Autonomous Vehicles, Now and Later

Society is headed toward more driverless cars, self-driving cars, shared cars, connected fleets, and all kinds of autonomous vehicles (AVs). How will engineers of tomorrow deal with this technology? Dr. Kara Kockelman, Professor of Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, talks about her research in this area and current advances in the field. She discusses driver psychology, effects of AVs on the environment, the importance of statistics and computer science in her work, the difference between cars in Texas and California, and much more. Related to this episode: • Dr. Kara Kockelman’s work: http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman/ • Transportation Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin: http://www.caee.utexas.edu/transportation • Article on missing sidewalks in Austin, Texas, from Austin Monthly: http://www.austinmonthly.com/AM/December-2017/Want-to-Make-Austin-a-City-for-Everybody-Add-Sidewalks/ • Example study of drivers’ plans for self-driving vehicles: http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman/public_html/TRB18surveyFleetEvolution.pdf • Some useful terms: SAEV = shared autonomous electric vehicle, which is different from driverless vehicles and self-driving vehicles • Google/Waymo self-driving car project: https://www.google.com/selfdrivingcar/ • Texas DOT = Department of Transportation • Article on a 2017 Texas law allowing autonomous vehicles on roads, from The Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/15/lawmakers-clear-way-driverless-cars-texas-roads-and-highways/ • GPS = global positioning system. Article on GPS in autonomous cars from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/automobiles/wheels/self-driving-cars-gps-maps.html • LIDAR = light detection and ranging sensors. Article on lidar in Toyota cars from WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/toyota-luminar-lidar-self-driving-car/ • Article on Uber self-driving car goals, from TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/23/uber-ceo-hopes-to-have-self-driving-cars-in-service-in-18-months/ • DRS - Dynamic Ride Sharing, or shared autonomous vehicles (not car-sharing). Example research article on DRS from Dr. Kockelman: http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman/public_html/TRB18OrlandoDRS.pdf • Follow the show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/k12engineering • Follow Pius on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PiusWong You can support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You can also send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. Our closing music is from "Late for School" by Bleeptor, used under Creative Commons Attribution Licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.