Autonomous Vehicles Get Specific Attention In Paints & Coatings From PPG

Autonomous vehicle sensor coatings – PPG is pioneering the development of paints and related coatings that will improve vehicle and infrastructure visibility to radar and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors used in autonomous driving systems. Autonomous system signals bounce off this under layer coatings and return to the sensor instead of getting absorbed. This coating leverages commercially proven technology from PPG’s aerospace business that functions in the same light and heat-reflective way. Image Credit: PPG

Autonomous Vehicles Get Specific Attention In Paints & Coatings From PPG

PPG (NYSE: PPG) today announced that Ranju Arya will become senior business director, mobility, effective immediately.

PPG has formed a new team to look exclusively at how innovations in paint and coatings can help autonomous and electric vehicles.

As cars change, so will the expectations and demands put on their coatings, said Ranju Arya, who will lead the new team as senior business director of mobility. Image Credit: PPG via BusinessWire

“The options and opportunities are limitless,” Arya told the Tribune-Review on Monday. “We just have to understand more about this space.”

Arya is based in Troy, Michigan, but his team will consist of employees from all over the world, including Pittsburgh. PPG announced the new team Monday.

PPG unveiled its work with self-driving and electric vehicles in January during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The company partnered with University of Michigan's Mcity, a proving ground for self-driving cars, and is testing paints that are more visible to LiDAR scanner and that are easy to clean to keep sensor and camera lenses free of debris. Arya said PPG is working on coatings that will help cars communicate and see one another and stay clean, both inside and out. For autonomous vehicles used in ride-sharing, that coatings could make sure screens and there interfaces inside the car stay smudge free from one user to the next.

“These are all things that coatings can play a part in,” Arya said.

LiDAR scanners, which reflect lasers off of surfaces to tell where objects are, have a hard time seeing some dark-painted objects, Arya said. PPG developed a dark paint that the LiDAR can see through so it reflects off of the coating below it. The easy-clean coatings change the way water and other substances stick and cling to surfaces.

For electric cars, PPG designed coatings that can store and transfer energy.

Arya said the new coatings are still being tested in-house and haven't made their ways onto public streets.
[ht: BusinessWire | Triblive-Aaron Aupperlee]

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: PPG, Ranju Arya, Mobility, Autonomous, Paints, Coatings, Store and Transfer, Energy, LiDAR, light detection and ranging, Mcity, University of Michigan, The EDJE

Olli - Olly Oxen Free Autonomy Hits The Streets

I'm symbolic. Image Credit: Local Motors (2016)

Olli - Olly Oxen Free Autonomy Hits The Streets

Local Motors, in partnership with computer giant IBM through Watson, introduces an organic small group/mass autonomous transportation solution perfect for most any community.

No oxen were used in this creation - Actually, "Olly Olly Oxen Free" is a catchphrase used in such children's games as hide and seek, capture the flag, or kick the can to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game, that the position of the sides in a game has changed, or, alternatively, that the game is entirely over (ht: Wikipedia).

In this case the Olli is the name given to a driverless/autonomous vehicle that seats 12 people which through its computer partner, IBM's Watson, can interact with passengers and navigate the streets and deliver the people riding inside to their destination.

The game of driverless/autonomous vehicles has changed with the Olli concept because this application does not currently partner with a software services company like Google or Yahoo that are focused on individual transportation pods thus removing any pursuit of happiness from the process of actual driving.

This excerpted and edited from Electric Cars Report -

Local Motors Debuts First Self-driving Vehicle to Tap the Power of IBM Watson IoT

Local Motors, the creator of the world’s first 3D-printed cars, today introduced the first self-driving vehicle to integrate the advanced cognitive computing capabilities of IBM Watson.

The vehicle, dubbed ‘Olli,’ was unveiled during the grand opening of a new Local Motors facility in National Harbor, MD, and transported Local Motors CEO and co-founder John B. Rogers, Jr. along with vehicle designer Edgar Sarmiento from the Local Motors co-creation community into the new facility.

Olli exterior. Image Credit: Local Motors (2016)

The electric vehicle, which can carry up to 12 people, is equipped with some of the world’s most advanced vehicle technology, including IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive, to improve the passenger experience and allow natural interaction with the vehicle.

Olli is the first vehicle to utilize the cloud-based cognitive computing capability of IBM Watson IoT to analyze and learn from high volumes of transportation data, produced by more than 30 sensors embedded throughout the vehicle.
----
Furthermore, the platform leverages four Watson developer APIs — Speech to Text, Natural Language Classifier, Entity Extraction and Text to Speech — to enable seamless interactions between the vehicle and passengers.

Olli interior. Image Credit: Local Motors (2016)

Passengers will be able to interact conversationally with Olli while traveling from point A to point B, discussing topics about how the vehicle works, where they are going, and why Olli is making specific driving decisions. Watson empowers Olli to understand and respond to passengers’ questions as they enter the vehicle, including about destinations (“Olli, can you take me downtown?”) or specific vehicle functions (“how does this feature work?” or even “are we there yet?”).

Passengers can also ask for recommendations on local destinations such as popular restaurants or historical sites based on analysis of personal preferences.
----

It's a beautiful Father's Day in #NationalHarbor! Catch up with CEO @johnbrogers & #meetolli- our latest innovation. Image Credit: Local Motors via @localmotors

As part of Olli’s debut, Local Motors officially opened its new National Harbor facility in Maryland to serve as a public place where co-creation can flourish and vehicle technologies can rapidly advance. The company’s 3D-printed cars are on display, along with a large-scale 3D printer and an interactive co-creative experience that showcases what the future of the nation’s capital might look like.
----
Olli features a 15 kWh battery pack powering a 20 kW continuous, 30 kW max electric motor that delivers 125 N·m of torque. Maximum speed is 20 km/h (12 mph) and all-electric range is 58 km (32.4 miles). Olli is equipped with 2 Velodyne VLP16 LiDAR units, 2 IBEO ScaLa laser scanners, 2 ZED optical cameras and an Ellipse N GPS.

The very first Olli will remain in National Harbor this summer, and the public will be able to interact with it during select times over the next several months.
[Reference Here]

So now we say "Olli Olli Oxen Free" - to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game, that the position of the sides in a game has changed, or, alternatively, that the game is entirely over - community driverless/autonomous transportation has arrived with a form factor and application that allows everyone the pursuit of happiness while pushing the technology envelope of possibilities forward.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Local Motors, Watson, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, IoT, driverless, autonomous, vehicle, Olli, 3D-printed cars, 3D printer, electric motor, ZED optical camera, Ellipse N GPS, Speech to Text, Natural Language Classifier, Entity Extraction, Text to Speech, National Harbor, Maryland