focusIR May 2024 Investor Webinar: Blue Whale, Kavango, Taseko Mines & CQS Natural Resources. Catch up with the webinar here.
Any more knowledgeable posters able to derive links/clues from this? Maybe nothing?
'Product Owner, Driver Monitoring System'
https://jobs.lever.co/tri-ad/db91602e-7dfb-4f69-bef8-8de3a2fbea13
https://www.tri-ad.global/careers
With this, maybe?
https://veoneerjapan.teamtailor.com/departments/dms-driver-monitoring-system
Apologies if posted before. With the topic of a prospective takeover being discussed in recent days I thought it may be of interest. We can only speculate what will happen in the next 12 months.
Interesting video the 2 minute M&A advisor from Woodside Capital partners ‘when should I be thinking about selling my company?’ How to prepare your company for acquisition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzFaZ4-tWS8&app=desktop#menu
Transcript:
Your exit strategy should be a core part of your overall business strategy from the beginning, conversely the worst time to think about selling your company is when an offer to be acquired is received or your about to run out of money and the board tells you it's time to sell the company.
To have a successful acquisition to need to lay groundwork to have relationships in place to understand what acquirer's are thinking about your market segment and to have a track record among companies who can write a large cheque to buy you company.
You need to stand out. Acquirer's are looking at all competitors before making a decision which company to acquire in a particular segment.
You should identify the 5-10 companies most likely to acquire your company and develop relationships with these companies.
Gets funny @1m57s. Find a way to get in front of them. Cold call them if necessary. Tell them hey, we have some really interesting technology. We're different. We should be on your radar screen and you should be on ours.
Maintain the relationship every few months and develop a commercial relationship if possible. Companies fortunate enough to be acquired tend to have previous relationships with the companies that acquired them.
--
Hopefully Rudy has a master plan with his contacts in SV. Pleased he at least added to his shares in Director/Management subscription.
Currently researching links/interviews to Tier 1's FWIW.
https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/vw-updates-status-ford-alliance-talks
Brings me back to Tim Edwards post on LinkedIn (23rd Jan) commenting on this article
https://www.goauto.com.au/news/general-news/safety/2019-01-23/77251.html
Founder and CTO at Seeing Machines I R&D | Eye-Tracking | Machine Learning | Automotive | Driver Monitoring Systems
Glad to read this statement from James Goodwin at ANCAP. Seems like a no brainer that AEB systems must actually work but the automotive industry is so driven by cost that unless vehicles are tested properly, safety systems can creep into becoming unsafe systems. I hope that ANCAP take the same view with technologies that detect driver distraction and drowsiness which are slated to become standard in future vehicles. I see plenty of tech in the market that claims to do driver monitoring but I know that the sensitivity and accuracy of these systems are terrible (if not useless) in real driving conditions and the vehicle will receive either too many false detections or simply fail to detect when a driver is doing a bad job, such as texting on their phone. Driver Monitoring Systems will be complex to test, particularly for drowsy drivers, but Seeing Machines will be sharing our experience in DMS testing and validation to help testing and regulatory bodies around the world to separate the wheat from the chaff. There will be chaff! We are motivated to ensure Driver Monitoring delivers a true safety outcome for society."
Catching up. Am I correct in my understanding the difference between safety and convenience in a DMS application is to do with latency when travelling at higher speeds? Higher latency + lower FPS is suitable for lower speeds (~40mph?) but if you want to go faster you need low latency + higher FPS. i.e. The latter (Low latency+high FPS) allows the system to detect distraction in the shortest possible time when travelling at higher speeds when the driver has less time to react.
e.g. car travelling along the road in autonomous mode at >70mph, detects a *object it isn't sure what it is soon to enter it's path of travel, system wants driver to takeover to decide if action needed and checks to see if driver is ready to takeover, alerts driver to takeover but lesser system (high latency+lowFPS) is too slow to detect driver is ready/able to take control and decide whether collision needs to be avoided resulting in system applying automatic emergency brake as stopping distance is too great to avoid collision?
*Object could be a physical thing you would want to stop/avoid or non-physical item such as a plastic bag or piece of paper (system doesn't know), where you would not want the car to stop or do a automatic emergency brake - incidentally which causes a huge pile-up as cars rear-end you at high-speed!
I don't have access to the Cenkos report on this.
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?CC=WO&NR=2017160356A1&KC=A1&FT=D&ND=3&date=20170921&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING OBJECT VISIBILITY FOR OVERHEAD IMAGING
Interesting patent citing SM 'METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EYE DETECTION FROM GLINTS' in 'Cited Documents'.
Any patent experts out there can further explain, opine? eg nothing of interest?
At least further evidence Google are aware of SM.
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/help?locale=en_EP&method=handleHelpTopic&topic=citeddocument
If anything/nothing, hopefully a good omen :) - Fingers/legs crossed lol
https://veoneergermany.teamtailor.com/jobs/170743-werkstudent-m-w-d-im-projektmanagement-der-business-unit-vw-gruppe-vw-audi-porsche
Thanks for posting TheLongestShot,
I figured the same but just couldn't recognise the applications you highlighted, superb. I thought when I read it, it could turn out to be an important patent - performing tasks/used in applications at reduced cost without eg the complex calibration setup and compared to equivalent more expensive sensors/methods. Fits nicely in a cost effective FPGA multitask environment too? I'm sure there are many other applications also.
ATB
Cheers Lewbo.
I too appreciate all the excellent research/contributions from the many more knowledgable than me members such as yourself. I’ve learned a lot.
That’s my understanding too as you described – accurately detecting driver depth/distance from camera in 3 dimensions and utilising captured facial recognition using PD pixels to identify facial features for this purpose at a lower cost i.e. comparable to similar results achieved using more expensive sensors that req. complex calibration procedures during installation e.g. stereo camera systems or 3D cameras. Something like that :)
It’s clever stuff (technical term).
Some interesting excerpts:
[0007] More advanced vehicle driver monitoring systems utilize stereo camera systems or three dimensional ameras to image the driver in three dimensions. However, these systems are inherently more expensive and may require a complex calibration procedure during installation. Other more advanced sensory means such as time-of-flight (ToF) cameras or LIDAR are presently either more expensive and/or cannot resolve an image of the pupil and cornea of the eye with sufficient resolution and contrast to resolve the driver’s gaze direction.
[0040] Referring now to Figure 11, the above described system 100 can be used in conjunction with a camera having a sensor with PD pixels to perform a method (1100) of measuring a distance from a camera to a face of a vehicle driver. The method is described in the context of a driver monitoring system and, as such, the object being
imaged is a driver’s face. However, a person skilled in the art will realize that the method can be simply extended to estimating the distance to other objects in other scenes without modifying the method steps other than replacing the object being imaged.
[0022] As shown in Figure 3 a system controller 112 acts as the central processor for system 100 and is configured to perform a number of functions as described below. Controller 112 is located within the dash of vehicle 5 and may be connected to or integral with the vehicle on-board computer. In another embodiment, controller112 may be
located within a housing or module together with camera 106 and illumination devices 108 and 110. The housing or module is able to be sold as an after-market product, mounted to a vehicle dash and subsequently calibrated for use in that vehicle. In further embodiments, such as flight simulators, controller 112 may be an external computer or unit such as a personal computer.
ENHANCED VIDEO-BASED DRIVER MONITORING USING PHASE DETECT SENSORS
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?II=0&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=20190228&CC=WO&NR=2019036751A1&KC=A1
https://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/3071880/bmw-and-daimler-to-jointly-develop-self-driving-technology
'Joint venture will focus on developing level three and level four self-driving systems
Car companies BMW and Daimler have signed a long-term agreement to develop next-generation vehicle technologies that will become widely available from around 2025.
Munich-based BMW and Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler announced that they would initially focus on level three and level four self-driving systems on a scalable architecture for automated driving.
Level three and level four systems include cars that still require drivers and steering wheels. Vehicles with level three technologies are able to detect their surrounding and can respond to circumstances, although a driver must be there to take control of the vehicle at all times.
Vehicles using level four technologies can drive autonomously under some but not all conditions.
The new scalable architecture developed by two companies would cover various stages of automation including technologies for driver assistance systems, automated driving on highways and parking features. New collaboration is expected to shorten development cycles and save costs for the companies.'
Post 10.5 of 11
Thanks jazzindahouse and MajorLong.
Just an idea/theory I wanted to research on its worth. I like the idea of the patent and thought maybe it fits with SM ‘IP/Software only’ company strategy? I have lots of theories :).
Re: partnerships/deals etc again all just speculation. I haven’t finished researching this and was intending to further add if/when I have more time and find anything of relevance. I am intrigued with any deals done at CES and liked the Arity idea the most (if it has any merit?). I’m sure we will find out soon enough.
I know Mobileye has been discussed many times :) but I don’t recall in regards the fleet aftermarket space -
Started researching this a while ago but forgot about it, apologies if already posted. I've got about 100 tabs open in browser LOL.
Their aftermarket ‘shield+’ product is obv. missing the DMS element. Where’s the camera, the fatigue/distraction monitoring? https://www.mobileye.com/en-uk/products/mobileye-shield-plus/
Their description on https://www.mobileye.com/en-uk/solutions/general-fleet/
‘Mobileye helps to combat distraction and fatigue-related issues. It detects lane markings to notify drivers when they veer out of lane, and reads speed limit signs to remind drivers to stay within the speed limit. When imminent danger is detected, the system provides real-time visual and audible alerts to keep everyone safe.’
Lane Departure Warning is great :) but for how many seconds/minutes can you be asleep at the wheel while maintaining a straight enough road course (no alert)? (or have I got that wrong?) Not to mention distraction – you could be positioned perfectly in the centre of the lane while looking at you mobile for example and cause a pile up. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/business/distracted-driving-auto-industry.html
Not sure how much traction they are getting in the market? Haven’t had time to fully research but for example their Fleetsafe distributer in Aus. last blog post was July 15th 2018 (Winslow Construction) https://www.fleetsafe.com.au/blog
I’m not sure on installation times either. Their product needs to be professionally installed and they also offer a haptic feedback function (optional - vibration in steering column or under seat)
I wonder will the EU discussions/ruling have any affect on their aftermarket fleet strategy?
Post 10 of 11
Allstate – Arity
Arity have a OBD2 solution and app similar to described above ‘the Arity Driver Score’. www.arity.com
‘Arity provides its technology through a software development kit (SDK), a device that can be plugged into a car’s on-board diagnostics port to track how the car is performing on the road and whether there are any mechanical problems, or by working directly with a car manufacturer.’
http://fortune.com/2016/11/10/allstate-arity-startup/
‘The Arity Driver Score is a unique solution that jointly analyze drivers’ physical on-the-road mobile phone usage and corresponding claims data.’
https://www.arity.com/move/arity-taking-distracted-driving-directly/
‘At Arity, our mission is to make transportation smarter, safer and more useful for everyone, and understanding and eliminating distracted driving is central to why the company was founded...It’s important that we don’t stop learning and experimenting; there’s so much more we can do to #enddistracteddriving.’
https://www.arity.com/move/5-steps-understand-distracted-driving/
Also check out interview with Arity President Gary Hallgren at CES 18’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbBT6jxB16o
Goes on to describe Arity’s core as a data analytics and insight company to more accurately price car insurance for consumers aswell as ridesharing co. etc – from driving data (who’s the more risky driver), diagnostics (which car is likely to develop a fault compared to others and when) and analysing how people drive, providing coaching to help them understand which behaviour/distracted driving causes the most problems.
"I think when people start thinking about autonomy they they go to a utopia where there is nothing but self-driving cars on the road and while that will happen that's gonna happen a long time from now. What I'm really interested in is we have models and algorithms today which are all about how humans interact with other humans. We're getting to the point where we're gonna start to see how humans interface with the car on supercruise or a car on an autopilot and then we're gonna get to the point of how humans interface with the cars driving themselves"
Arity were also at CES 2019. Could this be 1 one the deals Ken spoke about?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZqUmEyJP_E
Cont..
...aftermarket telematics/UBI? (Cont.. from post 8 of 11)
Post 9 of 11
Autoliv
Autoliv press release (Jan 14th 2019) details an app with similar functionality called ‘Safety Score’ to ‘develop safer drivers’ https://www.autoliv.com/news-and-media/press-releases?page=/perma/press/1650090
‘We see UBI as promoting safe driving and reducing accidents, and Safety Score can support any insurance company offering UBI’. ‘To get the most out of your UBI, Autoliv offers a solution that includes a white label app, a dashboard with holistic insights and a solution that can be up and running in no time’. https://www.autoliv.com/SafetyScore.
Interesting too, if you look at the youtube clip ‘Safety Score by Autoliv - Ride Hailing’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8z_Z7R8uDc @ ~7s you can see a device on the windscreen
– I think this is a ‘Windshield-mounted device’ as described in https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/telematics-poised-for-strong-global-growth (post 4 of 11)
‘Windshield-mounted device.
Professionally installed on the windshield, these devices feature additional sensors to provide extra sources of data. Comprised of a small telematics windshield on-board unit equipped with a backup battery, these devices also feature an embedded microprocessor GNSS with an internal antenna, six-axis integrated accelerometer and gyroscope, as well as a GSM/GPRS quad-band module with an internal antenna, eSIM, and backup battery. The units feature voice controls, an integrated microphone, a speaker, two volume controls, and an emergency button. Some are also available with a camera. They offer superior road safety, e-assistance, tamper resistance, driving scores, and usage-based insurance services, as well as above-average hot condition usability and setup ease.’
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The dock mobile/dms etc SM solution looks like a natural fit to supplement or integrate with this device, maybe?
Or if it works as described :) would replace this device, hopefully reducing cost and installation times? The idea being a plug in play device negating the need for professional installation or at the very least reducing installation time?
Cont..
Post 8 of 11
Speculative ideas for poss. partnerships/deals where SM device could be integrated/supplemented to existing Insurance Co/Tier 1 devices in aftermarket telematics/UBI?
Zurich Insurance:
Links to SM through Guardian Seminar discussing fatigue, distraction, telematics etc and current delivery platforms – Apps, Plug & Play and Hardwired (poss. some integration of all 3) @ ~17m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=865T8a23Gtc
They utilise a OBD-II (or TCU) device linked to a smartphone app. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itkTJIENtXI
A dock/mount integrated with a mobile/tablet device, telematics and dms solution could be utilised as an App and/or Plug & Play solution (current G2 Hardwired?). Further a device which could integrate with an Insurance Co. app and supplement their current e.g OBD-II offering? A hybrid device? (see posts 5&6 of 11)
Are SM still in contact, maybe? (Kudos to Klick for link)
http://www.primemovermag.com.au/news/article/robots-at-the-wheel-dont-hold-your-breath
Note: Zurich have made 2 acquisitions recently (Dec 2017): a life insurance co. in Australia and ‘Brightbox’ - a telematics company which uses a OBD-II connected device + app to monitor engine performance (driving habits etc) with >500,000 cars connected. https://remoto.com/customers&partners/
www.finews.com/news/english-news/29941-zurich-anz-life-insurance-business-australia-jack-howell-retail
https://www.finews.com/news/english-news/30103-bright-box-hong-kong-acquired-zurich-insurance
https://www.zurich.com/en/media/news-releases/2017/2017-1222-01
Bosch/Amodo platform
Bosch offers a series of tailormade usage-based insurance technologies (UBIs), that deliver the real-time data and analytics needed to accurately solve any insurance query. Same reasoning as Zurich. Bosch offer a plug-in device linked to a smartphone (bluetooth) to analyse driver performance – the Telematics eCall Plug (TEP), a retrofit plug-in sensor device. ‘It delivers precise event data such as driving behavior and crash detection for telematics, fleet management and insurance applications. The smart sensor device easily plugs into a standard 12V car cigarette lighter socket.’
Could SM device be integrated? A hybrid device?
https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/bosch-launches-telematics-ecall-plug-ces2018-2/
http://www.boschconnectedvehicle.com/us/en/insurances.html
‘Amodo is one of the most successful InsurTech companies and has built a state-of-the-art telematics platform used to connect with new customers and offer personalized insurance products, in a simple and convenient way. Amodo platform supports a telematics program based on OBDs, smartphones, and as of recently on Bosch Bluetooth device.’
https://www.amodo.eu/bosch-and-amodo-collaboration/
Could an insurance co. utilise their own preferred telematics platform if desired (mobile app) - whether it’s amodo, remoto etc and integrate this with SM dock dms device for afterm
Post 7 of 11
4: ‘End of the Road for OBD in UBI Plans?’ Article describing challenges of OBDs in UBI (Apr 30 2018).
http://insurancethoughtleadership.com/end-of-the-road-for-obd-in-ubi-plans/
‘I recently attended a telematics event in Brussels and had an interesting discussion about the future of on-board diagnostics (OBD) in auto insurance. I have been in the European telematics usage-based insurance (UBI) space for a long time and have seen all sorts of solutions adopted by insurers when launching programs to consumers: hidden black boxes, windscreen devices, battery-mounted devices and tags, all with different types of success.
I have rarely seen OBDs succeed. In theory, there are benefits from reading vehicle data and being connected to the car, but the reality has proven massively different.
First of all, OBDs prove to be inconvenient for consumers. Each vehicle has a different position for the port, and unless consumers are carefully guided they simply won’t find it. If they do, the ports can be in inconvenient places, which either makes the device an eyesore in the car or annoying because it can detach when the driver gets into and out of the car. Some less-expensive OBD models, without GPS and GSM, can be paired with phones, but even this experience has never been straightforward due to different Bluetooth standards. So the promise of self-installing really did not work out.
Car manufacturers don’t help the situation. They continuously update their vehicle software, which can cause compatibility problems for OBD makers every time a new model comes to market. Guess who discovers this first? Consumers.
OBDs proved to be inconvenient for insurers. When insurers launch a new UBI program, they want to make sure the data is standardized across all available vehicles. But with all their issues with compatibility and installation, OBDs in Europe have never been able to deliver the standardization that make the driving data interesting for insurers on a large scale.
OBDs have had some success in countries like the U.S., mainly due to different OBD data standards, bigger cars and more consumer awareness. But even in the U.S., insurers are abandoning OBDs for smartphones, which can provide better customer experiences and adoption rates.
But perhaps most damaging of all, car makers are starting to limit access to the OBD port to protect consumers from hackers and bad experiences. Ultimately, the port has been created for diagnostics purposes years ago but lately used by hardware providers for different purposes. Organizations interested in accessing vehicle data will probably be driven by OEMs directly to access driving data from the cloud with highly secure access systems – not from the vehicle itself.
This is why we won’t see many insurers launching new OBD-based UBI programs.’
Cont..
Post 6 of 11
3: ‘White Paper - Comparing Mobile Apps, Hybrid Bluetooth and OBD-II’ - describing the advantages/disadvantages of each of three systems used in UBI - ‘OBD-II, Mobile handset and the hybrid system’.
https://www.intellimec.com/ubiwhitepaper
‘Usage-based Insurance (UBI), has experienced substantial growth over the last few years, and the technology choices that gain favor in the near term will influence the direction of the market for years to come. Techniques for collecting, consolidating, and analyzing the data required to assess driver behavior continue to be refined as the tech for accomplishing this undergo an inevitable evolution. At the moment, a fundamental question is being debated throughout the industry: what is the right solution for my program? Should connectivity rely on data captured with a standalone, cellular-based OBD device? Or rely on technology brought into the vehicle (smartphones)? Or use a hybrid solution consisting of a multiple technologies connected using Bluetooth.
Costs for all forms of telematics data collection are steadily declining as technologies improve, with smartphone solutions leading the pack, as shown in Figure 1. Most current OBD-II solutions rely on 2G or 3G mobile telecommunications technology for data transmission, but OBD-II with Bluetooth offers a lower cost alternative, and this approach does not require a separate data plan. From the point of view of the insurer, smartphone-only solutions present the lowest cost because the insured individual has already invested in the smartphone and also pays for the cellular data plan by which the collected data is transmitted (no additional hardware device is required).
In the past, telematics solutions based on OBD-II were leading the market in terms of sheer numbers, but are now on the decline. Smartphone technology has greatly improved and is satisfying certain market requirements and quickly advancing as a preferred approach. Hybrid Bluetooth solutions are also gaining popularity because of their ability to enhance smartphone telematics while offsetting hardware costs.’
Cont...
Post 5 of 11
2: Mobile Telematics: The Game Changer for Insurance Telematics – describes advantages/disadvantages of using smartphones for telematics with expected customer demands for UBI to grow over 140 million subscribers globally by 2023
https://www.intellimec.com/insights/mobile-telematics-apps-auto-insurance
‘The advantages of smartphone telematics and Behavior Based Insurance (BBI) programs are fairly obvious: insurance providers can identify and understand risks by gaining a more accurate glimpse of how their clients actually behave behind the wheel. They can also limit their exposure to risks through loss prevention techniques by understanding when and where clients drive, helping them determine who should be paying more, and who should be paying less, for automotive insurance.
‘So, what’s the best way to collect that data? Is the best solution OBD-II, mobile, or a hybrid option blending elements of the other two?’
We believe there isn’t necessarily one right answer. Instead, any of these methods could work effectively, one may be better than another depending on the nature of the insurance program in question.
One of the most exciting options for telematics data collection is mobile, or the use of smartphones. There are a number of clear advantages to this system, starting with the elimination of hardware costs for insurers. Whereas OBD-II programs require the insurance provider purchase and distribute telematics devices that clients can install in their vehicles, the mobile option employs a client’s own mobile device. And because smartphones are becoming essentially ubiquitous — meaning just about everyone owns them — it’s a system that can be easily and effectively implemented. (In terms of cost, also leveraging the user’s existing mobile data plan or wifi network – which is a very small data footprint due to techniques such as compression.)
Cont...
Post 4 of 11
The case for a stand-alone dms/telematics mobile application and/or insurer/telematics providers integrated/supplemented solution (4 articles) i.e. why this could be a good idea? :
1: ‘Telematics: Poised for strong global growth’. Also describes the pros/cons of different types of telematics devices
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/telematics-poised-for-strong-global-growth
‘After decades as a niche feature, telematics is merging into the automotive mainstream (see sidebar, “Defining telematics and usage-based insurance”). Research on car-data-monetization trends and characteristics suggests that this value pool could be as large as $750 billion by 2030. While current adoption rates remain low across markets, they could grow significantly through the first part of the next decade, according to the GSM Association, an organization comprised of mobile-network operators. There are two reasons for this. First is the increased willingness of governments to mandate specific telematics services, such as emergency-call capabilities, which is already happening in the European Union and Russia. Second is the increasing appetite from consumers for greater connectivity and intelligence in their vehicles.
While virtually all markets currently feature voluntary car-telematics systems, regulators in many countries want to mandate the technology in specific circumstances. For instance, the European Union seeks e-assistance systems in case of accidents. The eCall system, mandatory for all new EU vehicles as of March 2018, should speed up emergency-response times by 40 percent in cities and 50 percent in rural areas—in the process reducing the number of fatalities by at least 4 percent. Russia mandated a similar system for new cars by the end of 2017, while Mexico has sought mandatory radio-frequency-identification (RFID) tags to bolster vehicle-antitheft systems. Many other countries, including China, Germany, Singapore, and South Africa, have voluntary systems that provide UBI incentives.’
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See paragraph/patent claim [0128] ‘system 50’ in ‘Post 2 of 11’ > ‘In addition to monitoring the driver and measuring the driver's performance, system 50 is able to provide emergency alerts to a third party upon the occurrence of a vehicle incident.’ i.e. describes use as an aftermarket ‘eCall’ type system in event of accident/emergency?
Also any potential issues in regards traditional smart phone apps used in telematics (see article) could poss. be solved/alleviated with the dock/mount being a hardware and software solution or integrated/supplemented with an Insurer/Telematics providers existing device eg. OBD-2 ? i.e. A hybrid device?
Cont...