Why Google Needs to Build a Better Bumper
Google unleased its self-driving fleet in real traffic and let the cars cruise a total of a million miles with back-up drivers ready to hit the brakes or take the wheel. The humans didn’t take control.
As it turned out, there were 11 minor accidents and no injuries, according to Google’s Chris Umson, who claimed that none of the fender benders was Google’s fault. He told the Associated Press that all the self-driving cars behaved well (not bad, considering the cars just got their learners’ permits). He also said most were hit from behind.
Not so fast, Google. Delphi, which automated the Audi SQ5, claims its car was broadsided by a Google car. Hmmm. Lexus vs. Audi, Google vs. Delphi—sounds like bumper cars!
Related: Driverless Self-driving Truck of the Future Will Crash Into Labor Laws of the Past
Other companies have permits to test their driverless cars including Daimler/Mercedes, Honda, and Nissan with Volkswagen and a host of others on tap.
This is not going away—and in the case of Daimler, they’ve extended the technology to trucks.
For older people and the disabled, who need a little help driving and parking, an autonomous car could be the difference between independence and a shut-in life.
If, on the other hand, these cars decide to “think,” we could all be in trouble.
Attention Autobots! Start Your Engines!
Budget ‘Chaos’ Threatens Army Reset: Retired General
One thing is standing in the way of a major ongoing effort to reset the U.S. Army, writes Carter Ham, a retired four-star general who’s now president and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army, at Defense One. “The problem is the Washington, D.C., budget quagmire.”
The issue is more than just a matter of funding levels. “What hurts more is the erratic, unreliable and downright harmful federal budget process,” which has forced the Army to plan based on stopgap “continuing resolutions” instead of approved budgets for nine straight fiscal years. “A slowdown in combat-related training, production delays in new weapons, and a postponement of increases in Army troop levels are among the immediate impacts of operating under this ill-named continuing resolution. It’s not continuous and it certainly doesn’t display resolve.”
Pentagon Pushes for Faster F-35 Cost Cuts
The Pentagon has taken over cost-cutting efforts for the F-35 program, which has been plagued by years of cost overruns, production delays and technical problems. The Defense Department rejected a cost-saving plan proposed by contractors including principal manufacturer Lockheed Martin as being too slow to produce substantial savings. Instead, it gave Lockheed a $60 million contract “to pursue further efficiency measures, with more oversight of how the money was spent,” The Wall Street Journal’s Doug Cameron reports. F-35 program leaders “say they want more of the cost-saving effort directed at smaller suppliers that haven’t been pressured enough.” The Pentagon plans to cut the price of the F-35A model used by the Air Force from a recent $94.6 million each to around $80 million by 2020. Overall, the price of developing the F-35 has climbed above $400 billion, with the total program cost now projected at $1.53 trillion. (Wall Street Journal, CNBC)
Chart of the Day - October 6, 2017
Financial performance for insurers in the individual Obamacare markets is improving, driven by higher premiums and slower growth in claims. This suggests that the market is stabilizing. (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Quote of the Day - October 5, 2017
"The train's left the station, and if you're a budget hawk, you were left at the station." -- Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.