ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023 - 2

Editorial
Threats to automation's reputation
Simulation plays a central role in
almost every aspect of automotive
product development. And as this
month's cover story explains, 'sim'
is extending its reach in automated-driving
R&D, bringing efficiency to
human factors and critical but tedious
component-verification work. Some
argue that most AV development
should - and thanks to contemporary
sim technology, can - be conducted
in the virtual world. It's hard for me
to imagine getting to consumer-ready
SAE Level 4 and 5 driving automation
without eventual heavy reliance on
simulation-based validation.
That notion comes hard against
what's played out with Tesla, however.
The EV leader effectively has leveraged
its customers' on-the-road experiences
to incrementally " harden " its automated-driving
software. It's not an entirely
off-the-ranch idea; many AV developers
have relied on some sort of crowdsourcing
data acquisition to help their
systems learn. The difference, however,
is that Tesla consigned this role - and
its genuine risks - to everyday drivers
who mostly thought they already were
using a high-level " self-driving " system.
Now, with the AV development
sector consolidating and more-rational
talk about high-level driving automation
being the rule rather than the exception,
expectations are shifting. After probable
" polite nudge " from the NHTSA, opined
George Mason University engineering
professor Missy Cummings, Tesla
recalled all 362,758 vehicles using its
Full Self Driving Beta software.
With that, some of the AV engineering
stalwarts that remain are
beginning to speak more decisively
about the over-selling that's been one
of the sector's venture capital-inspired
calling cards. Whether because they've
found religion or reality has found
them, a few big names have joined the
call for Tesla accountability before the
perception of automated driving is irrevocably
damaged.
In March at a South by Southwest
presentation, Kyle Vogt, chief executive
officer of GM-owned Cruise LLC, told
the audience, " You have companies
selling products like Full Self-Driving,
which sounds to me like when I'm
behind the wheel, I don't have to drive.
If we're calling that self-driving, we're
misleading consumers. " Alongside
Vogt on the SXSW stage, GM CEO Mary
Barra added, " There is a very bright
line. If someone gets in a vehicle and
is confused about who is responsible,
that's a problem. "
This matter of responsibility always
is going to be there in the litigious U.S.
But I reject the opinion that if anyone
brings to market an SAE Level 4 or
5 system, the responsibility concern
is moot because the chance for an
accident caused by that automated
vehicle has been engineered into a
statistical impossibility.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Pete Buttigieg also seems distracted
by the responsibility factor. In a March
interview with Bloomberg, he said, " I
wouldn't call something 'Autopilot' if
the manual explicitly says that you have
to have your hands on the wheel and
the eyes on the road all the time. "
In taking his shot at Tesla (while
backhandedly laying some onus on
consumers) Buttigieg might be missing
a couple of nuances specific to the auto
industry. First, OEMs instinctively oversell,
so don't assume you're getting full
truth about any feature, even if it's safety-related.
And second, Mr. Secretary,
nobody reads the owner's manual.
Bill Visnic, Editorial Director
EDITORIAL
Bill Visnic
Editorial Director
Bill.Visnic@sae.org
Lindsay Brooke
Editor-in-Chief
Lindsay.Brooke@sae.org
Chris Clonts
Senior Editor
chris.clonts@saemediagroup.com
Ryan Gehm
Associate Editor
Ryan.Gehm@sae.org
Matthew Wolfe
Assistant Editor
matthew.wolfe@saemediagroup.com
Amanda Hosey
Editor, Custom Content
amanda.hosey@saemediagroup.com
Contributors
Kami Buchholz
Detroit Editor
John Kendall
Europe Editor
Bradley Berman
U.S. West Coast Editor
Sebastian Blanco, Don Sherman,
Paul Weissler
DESIGN
Lois Erlacher
Creative Director
Ray Carlson
Associate Art Director
SALES &
MARKETING
Joe Pramberger
Publisher
joe.pramberger@saemediagroup.com
Kaitlyn Sommer
Marketing Director
kaitlyn.sommer@saemediagroup.com
Martha Tress
Recruitment Sales Manager
+1.724.772.7155
Martha.Tress@sae.org
REGIONAL SALES
North America
New England/Eastern Canada:
ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, QC
Brian Hines
+1.647.296.5014
brian.hines@saemediagroup.com
CT:
Stan Greenfield
+1.203.938.2418
greenco@optonline.net
Mid-Atlantic/Southeast/TX:
TX, OK, LA, AR, MS, AL, TN, FL, SC,
NC, GA, DC, WV, VA
Ray Tompkins
+1.281.313.1004
ray.tompkins@saemediagroup.com
NY, NJ, OH:
Ryan Beckman
+1.973.409.4687
ryan.beckman@saemediagroup.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS
+1.866.354.1125
AVE@OMEDA.COM
PA/DE:
Desiree Stygar
+1.908.300.2539
desiree.stygar@saemediagroup.com
Midwest/Great Lakes:
IN, MI, WI, IA, IL, MN
Chris Kennedy
+1.847.498.4520, x3008
chris@didierandbroderick.com
Midwest/Central Canada:
KS, KY, MO, NE, ND, SD, ON, MB
Bob Casey
+1.847.223.5225
bobc@caseyreps.com
CA, WA, OR, AZ, NM,
Rocky Mountain States:
Tim Powers
+1.908.892.2838
timothy.powers@saemediagroup.com
International
Europe:
Sven Anacker
+49.202.373294.11
sa@intermediapro.de
Sabine Schoett
+49.202.373294.13
ss@intermediapro.de
China:
Alan Ao
+86.21.6140.8920
alan.ao@sae.org
Japan:
Shigenori Nagatomo
+81.3.3661.6138
Nagatomo-pbi@gol.com
South Korea:
Eun-Tae Kim
+82-2-564-3971/2
ksae1@ksae.org
Integrated Media
Consultants
Daniel Barrett
+1.973.409.4762
daniel.barrett@saemediagroup.com
Patrick Harvey
+1.973.409.4686
patrick.harvey@saemediagroup.com
Todd Holtz
+1.973.545.2566
todd.holtz@saemediagroup.com
Rick Rosenberg
+1.973.545.2565
rick.rosenberg@saemediagroup.com
Jason Setti
+1.973.874.0271
jason.setti@saemediagroup.com
2 April 2023
ADAS & AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ENGINEERING
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Engineering - April 2023
