content Type ◽

Record Keeping ◽

Vehicle To Vehicle ◽

Autonomous Cars ◽

Vehicle To Infrastructure ◽

Governmental Institutions ◽

Self Driving Cars

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for autonomous cars to establish trusted parties by combining distributed ledgers and self-driving cars in the traffic to provide single version of the truth and thus build public trust. Design/methodology/approach The model, which the authors call Witness of Things, is based on keeping decision logs of autonomous vehicles in distributed ledgers through the use of vehicular networks and vehicle-to-vehicle/vehicle-to-infrastructure (or vice versa) communications. The model provides a single version of the truth and thus helps enable the autonomous vehicle industry, related organizations and governmental institutions to discover the true causes of road accidents and their consequences in investigations. Findings In this paper, the authors explored one of the potential effects of blockchain protocol on autonomous vehicles. The framework provides a solution for operating autonomous cars in an untrusted environment without needing a central authority. The model can also be generalized and applied to other intelligent unmanned systems. Originality/value This study proposes a blockchain protocol-based record-keeping model for autonomous cars to establish trusted parties in the traffic and protect single version of the truth.

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Autonomous vehicles and smart cities: future directions of ownership vs shared mobility

Proceedings of the 56th ISOCARP World Planning Congress ◽

10.47472/pqrn8660 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nacer-Eddine Bezai ◽

◽

Benachir Medjdoub ◽

Fodil Fadli ◽

Moulay Larby Chalal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Transportation ◽

Traffic Congestion ◽

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Autonomous Vehicle ◽

Travel Speed ◽

On Demand ◽

Shared Mobility ◽

The Future ◽

Self Driving Cars

Over the last decade, there has been increasing discussions about self-driving cars and how most auto-makers are racing to launch these products. However, this discourse is not limited to transportation only, but how such vehicles will affect other industries and specific aspects of our daily lives as future users such as the concept of work while being driven and productivity, entertainment, travel speed, and deliveries. Although these technologies are beneficial, access to these potentials depends on the behaviour of their users. There is a lack of a conceptual model that elucidate the acceptance of people to Self-driving cars. Service on-demand and shared mobility are the most critical factors that will ensure the successful adoption of these cars. This paper presents an analysis of public opinions in Nottingham, UK, through a questionnaire about the future of Autonomous vehicles' ownership and the extent to which they accept the idea of vehicle sharing. Besides, this paper tests two hypotheses. Firstly, (a) people who usually use Public transportation like (taxi, bus, tram, train, carpooling) are likely to share an Autonomous Vehicle in the future. Secondly, (b) people who use Private cars are expected to own an Autonomous Vehicle in the future. To achieve this aim, a combination of statistical methods such as logistic regression has been utilised. Unexpectedly, the study findings suggested that AVs ownership will increase contrary to what is expected, that Autonomous vehicles will reduce ownership. Besides, participants have shown low interest in sharing AVs. Therefore, it is likely that ownership of AVs will increase for several reasons as expressed by the participants such as safety, privacy, personal space, suitability to children and availability. Actions must be taken to promote shared mobility to avoid AVs possession growth. The ownership diminution, in turn, will reduce traffic congestion, energy and transport efficiency, better air quality. That is why analysing the factors that influence the mindset and attitude of people will enable us to understand how to shift from private cars to transport-on-demand, which is a priority rather than promoting the technology.

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The future of autonomous vehicles

FME Transaction ◽

10.5937/fme2101029p ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 29-35

Author(s):

Jelena Pisarov ◽

Gyula Mester

Keyword(s):

Cyber Security ◽

Traffic Congestion ◽

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

The Elderly ◽

Modern World ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

The Future ◽

The Disabled ◽

To Come ◽

High Level

The future of the modern world faces the appearance of different ways of mobility. Huge strive in today's world have gained autonomous vehicles. The paper explains how autonomous vehicles function as well as their advantages and disadvantages. New developments in autonomous vehicles are being accomplished and introduced to the user's demands. Many car companies have developed their own driverless vehicles and detected the problems within them. The major flaw of autonomous vehicles is cyber security because hackers are still able to break into the car's software system and disrupt it. This is a major issue which is still being dealt with. Autonomous vehicles have modernized the mobility of people, which means that people no longer have to come to the vehicle but the vehicle comes to them and are able to share transportation and thus lowering the traffic congestion and cost. Smartphone applications have been developed facilitating the carsharing system. Users consider these cars comfortable and stylish but expect high level of security. Autonomous vehicles enable the elderly, the disabled and physically limited people move much easier. Furthermore, autonomous vehicles reduce pollution and are environmentally friendly. It is anticipated that autonomous vehicles will take over the roads and are the future of transportation. They offer comfort, safety and good driving conditions. Hereafter, this paper represents important characteristics and features of autonomous cars.

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Drivers of autonomous vehicles—analyzing consumer preferences for self-driving car brand extensions

Marketing Letters ◽

10.1007/s11002-021-09571-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Felix Eggers ◽

Fabian Eggers

Keyword(s):

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Brand Management ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Brand Extension ◽

Disruptive Innovation ◽

Discrete Choice Experiments ◽

Brand Strength ◽

Parent Brand ◽

Autonomous Cars ◽

Self Driving Cars

AbstractAutonomous cars are considered to be the next disruptive innovation that will affect consumers. It can be expected that not only traditional automakers will enter this market (e.g., Ford) but also technology companies (e.g., Google) and newer companies dedicated to self-driving cars (e.g., Tesla). We take a brand extension perspective and analyze to what extent consumers prefer autonomous cars from these brand categories. Our empirical study is based on discrete choice experiments about adopting autonomous vehicles in a purchase scenario and in a renting context. Our findings show that brands play a central role when making autonomous driving decisions. Brand preferences differ systematically when buying versus renting a self-driving car. While technology brands are most preferred overall, consumers favor automaker brands over new brands only when purchasing, not when renting. We further disentangle the brand strength into the marginal effects of image associations. For example, Google’s strong brand positioning can be explained by experiences with the parent brand, but it could still improve brand strength by highlighting the relevance of the associated brand portfolio for self-driving cars. The effect of these brand extension success factors differs between parent-brand categories and also between the renting and purchasing scenarios, which requires a dedicated brand management.

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Recent developments in filtration media and respirator technology in response to COVID-19

MRS Bulletin ◽

10.1557/s43577-021-00173-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter L. Wang ◽

Alex Roschli ◽

M. Parans Paranthaman ◽

Merlin Theodore ◽

Corson L. Cramer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Recent Work ◽

Filtration Efficiency ◽

Global Supply Chain ◽

Next Generation ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Manufacturing Methods ◽

Near Term ◽

N95 Respirators

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a surge in demand for N95 or equivalent respirators that the global supply chain was unable to satisfy. This shortage in critical equipment has inspired research that addresses the immediate problems and has accelerated the development of the next-generation filtration media and respirators. This article provides a brief review of the most recent work with regard to face respirators and filtration media. We discuss filtration efficiency of the widely utilized cloth masks. Next, the sterilization of and reuse of existing N95 respirators to extend the existing stockpile is discussed. To expand near-term supplies, optimization of current manufacturing methods, such as melt-blown processes and electrospinning, has been explored. Future manufacturing methods have been investigated to address long-term supply shortages. Novel materials with antiviral and sterilizable properties with the ability for multiple reuses have been developed and will contribute to the development of the next generation of longer lasting multi-use N95 respirators. Finally, additively manufactured respirators are reviewed, which enable a rapidly deployable source of reusable respirators that can use any filtration fabric. Graphic abstract

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Evaluating Tesla’s Human Factors in the Wild West of Self-Driving Cars

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1071181320641020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 67-71

Author(s):

Samineh C. Gillmore ◽

Nathan L. Tenhundfeld

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Science Fiction ◽

New Technology ◽

Growing Pains ◽

Autonomous Cars ◽

The Future ◽

In The Wild ◽

Industry Leader ◽

Pipe Dream ◽

Self Driving Cars

With self-driving vehicles no longer a pipe-dream of science fiction comes the growing pains of the new technology. Tesla Motors is the industry leader in implementing new self-driving technologies. Tesla has used new technology in many ways to improve the human factors of their cars, but there are also design flaws that represent threats to efficiency and safety. This paper details the good, the bad, and the ugly of Tesla’s designs, not as a way to negatively impact Tesla’s reputation, but to point out the potential human factors issues that relate to the rise of self-driving cars in general. While the future for autonomous cars has never seemed so promising, it is abundantly clear that we are nowhere near a reality in which the human does not need to be considered.

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Time and Cost Efficiency of Autonomous Vehicles in the Last-Mile Delivery: A UK Case

International Business Research ◽

10.5539/ibr.v14n3p26 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 26

Author(s):

Xuan Feng

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Cost Efficiency ◽

Autonomous Vehicles ◽

Autonomous Robots ◽

Global Supply Chain ◽

Time Efficiency ◽

Cost Structures ◽

Last Mile ◽

Last Mile Delivery

In recent years, last-mile delivery has become an increasingly important area in the global supply chain. Practically, there has been an increasing worldwide interest in developing the last-mile delivery robots/vehicles to increase the efficiency of the whole supply chain. Theoretically, several researchers have suggested that using autonomous robots brings more efficiency for delivery. However, almost no current studies consider a specific last-mile delivery activity – transport from supermarkets after loading to pick-up stations before unloading. The goal of this study is to investigate whether and how autonomous vehicles/robots can address the issue of cost and time efficiency. Specifically, this research aims at identifying the time and cost structures of using autonomous vehicles for the delivery along the chosen route – a single way from the Sainsbury’s supermarket to the Amazon pick-up station at Coventry. Furthermore, the research aims to find whether using autonomous vehicles is more efficient in time and/or cost than using vans with drivers for this route.

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