Speakers for ‘Autonomous Vehicles: Where’s my self-driving car?’ From left, Sam Baker, Jose Alvarado, Keynote Presenter Prof. Erik Antonsson, Selika Josiah Talbott, and Joseph Cevetello. [Photos courtesy of Robbie Nock]
Level 5 autonomy is forecasted to be 5 years away. There aren’t any Level 5 vehicles sold publicly to date, though they are being tested in multiple cities like San Francisco, Austin and Phoenix, according to Robbie Nock, Associate Vice President of Entrepreneurship & Professional Practice at ArtCenter College of Design.
“Companies like Waymo and Cruise and others, are operating driverless vehicles all over the world. Waymo has the most total mileage to date. But these vehicles are not yet available for consumer purchase. The highest level for consumer purchases tends to hover between level 2 and level 3,” Nock continued.
Level 3-capable vehicles can take over certain driving tasks, but a driver is still required to be present and ready to take control of the car at all times when prompted to intervene.
To learn more about Level 5 vehicles, Pasadenans can attend the Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum titled “Autonomous Vehicles: Where’s my self-driving car?” this Saturday, Feb. 25.
The event will delve into the future of level 5 vehicles.
The forum, which is open to the public, will tackle key investments and innovations needed to make the shift to self-driving cars a reality.
It will also discuss how the public concerns about driver and pedestrian safety can be addressed by regulatory bodies and the opportunities that exist for startups to accelerate the transformation and access the next trillion-dollar market.
The keynote presentation will be provided by Prof. Erik Antonsson, founder of Streetscope, a startup in Pasadena that is providing safety technology in order to help accelerate the adoption of autonomous vehicles and driverless fleets.
“Erik is a longtime Caltech professor, former acting Chief Technology Officer for Northrop Grumman, he led innovation at JPL, and has a long history in the aerospace industry,” said Nock. “And Erik brings a really clear case to the new types of ventures that are possible at the implementation stage of autonomous vehicles.”
Other speakers include Jose Alvarado, Manager of Government Affairs, Cruise; Joseph Cevetello, Chief Information Officer at City of Santa Monica; Selika Josiah Talbott, Founder and CEO of Autonomous Vehicle Consulting, LLC, and Adjunct Professor and University of Southern California; and Sam Baker, Managing Partner at MobilityFund.
Nock, who is one of the producers of the event, said they want the public to attend the upcoming forum so they would understand how the shift to level 5 vehicles will be implemented.
“The technology is there and continues to become less and less expensive. But the need is in safety legislation and public perception.”
“It is important to acknowledge major advancements in technology , including gps, lidar, radar, wifi, camera,sensor systems, software and the machine intelligence that is used for navigation. A lot of those technologies have been proven to work together in a sophisticated way that would lead one to assume that level five would be easy to roll out.”
“But the main issues now are less in technology and more in, in regards to implementation and infrastructure. And those issues are really regarding safety, legal concerns, regulatory challenges, as well as wider public acceptance.”
Every couple of years, Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum holds a discussion that is focused on advanced transportation and mobility.
The last Caltech Entrepreneurs Forum on this topic was held in 2019.
“We really expect a wide audience to attend from students at Caltech, ArtCenter, and PCC, all the way to those working at some of these advanced technology centers here in Pasadena including GM and folks at JPL, and many others,” said Nock.
The upcoming forum will run from 9-11:30 a.m. in Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at 1216 E California Blvd.
To register, click the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/autonomous-vehicles-wheres-my-self-driving-car-tickets-522139642727
