Member Info for TheLongestShot

Some patents are just too futuristic:

Seat belt - check,
brain cap - check,
attach wrist sensor - check.
Oh yes, brain control + steering wheel is definitely the future.

Thanks JC

Good find JC.
Don't forget, this is not Chinese innovation this is actually Volvo guys. Not sure what the market they are aiming for. Follow the eyes and show the view from exterior camera on the screen.

Two features were missing - turn off the feature if my wife is present.
- it was not programmed to "zoom and enhance"

That news alone is worth a penny on the sp!
1. It enables defence work
2. You don't jump through hoops like this and get approval unless the defence work is demanding that you do it and there isn't a suitable US company who could do it instead

Bloody good news, a tiddler but that little wedge opens a crack big enough for 2 and 4 engine jets to fly through.

Conservative by nature they need someone else to jump first. Given the nature of these long and irregular flights with single pilot operations it will be a thorough proving ground for the hardware and software. Showing it works here as well as in trucks and cars takes away the perceived risks, so now it can be deployed in long and short haul narrow and wide body jets - passenger and cargo - for real scale.

No mention of data recording? Wonder if it will be integrated into flight data recorders in this implementation?

Beechcraft King Air

https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/news/pel-air-awarded-a300-million-contract-victoria

DR777 - OmniVision only make the camera. What matters is who does the software for the SoC or the chip

For anyone concerned that we may have upset Stellantis by not bidding for this minor RFQ, don't worry. Stellantis know exactly what SEE can deliver - they just need to look at the Jeep Grand Cherokees that we won with Veoneer.

We know from PMcG that he is focused on the larger RFQs. He isn't wasting his time on nickel and dime contracts when he can use the same resources to bid and win on the big money contracts.

My money is on this being Citroen or Peugeot - one of the former "majors" who focus on mid market cars.
Now these are minor brands among a family of European car makers that will be sharing platforms with their new siblings. This platform will be planned in ahead of Opel (& Vauxhall) fully joining the family, so may not get the full scale of brands. The design decisions were probably made before Qualcomm was confirmed as a serious solution, so could have been retained as the "insurance" option.

Now I am glad that SEE didn't stoop to pick up this AUD7.5 million contract

Note we have had such tiny contracts with GM before - but SEE hide the value, this is one that Smart Eye want to appear as big as possible.

I am happy that Paul chose to focus his resources in the correct places.

Ignore the de-rampers who hope to get more value from their buy-in by spreading doom and gloom instead of real research

Thanks UDWG,
Now seriously, if you thought I was impressed. Go read the T3 review!

"I review dash cams for a living and even I'm excited about the 'smart' Nextbase iQ
It's the world’s first fully-connected smart dash cam, with next-generation safety, security, and AI-driver assistance"

Remember, we didn't pay to develop the Ambarella chip. They spent probably $10million for this. Ambarella are expecting serious volume to make a return. Next base will not be the only dash cam I expect that this will be the core of our next Guardian device. We won't just be looking at 10k lorries per year. This will drop in price and be in vans and other commercial vehicles. Possibly even at the point of manufacture. So there will be significant volume in this channel to market

Never mind the doorbells for now. It looks like we have found another leg for the stool. Dash Cams are normally pretty stupid, but what about adding intelligence? Now I hadn't heard of Nextbase before, but they announced their iQ dash cam at CES 2022. It goes on sale in the UK in the autumn. It looks like it has Ambarella chips with Seeing Machines Occula on board

So what is special?

3 cameras (in 2 units) the forward module has 5mp forward facing and it tracks vehicles and their speeds to detect possible collisions. It has a driver facing camera for DMS which detects drowsiness and distraction (that is where we come in). Now since the unit contains both cameras it s hi ould be able to check that the driver is looking and aware of the risks to reduce alerts.

So perhaps we don't all need to buy a new top of the range vehicle to get the full Seeing Machines safety experience.

So what else? Well this British company has 80% of the UK market and already has 20% of the US market. Not impressed? Well for me the clincher is that they were the first to tie-up with AXA for insurance discounts.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/robertbloomquist73_dashcams-ces2022-nextbaseiq-activity-6893344988277932032-xTNo

So apart from US based Electric car company (likely Rivian) these are Chinese wins as expected. I hope they get the volume to cover the costs with the inevitable lower price per unit.

As Colin says, they are doing well and may not be a listed company for long.

If someone takes these off the table, it surely will start our bidding war, or at least a significant re-rate.

Ok. You have seen me skim through a bunch of patents, some with a great deal of though behind them, others like Toyota and Kyoceta - a broad land grab attempt. Well this is the real deal - it tries to document everything about real work by a real system, that can actually work. It is one that is actually worth at least looking at the pictures of to see how the system is built.

Some things of note - a multi-core processor and FOUR GPU units are required to run this system, and a Neuromorphic processor and a Deep learning processor etc, etc. Did I mention 50 pages of diagrams!!

So what are they claiming - remember it is only the claims that matter - observing gaze, listening to spoken instructions and acting on the gaze and instructions to do something with a car component.

it is all machine learning from cameras, no mention of glints or bright/dark eyes.

It can use special fiduciary markers (special codes or anchor points) in the image for calibration. It is based on a priority claim for 2019. So like Kyoceta, too late to stop our earlier patents.

You can see how this may be more of an issue to OEMs or Tier 1s if this was granted. But not to those with existing gaze or speech patents

JC well done for spotting this sneaky move by a "photocopier"

Ok first off, this is machine learning to work out what humans look at then using eye gaze to see if we are as good as their model. If not we must be asleep. So I am not too worried about the practicality as there isn't much detail in their claims (and that is all that counts)

Second, thing - too late. The priority document is 2020. so no risk for Seeing Machines who have earlier claims

Thanks JC, you are keeping me busy.

No direct mentions of Seeing Machines, but good to see that "vehicular control system estimates the driver takeover time for the driver to take over control of the vehicle based at least in part monitoring of driver attentiveness via an in-cabin sensor" is mentioned.

This patent is the latest in a string that go back to 2016. Amusingly, Telsa Model S and Daimler E-Class get mentioned as examples of SAE Level 3 vehicles. Mercedes, were challenged and removed all mentions of Autonomy and toned down their language about the E-Class system.

Elon, well we know what happens there - he implies it as SAE Level 4, then when challenged by authorities, pretends it is only SAE Level 2 so doesn't need to conform to the rules

We know that Qualcomm are already focussed on mobile phones and now cars. Well this is the perfect opportunity for your new phone to add the soon to be must have V2X communications in your legacy (no not just old Subarus). It wasn't entirely clear how this would be communicated, I hope it is via Bluetooth to the vehicle entertainment system, not communicated via the teenager in the back

No rocket science here, just a land grab for insurance.

Among the claims here are for a camera in a "facility" recording passing drivers state; another where the camera in one vehicle observing the following driver for tailgating. Would be polite to have a bumper sticker saying "don't tailgate in case your insurer is watching"

For I minute there Maps, I thought you meant Martin, but he is all spent up from buying his distractions

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/iihs-creates-safeguard-ratings-for-partial-automation

The IIHS is the equivalent of Thatcham in the US. Insurance backed, they set their own safety requirements, then test and rank cars. This is GREAT NEWS.
===
IIHS creates safeguard ratings for partial automation
Vehicles with partial automation need to have safeguards in place to help drivers stay focused on the road. IIHS is developing a ratings program to evaluate attention reminders and other measures.

January 20, 2022

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is developing a new ratings program that evaluates the safeguards that vehicles with partial automation employ to help drivers stay focused on the road.

The safeguards will be rated good, acceptable, marginal or poor. To earn a good rating, systems will need to ensure that the driver’s eyes are directed at the road and their hands are either on the wheel or ready to grab it at all times. Escalating alerts and appropriate emergency procedures when the driver does not meet those conditions will also be required.

IIHS expects to issue the first set of ratings in 2022. The precise timing is uncertain because ongoing supply chain woes in the auto industry have made it more difficult to obtain vehicles for testing.

“Partial automation systems may make long drives seem like less of a burden, but there is no evidence that they make driving safer,” says IIHS President David Harkey. “In fact, the opposite may be the case if systems lack adequate safeguards.”

The need for driver monitoring and attention reminders has become apparent to many safety advocates. Consumer Reports has announced it will begin awarding points for partially automated driving systems, but only if they have adequate driver monitoring systems, and will factor in IIHS safeguard ratings once they are available.

Despite misleading messaging from some manufacturers, for now, at least, self-driving cars are not available to consumers. What many vehicles on the market do have is partial automation. The human driver must still handle many routine driving tasks that the systems aren’t designed to do. The driver also has to monitor how well the automation is performing its tasks and always be ready to take over if anything goes wrong. While most partial automation systems have some safeguards in place to help ensure drivers are focused and ready, none of them meets all the pending IIHS criteria.

Today’s partial automation systems — which are marketed under various names, such as Autopilot, Pilot Assist and Super Cruise — use cameras, radar or other sensors to “see” the road. The ones currently on the market combine adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane centering with various other driver assistance features. ACC maintains a driver-selected speed but will automatically slow to keep a set following distance from a slower moving vehicle ahead and then accelerate when the way...

Oh, one last thing Maps, Google translate will work better at Inderes, if the source language is set to Finnish!

Maps, a few of us went on an exchange visit to Inderes over a year ago. It was an interesting experience. We have a few converts here and on Telegram.

One thing I did learn was that people with a cow in a ditch are very pursuasive. I have also noticed that many of their key posters reduced their holdings or vanished during 2021