Anand Nandakumar on the future of remote driving and ride services | E1978

Anand Nandakumar joins Jason (0s)

• Anand Nandakumar, CEO of Cruise, discusses the future of remote driving and ride services.
• Cruise's approach to remote driving is focused on safety, transparency, and collaboration with regulators.
• In the event of an incident, Cruise would immediately disclose all information to regulators and work with them to develop a path forward.
• Remote driving has the potential to improve safety, reduce costs, and increase accessibility to transportation.
• Remote driving can also help to address challenges such as traffic congestion and pollution.
• There are a number of challenges and concerns associated with remote driving, including cybersecurity, reliability, and public acceptance.
• Cruise is working to address these challenges through a combination of technology, policy, and education.
• Remote driving is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to revolutionize transportation.
• Cruise is committed to working with regulators, industry partners, and the public to make remote driving a safe and reliable reality.

Halo Car's technology and vision for the future (1m16s)

• Halo car provides a hardware kit that enables remote driving in any vehicle, aiming to transition from traditional car ownership to a fully serviced concept.
• Halo car plans to enter the car rental market before expanding into short-term rentals and eventually ride-sharing.
• Remote driving services offer convenience and privacy by eliminating the need for a driver in the car.
• Existing remote driving services and valet services like Lux Lu are expensive, limiting their success and leading to discontinuation in some cases.

Economics and challenges of remote driving services (7m36s)

• Remote driving services face economic challenges due to the need for physical drivers to reposition vehicles.
• The high cost of living in cities like San Francisco makes it difficult to hire drivers at affordable wages.
• Remote driving allows drivers to be located in lower-cost areas, such as Las Vegas, while still servicing vehicles in high-density cities.

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Remote driving job opportunities and cost of living impacts (12m7s)

• Remote driving jobs can provide an alternative for individuals who are unhappy with their current low-paying jobs.
• Remote driving offers advantages such as a 9-to-5 job, full pay, healthcare, and the elimination of dealing with difficult customers and car maintenance costs.
• The potential earnings for remote drivers are estimated to be around $20-$30 per hour.
• The long-term vision involves transitioning to full VR, allowing remote drivers to work from home with a provided kit.
• The inspiration for remote driving came from medical transcription work done by the speaker's mother in India, where audio files were sent for data entry.
• Remote driving can provide an opportunity for stay-at-home parents, especially skilled drivers, to earn extra income while taking care of their families.

Synergy of remote and self-driving technologies (14m30s)

• Anand Nandakumar, former leader of perception teams for Uber's self-driving unit, believes that even with advanced self-driving technology, human drivers will still be needed in the loop for safety and to handle edge cases.
• Nandakumar envisions a hybrid model where a remote human driver monitors a fleet of self-driving cars and can intervene when necessary.
• This approach would allow for faster scaling of self-driving technology while maintaining safety.
• Nandakumar discusses two notable accidents involving self-driving cars: the Cruise incident where a pedestrian was dragged after being hit by a human driver, and the Uber incident where a safety driver was distracted and failed to prevent a fatal collision.
• These accidents highlighted the need for robust sensor systems and the ability to identify and handle edge cases.
• The industry has learned from these incidents and is moving towards end-to-end deep learning models that allow cars to learn and adapt to edge cases on their own.

Autonomous vehicle adoption and industry challenges (19m27s)

• Elon Musk's Tesla is leading the industry in autonomous vehicle development due to:
  • Ability to collect the most data from millions of cars worldwide.
  • Unique ability to run machine learning models in Shadow mode, simulating real-world scenarios while driving.
• Challenges for companies like Waymo:
  • Scaling up operations to every city and area to capture a significant market share is capital-intensive.
  • High cost of autonomous vehicles ($300,000 each) and their depreciating value limit profitability.
• Weo faces economic challenges due to the high cost of autonomous vehicles and the limited number of rides that can be done per day.

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Economic challenges for autonomous vehicle companies (23m7s)

• HD mapping is costly and requires constant updates due to changing city infrastructure.
• Tesla's advantage lies in its large fleet of sensor-equipped cars, enabling continuous data collection and shadow mode recording.
• Remote driving as a service can provide interventions in driverless cars, with the potential for outsourcing remote takeover services.
• Trucking can benefit from remote driving technology, allowing efficient handover of long-haul driving tasks between drivers.
• Automation for big rigs is feasible on long freeway trips, but challenges remain in navigating ramps and local deliveries, requiring human intervention.
• Voyage's remote drivers have enhanced visibility due to multiple cameras and sensors installed on the vehicle, enabling better intervention, takeover, and parking than human drivers.
• Voyage's CEO, Anand Nandakumar, believes people would be willing to pay for a subscription service for remote drivers to take over their cars when needed.

Remote driving technology for consumers (30m47s)

• Customers can own a car and put it in the marketplace to earn money when not in use.
• Las Vegas is a Pro Tech city for autonomous vehicles.
• Other states in the US that are open to autonomous vehicle deployment include Florida, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, and California.
• Japan is also emerging as a potential market for remote driving technology due to its high population density and limited car ownership.
• Reducing the number of cars in parking lots can have a significant impact on urban planning and housing, such as converting garages into additional living spaces.

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Regulatory issues and performance of autonomous vehicles in different weathers (35m17s)

• Cruise's reputation has been damaged due to their accident and lack of transparency with regulators.
• Waymo has been more successful in collaborating with regulators and being open about incidents.
• Most self-driving car crashes have occurred due to extenuating circumstances, such as inclement weather.
• Self-driving cars can generally handle adverse weather conditions, including icy roads, by adjusting traction control.
• Autonomous vehicles rely on car data, like traction information, when making decisions.
• Humans are better equipped to handle unexpected situations while driving remotely, such as dashboard light malfunctions or traction control issues.
• Remote driving operations should be suspended during severe weather conditions when fewer people are on the roads.

How to experience Halo Car's technology (41m34s)

• Halo Car is a B2B company that works with car rental companies, car companies, and logistic providers.
• Halo Car's goal is to equip their customers' fleets with their proprietary tech to enable remote driving of their vehicles.
• Halo Car is open to collaborating with rental car services of all sizes, including small, medium, and large companies.
• Halo Car is working on developing technology for remote driving and ride services.
• Remote driving technology will allow people to control vehicles from a distance, potentially revolutionizing transportation.
• Ride services could become more efficient and affordable with remote driving technology, as vehicles could be driven without the need for a physical driver.
• Remote driving technology could also improve safety, as it could eliminate human error and reduce the risk of accidents.