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PolySyncExample

PolySync Syncs Up With PrismTech

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Burney Simpson

It’s been a busy few weeks for AutonomouStuff, the Morton, Ill.-based supplier of components and services for the autonomous and driverless industry, and its spin off Harbrick, developer of the PolySync out-of-the-box operating system for autonomous vehicles.

Last week, Harbrick said PolySync would use the intelligent data sharing platform of PrismTech’s Vortex to control, monitor, and regulate its data interfaces, and ensure that the “right data gets to the right place in real-time.”

Vortex is based on the Object Management Group’s Data Distribution Service (DDS) open standard to provide device-to-device, device-to-cloud and cloud-to-cloud Internet scale real-time data sharing.

Harbrick likens PolySync to that of an Android or iOS for mobile apps developers. It is designed to provide a plug and play ecosystem of sensors, actuators, computing hardware, and third party software for autonomous vehicle developers. The newest version of PolySync was officially released to the public on March 31.

Idaho-based Harbrick has also been busy in its state legislature, pushing a proposal that would allow for the testing of autonomous vehicles on state roads. In March, the senate approved the measure but it appears to be stuck in the House Transportation Committee.

Also last month, AutonomouStuff announced it had forged a sales and support relationship with Mobileye, the Israel-based provider of driver assistance programs that process visual information using software algorithms, system-on-a chip and customer applications. The deal specifically gives AutonomouStuff the right to distribute Mobileye’s 560 Extended Log Camera Development Kit.

AutonomouStuff markets LiDAR, radar, GPS, laser equipment, other autonomous-driving related equipment, in addition to processing tools like PolySync. AutonomouStuff will be at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems conference in Atlanta in May 5-7.

Graphic illustration by PolySync.

nvidialogo

NVIDIA Goes All In on Driverless Technology

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Stephen Feyer

D20 Index vs NVIDIA

NVIDIA is synonymous with high-performance graphics chips. Can it dominate the chip market for autos too?

Founded in 1993, NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) is a leader in chipsets for visual processing. Its chipsets are used in video game consoles, computer-aided design, digital image processing, and in research applications. The company also manufactures a system-on-a-chip for mobile devices and auto manufacturers.

NVIDIA has targeted the automotive sector as an area of future growth. Today, NVIDIA sells its DRIVE platform, based on its Tegra system-on-a-chip technology, to OEMs and suppliers. Tegra is used to operate in-vehicle entertainment units, advanced driver assistance systems, and instrumentation. The company lists 19 automotive partners on its website including Honda, BMW, Volkswagen, Porsche, and Tesla.

In January 2015, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang announced the Drive PX platform, a new system designed to operate an autonomous vehicle. The system uses two Tegra X1 chips that can process high-definition images from up to a dozen cameras at once, allowing it to serve as the “brain” of an autonomous vehicle using visual sensing instruments. Built-in algorithms include “deep learning” object recognition.

Over the last two years, NVIDIA’s NASDAQ-listed stock has steadily risen, moving from $12 at the end of 2012 to around $20 at the beginning of February 2015. NVIDIA’s market cap stands at over $10 billion.

Public since January 1999, NVIDIA first began paying a dividend in the first quarter of 2013, offering an annual yield of about 2 percent since it initiated the payout.

In fiscal 2014, NVIDIA reported income of $0.75 a share on revenue of $4.13 billion. Both numbers were down from 2013, when the company reported $0.91 EPS on revenue of $4.28 billion. Fiscal 2014 represented a second consecutive year of declining EPS.

The revenue loss is due to a 48 percent drop in the Tegra system-on-a-chip business, falling from $764 million in 2013 to $398 million in 2014. Much of the decline can be attributed to a delay in the launch of the Tegra 4 line of processors while the Tegra 3 line was phased out.

However, sales have also declined because Tegra is a high-end system competing against rivals Intel and AMD in the price-conscious mobile-chipset market. In response to these challenges, NVIDIA has turned to the automotive sector where its advanced processors and specialized software work well in driverless transportation systems.

In 2014 NVIDIA went all in on research and development, committing nearly three-quarters of the company’s 8,800 employees to the effort, and increasing spending to $1.4 billion, up 20 percent from just two years ago.

With a desire to reinvigorate its Tegra line in the auto industry, and a greater push in R&D, NVIDIA is positioning itself as the key technology behind the next generation of computerized cars, including driverless cars. NVIDIA maintains a sense of humor despite its challenges: its development kit for automotive applications such as infotainment, instrumentation, and ADAS is called “Jetson”.

NVIDIA is categorized in the technology group of the D20 Stock Index, which also includes Blackberry Ltd, (BBRY), Iteris, (ITI), KVH Industries (KVHI), Nokia Corp. (NOK), and Mobileye (MBLY).

Stephen Feyer is a James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow and MBA at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

This article is part of the Driverless Transportation series profiling the stocks that make up the Driverless Transportation D20 Stock Index, the only index that tracks the major publicly-traded firms in the autonomous driving industry worldwide.

 

Mobileye

Mobileye Grows in Autonomous Vehicle Sector

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Burney Simpson

This is the first in a series of articles profiling the stocks that make up Driverless Transportation’s D20 Stock Index, the only index that tracks the major publicly-traded firms in the autonomous driving industry worldwide.

All eyes are on Mobileye.

The Israel-based designer and developer of what it calls camera-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) is being watched closely by investors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), competitors, and those following the progress of the autonomous vehicle industry.

Mobileye emphasizes the safety aspects of its software and related technologies that are designed to reduce the risks of traffic accidents and save lives. Once installed, its proprietary software algorithms and EyeQ system-on-chip program interpret a vehicle’s visual field to anticipate possible collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, animals, debris and other obstacles.

Mobileye says its products also “detect roadway markings such as lanes, road boundaries, barriers and similar items, (and) identify and read traffic signs and traffic lights.” Mobileye expects to launch its EyeQ3 system early this year.

Mobileye (MBLY) is considered by many to be the only AV industry pure-play stock because its products are developed nearly exclusively for the autonomous transportation market. Its products are integrated into the vehicles of 18 global automakers including BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Nissan, and Volvo. About 78 percent of Mobileye’s 2013 revenues came from vehicle OEMs, and the company estimated its products were installed in about 3.3 million vehicles worldwide.

The company filed a prospectus last year with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the lead up to its Initial Public Offering at $25 per share in the U.S. in July. MBLY stock rose to top $60 in October but has since come down to earth, and now trades in the $40 range.

In the third quarter of 2014, MBLY reported a net loss of $13.1 million on revenues of $34.7 million, up 70 percent from the same period in 2013. While revenues keep growing, the company has for much of its history operated at a loss, and has an accumulated deficit of nearly $101 million, primarily due to continuing investments in research and development. MBLY is scheduled to report its 2014 fourth quarter and annual results in February.

Many investors remain optimistic about the long-term payoff in the use of driverless transportation technology. Mobileye points to a number of success stories, including its 2013 deal with GE Capital Fleet Services to fit its collision avoidance system into the firm’s trucks operating in the U.S. and Canada. Mobileye technology is also in 800 trucks of the Ontario, Calif.-based ICEE Beverage Co., and in about 80 percent of the cabs in Las Vegas.

Fleets are an early sweet-spot for firms marketing autonomous driving technology because they are looking to reduce such collision costs as vehicle repair and replacement, higher insurance fees, driver injury, and the loss of business caused by an accident. Mobileye claims that drivers using its system also learn safer driving techniques.

The deal with GE will be fulfilled with after-market products. Other customers in this space include the fleets of C.R. England, Werner Trucking, Dart and Pride. Mobileye claims that more than 120,000 vehicles have installed its after-market products, and estimates that there are as many as 1 billion autos on the roads today that could be retrofitted with its technology. About 22 percent of Mobileye’s total revenues in 2013 came from its after-market sales.

Mobileye-560+icons1In the direct-to-consumer space, Mobileye markets on its website the Mobileye 560 Collision Avoidance System at $849 though it must be installed by a trained technician. The 560 offers forward collision warning, pedestrian collision warning, lane departure warning, speed limit indication, headway monitoring and warning, and intelligent high beam control.

Mobileye is categorized in the technology group of the D20 Stock Index, which also includes Blackberry Ltd, (BBRY), Iteris, (ITI), KVH Industries (KVHI), Nokia Corp. (NOK), and NVIDIA Corp., (NVDA).

DHL sdv-cover

DHL Report on Self-Driving Vehicles

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Last week, international logistics company DHL released a report entitled “Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics.”  The report provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the driverless transportation industry.  It gives a good, high-level overview of the current state of the technology and its legal issues, as well as perceived consumer acceptance.  (We here at Driverless Transportation aren’t sure there is much value in consumer surveys at this point.)  It then gives a good rundown, by manufacturer, on the current state of the art in autonomous capabilities.

The core of the report, of course, was the implications of driverless technology on logistics.  Here it goes through the logistics process from the initial warehouse through delivery to the end customer.  They do make a compelling case about how driverless technology is more likely to impact logistics than passenger vehicles in the short term.

Click here for the full report.  It is worth checking out.

DHL sdv-cover

DHL: Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics

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DHL

This trend report examines the distance that needs to be covered before self-driving technology reaches full maturity, and addresses the challenges of regulations, public acceptance, and issues of liability.  It also shines the headlights on various best-practice applications across several industries today, and takes a detailed look into the existing technology that’s successfully used today as well as some future applications for self-driving vehicles in the logistics industry.