October 2019 Mobility Grab Bag
October 2019 Mobility Grab Bag
Every month brings new developments in mobility, so let’s take a minute to breakdown a few recent developments that touch on issues we’ve previously discussed in the blog:
New AV Deployments
This month saw a test deployment of Level 4 vehicles in London, which even allowed members of the public to be passengers (with a safety driver). Meanwhile, in Arizona, Waymo announced it will be deploying vehicles without safety drivers, though it appears only members of their early-access test group will be riding in them for now. We’ve written a lot about Waymo, from some early problems with pedestrians and other drivers, to the regulations placed on them by Arizona’s government, to their potential ability to navigate human controlled intersections.
Georgia Supreme Court Requires a Warrant for Vehicle Data
This Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court, in the case of Mobley v. State, ruled that recovering data from a vehicle without a warrant “implicates the Fourth Amendment, regardless of any reasonable expectations of privacy.” The court found that an investigator entering the vehicle to download data from the vehicle’s airbag control unit constituted “physical intrusion of a personal motor vehicle,” an action which “generally is a search for purposes of the Fourth Amendment under the traditional common law trespass standard.” Given the amount of data that is collected currently by vehicles and the ever-increasing amount of data that CAVs can and will collect, rulings like this are very important in dictating how and when law enforcement can obtain vehicle data. We’ve previously written about CAVs and the 4th Amendment, as well as other privacy implications of CAVs, both in regards to government access to data and the use of CAV data by private parties.
Personal Cargo Bots Could Bring Even More Traffic to Your Sidewalk
In May, as part of a series on drones, I wrote about a number of test programs deploying small delivery bots for last-mile deliveries via the sidewalk. A recent Washington Post article highlights another potential contender for sidewalk space – personal cargo bots. Called “gita” the bot can travel at up to 6 mph as it uses it’s onboard cameras to track and follow its’ owner, via the owner’s gait. The bot’s developers see it as helping enhance mobility, as it would allow people to go shopping on foot without being concerned about carrying their goods home. For city-dwellers that may improve grocery trips, if they can shell out the $3,000+ price tag!
Even More Aerial Drones to Bring Goods to Your Door
Last month, as part two the drone series, I looked at aerial delivery drones. In that piece I mentioned that Google-owned Wing would be making drone deliveries in Virginia, and Wing recently announced a partnership with Walgreens that will be part of that test. Yesterday Wired pointed out that UPS has made a similar deal with CVS – though it remains to be seen if the drones will have to deliver the infamously long CVS receipts as well. As Wired pointed out, drugstores, since they carry goods that could lead to an emergency when a home runs out of them (like medication and diapers), speedy air delivery could fill a useful niche. So next time you’re home with a cold, you may be able to order decongestant to be flown to your bedside, or at least to the yard outside your bedroom window.
P.S. – While not related to any past writings, this article is pretty interesting – Purdue scientists took inspiration from the small hairs on the legs of spiders to invent a new sensor that can ignore minor forces acting on a vehicle while detecting major forces, making it easier for CAVs and drones to focus computing power on important things in their environment without getting distracted.