The Future of Automated Driving

IN 2004, THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HELD A COMPETITION IN THE MOJAVE DESERT. THE COMPETITION BUILT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TECH COMPANIES AND THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY IN THE EFFORT TO BUILD A FULLY AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF GOOGLE'S SELF-DRIVING CAR WAYMO IN 2016, NEARLY EVERY OTHER MAJOR AUTOMAKER NOW OFFERS CARS WITH HANDS, FREE DRIVING SYSTEMS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. GENERAL MOTORS HAS ROLLED OUT VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH SENSORS COLLECTING DATA THAT WILL BE USED FOR THEIR NEXT GENERATION OF AUTOMOBILES. GM SAYS THE GOAL IS TO CREATE A FLEET THAT WILL INTRODUCE EYES OFF, DRIVING TO CONSUMERS. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SELF-DRIVING CAR TECHNOLOGY. I'M JOINED BY RYAN FOWLER, THE DIRECTOR OF 80 DATA AT GENERAL MOTORS. RYAN, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY FROM MICHIGAN. >> GOOD MORNING. NICE TO BE HERE. THANKS. >> WHAT DO YOU DO AS A THE DATA DIRECTOR AT GM? >> YEAH. HAS A V DATA. DIRECTOR I'M TRYING TO HELP BUILD THE FUTURE OF WHAT GENERAL MOTORS IS GOING TO BE BRINGING TO THE ROAD. AND WHAT THAT MEANS COLLECTING AND CURATING ALL THE DATA THAT WE NEED TO BUILD THE NEXT GENERATION OF OUR SAFETY FEATURES, AN ADVANCED DRIVING FEATURES THAT WE'RE GONNA BRING TO THE PUBLIC. >> NOW, SOME PEOPLE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA MAY HAVE NOTICED VEHICLES THAT LOOK DIFFERENT. THEY HAVE VISIBLE CENTS OR REX AND THERE ON THE ROADWAYS. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT THESE ARE AND THE TRAIN DRIVERS THAT ARE IN THE CARS. WHAT IS THIS A WHAT IS THIS DOING IN OUR AREA? >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, TO BUILD THESE NEXT GENERATION PRODUCTS, WE HAVE TO COLLECT A LOT OF DATA FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THAT REALLY REPRESENTS THE MILES THAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE DRIVING IN THE KINDS OF PLACES THAT THEY WANT TO GO. AND ONE OF THOSE PLACES BECAUSE, OF COURSE, FLORIDA. AND SO WE'VE HAD A TEAM OF OPERATORS AND VEHICLES IN THE FLORIDA AREA RECENTLY OPERATING ON YOUR HIGHWAYS AND IN AREAS THAT YOU'LL YOU'LL SEE THEM BY. AND THEIR GOAL IS TO COLLECT THE DATA THAT WE NEED TO BUILD THE NEXT GENERATION SYSTEMS. SO WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE HIS STANDARD, UCONN'S AND ESCALADES WITH A ROOF RACK. BUT INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, FISHING GEAR CAMPING GEAR ON TOP OF THEM, YOU'LL SEE SOME ADDITIONAL SENSORS. AND WHAT THOSE CENTERS ARE DOING IS RECORDING THE ROAD ENVIRONMENT AS THEY DRIVE TO HELP BUILD AND TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF THESE FEATURES. >> AND WHAT IS THE NEXT GENERATION OF AUTOMATED TECHNOLOGY? TALK ABOUT THAT. PLEASE. >> YEAH, THAT'S GREAT. I'M GLAD YOU ASKED. SO TODAY, GENERAL MOTORS OFFERS A FEATURE CALLED SUPER CRUISE AND SOME OF YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR. GOT TO TRY THIS OUT. AND REALLY, IT'S LIKE CRUISE CONTROL ACCEPTED. ALSO STEERS FOR YOU. BUT JUST LIKE CRUISE CONTROL, YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD AND DEAL WITH ANYTHING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN. THAT'S UNEXPECTED. BUT THE NEXT GENERATION OF WHAT WE'RE BUILDING NOW, IT'S GOING TO BE A REALLY SPECIAL AND INTERESTING, RIGHT. SO INSTEAD OF JUST HAVING TOO CONSTANTLY BE VIGILANT WHILE YOU'RE IN THE ON THE ROAD AND WATCHING WHAT'S GOING ON IN FRONT OF YOU, THE NEXT GENERATION OF SUPER CRUISE IS GOING TO ACTUALLY TAKE OVER MORE OF THAT DRIVING PAST FOR YOU AND ALLOW YOU TO JUST RELAX. LOOK AT YOUR PHONE. TALK TO YOUR PARTNER AND THE OTHERS, OTHER SEATS, YOUR CAR, AND AND REALLY GET SOME OF THAT TIME BACK. AND SO THIS SYSTEM IS GOING TO BE FAR MORE PERFORMANCE AND FAR MORE ADVANCED THAN WHAT WE HAVE ON THE ROAD TODAY AND GIVE YOU A LOT OF TIME AND COMFORT BACK IN YOUR DAILY DRIVE. >> YOU SAY THIS REAL WORLD TESTING IS ESSENTIAL TO BUILD A TRUST WHERE THE SYSTEM, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS? >> YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT POINT. SO A LOT OF WHAT WE DO IS, OF COURSE, DRIVING ON THE ROADS AND VALIDATING THE SYSTEMS BEFORE THEY'RE READY TO BE USED BY THE PUBLIC AND BUT WE ALSO DO YOU KNOW, MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF SIMULATIONS ON ALL THE STATE AS WELL TO TEST OUR SOFTWARE CONSTANTLY AS WE'RE MAKING CHANGES AND TWEAKING AND MAKING IMPROVEMENTS. BUT THERE'S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL WORLD DRIVING EVEN IN THAT ENVIRONMENT. RIGHT? SO DOING ALL THIS DRIVING CONTROL WITH SAFETY DRIVERS HELP TO BUILD THAT DATA THAT WE'VE BEEN USED FOR TESTING AS WELL AS VALIDATION AND HELPS BUILD THE CASE. NOT ONLY THAT, WE KNOW THE SYSTEM'S GOING TO PERFORM AS WELL AS WE WANTED TO AS WELL AS WE NEEDED TO FOR CUSTOMERS. BUT WE CAN ALSO MAKE THAT CASE TO OUR CUSTOMERS THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THEY SHOULD TRY BECAUSE THEY THEY'VE SEEN IT IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THEY SEEN IN PLACES WHERE THEY DRIVE AND THEY KNOW AND THEY HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT GENERAL MOTORS IS GONNA PROVIDE A SAFE PRODUCT. >> AND THERE ARE A LOT OF DRIVERS THAT WOULD HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY WITH DRIVERLESS TECH, ESPECIALLY LET'S SAY ITS EYES OFF TECHNOLOGY. HOW DO YOU MAKE THESE VEHICLES SAFE? >> YEAH, I MEAN, THAT'S A GREAT POINT THAT GENERAL MOTORS, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTAND SAFETY IS ABSOLUTELY NUMBER ONE. AND WE CAN'T BUILD A SHIP ANY PRODUCT THAT DOESN'T MEET OUR HIGHEST EXPECTATIONS FOR A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE. ALL OF THE DRIVING WE'RE DOING IS IN FACT, TO SUPPORT THAT SAFETY CASE. RIGHT? WE WE NEED TO COLLECT MILLIONS OF MILES OF REAL WORLD DRIVING DATA TO MAKE THAT CASE. WE NEED TO VALIDATE IT BOTH ON THE ROAD. ENCLOSED COURSE AND IN SIMULATION ENVIRONMENTS TO MAKE THAT CASE AND THAT BY COMBINING ALL OF THESE SIGNALS AND BUT MONEY, ALL OF THIS QUALITY, WE CAN ACTUALLY SHIP THIS PRODUCT AND DELIVER SOMETHING THAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE GOING TO REALLY ENJOY. AND SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S IT'S REALLY AN ALL THE ABOVE KIND OF APPROACHING. MY GENERAL MOTORS IS INVESTING SO MUCH RESOURCES AND TIME INTO THIS PROJECT IS TO MAKE THIS REALITY. >> HOW COMMON DO YOU THINK THESE CARS WILL BECOME WITH THIS LATEST TECHNOLOGY? AND WHEN MIGHT THEY BE AVAILABLE? >> YEAH, SO I THINK IT WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY COMMON. YOU KNOW, GENERAL MOTORS UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS REALLY INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF OUR PRODUCTS OVERALL. SO IT'LL START WITH SOME OF OUR PREMIUM ESCALATE IQ VEHICLES. WE HAVE A LAUNCH SCHEDULED FOR 2028 ON THAT PRODUCT. AND THEN BEYOND THAT, WE EXPECT IT WILL GO TO MORE AND MORE PRODUCTS ON OUR OUR PORTFOLIO. SO THIS ISN'T JUST GOING TO BE A ONE AND DONE. THIS IS NOT GOING TO JUST BE A PREMIUM PRODUCT. IT'S GOING TO BE SOMETHING WE WANT TO MAKE AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY BECAUSE WE EXPECT CUSTOMERS ARE REALLY GOING TO ENJOY THIS LIKE THE IDEA THAT THEY CAN GET BACK TIME IN THEIR DAILY COMMUTE THROUGH A TRUST. THE CART HANDLE THERE DRY FOR THEM IS A REALLY BIG DEAL. AND IT'S A BIG CHANGE IN HOW YOU EXPERIENCE YOU'RE YOU'RE DRIVING TO EVERY DAY. >> MR. FOWLER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY AND TELLING US ALL ABOUT THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY. THANK YOU SO MUCH.