Hacking the Mercedes S Class Active Lane Assist with a Soda Can

As reported by Road and Track: This is, without a doubt, a really stupid thing to actually try. So don't. It is also, without a doubt, awesome to see it in action. It proves what we knew all along: Active Lane Assist is basically a hands-off autonomous cruise system if you disable the safety timeout. So watch, be amazed, but don't be stupid enough to try it yourself:

Normally, ALA requires you to put a hand on the wheel after a certain amount of time, otherwise the system disengages. And it only works when lane markings are clear and conditions are clear enough for the sensors to see the road. But apparently ALA can't distinguish between a human hand and a bottle of soda duct-taped to the wheel, which is both awesome and troubling.

Seriously, don't be stupid and try this. But if you've driven a Mercedes-Benz with Active Lane Assist, you already have an inkling that it was capable of this. Seeing it in action shows how close we are to a hands-free commute—not in some far-off Google Car future, but right now. Incredible.

The Seventh Next Gen GPS Satellite Is Now In Orbit

An Atlas V rocket successfully carried an Air Force GPS satellite into orbit. (Credit: ULA)

As reported by Forbes: On August 1, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket successfully launched an Air Force GPS-IIF satellite in the orbit. This is the seventh GPS-IIF satellite launched into orbit of a planned constellation of 12 satellites. This satellite is the third launched in 2014, with one more launch planned for later this year.

The GPS-IIF satellites, which are built by Boeing , are intended to replace the GPS-IIA satellites, which were launched in the 1990s. Operating in medium-Earth orbit, these next-generation GPS satellites include improved atomic clocks for more accurate readings. They also add a third civil signal to the GPS system, the L5, which is geared towards providing information for aircraft travel. L5 began broadcasting in April of 2014.

This successful launch marks the second launch in just four days for United Launch Alliance, which placed three Air Force satellites into orbit earlier in the week. That’s the third time this year that ULA has launched two missions in just one week.

The Atlas V rocket successfully launched at 11:23pm EDT on August 1, and carried the GPS satellite to an orbit 11,000 miles above the Earth’s surface. Over the next several weeks, the Air Force will work to verify that the satellite is fully operational before placing it into service in the GPS system.

The ULA’s next launch is on August 13, where it will put Digitalglobe’s Worldview-3 satellite into orbit.

You can watch a video of the successful launch below:

Processing to Launch a GPS Satellite

As reported by Pocket GPS World: We all know and use GPS technology in some form every day of our lives, but have you stopped to think how this technology came into being, and how it is maintained? The theory of navigation goes back a long way and and is very closely linked to accurate timing. The more accurate the time the more accurate your location can be determined. 

Back in 1730 John Harrison created a marine clock to compete for the £20,000 Longitude Prize, a competition to find the most accurate timepiece to enable mariners to navigate across the seas. Accurate time combined with a sextant and a chart enabled the early navigators to determine with reasonable precision where on the planet they were.

Jump forward nearly 300 years and the same principles of precise timing and triangulation are still being used, this time using GPS Satellites, atomic clocks and computer algorithms. This, of course, is all transparent to us, we just see a moving dot on a map showing us where we are.

How does this all work? Rather than explain this again we have an excellent article describing How does the Global Positioning System work?. This article explains how a GPS satellite is prepared for launch into orbit.

The GPS IIF Satellite
The life of a GPS satellite starts at a planning committee meeting in the United States Department of Defense. There a requirement is identified for a new feature or the replacement of ageing systems. This is then processed through a number of departments for planning, budget, and functionality design prior to a primary contractor being selected to produce the spacecraft. In the case of the GPS Block IIF satellites the contractor was Boeing.

Boeing manufacturing plant at El Segundo Credit: Boeing
Boeing have had a lot of experience in GPS satellite manufacture having build over 40 of the 66 GPS spacecraft. Normal satellite construction takes place on an individual basis as there is seldom a requirement to build more then one or two of the same satellite. With the Block IIF spacecraft Boeing had a contract to build 12 so decided to introduce a production line based on the tried and trusted principles of their aircraft production lines. The concept was to increase quality and reduce time to build for each satellite. The video below gives an insight into the Boeing process:

Video credit: Boeing

Using this process Boeing have now built all the 12 spacecraft that have been contracted and are storing the remaining satellites until they are ready to be integrated into the launch vehicle.

The Boeing production plant is a El Segundo in California and the rocket launching the satellite is on the other side of the USA in Cape Canaveral Florida. The GPS Satellite is transported on a USAF C-17 air-lifter. The Cape Canaveral AFS has a landing strip called the ‘Skid Strip’ within the station large enough to handle the heaviest of transports. 

On arrival at Cape Canaveral the GPS IIF is transported to Area 59, the Navstar Processing Facility, for fueling and testing. Although the satellite has been fully checked out in California final tests are made to ensure that the transporting of the spacecraft has not altered any of the sensitive components and systems. This will include the checking of the control systems and the actually user navigational signals themselves. Once the GPS IIF has been cleared then the on-board batteries are installed and the propellant is loaded. The propellant allows the GPS satellite to be maneuvered when it is in orbit and separated from the rocket.

The Navstar Processing Facility CCAFS Credit: Boeing
The final task in the Navstar Processing Facility is the installation of the Payload Adapter. This enables the Satellite to be attached to the top of the rocket securely but also contains the pyrotechnics to separate the satellite from the second stage before flying freely. All operations up to this point are common and apply to the GPS satellite irrespective of the rocket that will launch it into orbit. The Payload Adapter is where things start to get specific to the rocket.

Encapsulating the GPS in the payload fairing Credit: ULA
The Launch VehicleThe GPS IIF satellites can be launched on either a Delta IV or an Atlas V rocket. Both rockets are built by United Launch Alliance (ULA) and are launched from separate launch complexes at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. As GPS IIF-7 is to be launched on an Atlas V rocket we will continue looking at the processing for that booster.

The Atlas V complex is SLC-41 and it the most northernmost active launch pad at Cape Canaveral. This launch complex holds all the infrastructure to ready and launch the rocket, including fuels, communications and power. Just outside the Launch Complex is the Vertical Integration Facility where the various parts of the rocket are assembled.

The Atlas V rocket is a two stage rocket that can have additional solid rocket boosters (SRBs) attached to give more thrust at launch. For the GPS IIF satellites the SRBs are not required as the payload is sufficiently light enabling the main core booster to lift the rocket without assistance. 

The main parts of the Atlas V rocket are:

The main or common core booster. This is the first stage of the rocket and will be ignited just before liftoff. This is 3.8 metres in diameter and 32.5 metres high. The booster is mainly structurally stable fuel tank constructed from isogrid aluminium barrels. This stage has twin tanks for the RP-1 (a highly refined form of Kerosene) and LOX (super cold liquid oxygen) propellants. The engine on the first stage is an Russian made RD-180 with twin combustion chambers. Also contained within the structure of the first stage is a high pressure helium tank. The helium is used to pressurise the propellant tanks just before launch.

The Centaur second stage is connected to the common core booster by an interstage adapter. This adapter contains the pyrotechnics which are used to separate the components during the launch. The Centaur is 3.1 meters in diameter and 12.7 meters high. This is powered by a single Pratt and Whitney RD-10A engine fueled by LOX and LH2 (super cold liquid hydrogen). This is commonly referred to as cryogenic fuel. As these tanks contain very cold liquid fuels the tanks are very heavily insulated to prevent the liquids boiling both during the countdown and due to the friction heat generated by the launch. On the top of the Centaur is the Centaur Forward Adapter which provides the avionics for the rocket along with other systems providing telemetry and control. This provides the avionics for both stages of the rocket.

Sitting on top of the Centaur Forwards Adapter is the Payload Adapter this connects the GPS II satellite to the rocket. The Payload Adapter can vary dependent on the spacecraft being attached.

Finally the GPS IIF satellite is surrounded by the Payload Fairing. The payload fairing is constructed in two sections designed to be explosively jettisoned during the launch when the atmospheric pressures are no longer a threat to the GPS payload. In the Atlas V 401 configuration the payload fairing is 4 meters in diameter. 

The components for the rocket are manufactured at a number of sites across America and in Russia. 

The main first stage (called the core booster) is manufactured in Decatur, Alabama and is transported to Cape Canaveral by ship called the Mariner. The Mariner sails down the Mississippi River, round the Florida Keys and into the Cape Canaveral AFS via Port Canaveral. 

The Atlas V unloading from Mariner at CCAFS Credit: AmericaSpace / Jeffrey Soulliere
The same is true for the Centaur second stage. It is likely that the Mariner will make separate trips for each stage, although it can carry two main core boosters. On arriving both stages are processed at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations center which also houses the Launch Control Center and the Mission Director’s Center.

The Pratt & Whitney RL-10A second stage engine is manufactured in West Palm Beach in Florida, whilst the RD-180 main core booster engine is made in Khimki, Russia.

The Payload Faring, and various adapter plates are fabricated in Harlingen Texas and will be shipped to the Cape via truck, each section of the payload fairing having its own vehicle.

Preparing for Launch
With all the components delivered to Cape Canaveral the final assembly of the rocket can take place. In the case of the Atlas V this is done in the VIF (Vertical Integration Facility) about 400 meters from the launch complex.

The common core booster is the first to arrive at the VIF this is transported on a specially designed transport from the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center to the VIF where it is hauled into the upright position on top of a Mobile Launch Platform (MLP). The MLP provides hard wired services to the rocket during construction and throughout the launch countdown. It is designed to move the assembled rocket out to the launch pad via a pair of engines which also tow mobile support services, more of which later.

Raising the Atlas V common core booster Credit: NASA
Next to arrive at the VIF is the inter-stage adapter. This allows the Centaur upper stage to be connected the the common core booster and also to separate the two stages in flight.

The Centaur upper stage is now delivered. This arrives on a lorry in the horizontal position. It is lifted off the lorry and then elevated into the vertical position. Now it is winched up and carefully lined up with the top of the common core booster where it is attached to the inter-stage adapter. The avionics linkages are now connected and tested.

Lifting the Atlas V Centaur upper stage Credit: ULA
The final item to arrive is the GPS IIF satellite. It will already have been powered, fueled and encapsulated within the payload fairing. This is transported from the Navstar Processing Facility in the upright position so just needs to be lifted to the top of the stack and the payload adapter plate will be connected to the top of the Centaur Forward Adapter.

Mating the GPS Payload to the Atlas V Credit: ULA
Ready for Launch
With the payload connected to the top of the Atlas V rocket the GPS satellite is nearly ready for launch. The next process in the chain is to move the rocket to the launch pad and start the final preparations for launch. I will cover this in the next article: Launching the GPS IIF satellite. 

GPS Tracking Devices Estimated to Hit $3.5 Billion in 2019

As reported by PCB007: Health, commercial/enterprise, wearables, and iBeacons will help to revive the GPS tracking device market, with ABI Research forecasting the market to reach over $3.5 billion in 2019.

The GPS personal tracking market has always had huge potential yet it has faced huge barriers around awareness and ROI, expensive devices, cellular subscriptions, indoor location and severe regionalization and fragmentation. As a result the market has never been able to scale sufficiently to lower costs and create the revenue to support much needed marketing/advertising campaigns.

In its latest report, “Personal Location Device and Application Markets,” ABI Research considers adoption of GPS devices and smartphone applications across family, elderly/health, lone worker, pets, and personal assets. Senior analyst Patrick Connolly commented, “The potential of this market continues to draw investment and interest. Over the last 12 months, there has been a host of companies entering this space. As well as a steady stream of start-ups like estimate and hereO, buoyed by wearables and iBeacons, enterprise/commercial GPS companies are moving into areas such as mobile workforce management and lone worker applications, while the connected home market will evolve to support personal protection across children, pets, cars, etc.; e.g. 

Carriers eager to solve the problem of saturated markets have begun to reconsider this space with the dawn of GPS-enabled wearables and the Internet of Things (IoT).”

This is reflected in a significant increase in GPS IC shipments into this space over the past year, as low-cost GPS units become adopted worldwide for a host of applications. 

iBeacons are set to be a major driver, solving the issue of indoor location, while also creating a low-cost entry point for both OEMs and consumers. With BLE beacons forecast to penetrate into all aspects of life over the next 3 years, consumer awareness and acceptance will quickly emerge.

Other advances in technology, such as eLoran, commercial drone systems, autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles using LIDAR, M2M communications for GPS based IoT, and tracking devices using multiple GPS/GNSS systems and tracking silicon with accelerometers and inertial navigation - and augmented with with jamming and spoofing detection are likely to keep the GPS tracking industry moving forward at a rapid pace.

Transportation Legislation Update: HOS, ELDs, and CSA

As reported by Fleet Owner: When the Senate confirmed Anne Ferro in November 2009 the principal controversies that would dominate her nearly five-year tenure at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) were already well defined even though Ferro was the first confirmed FMCSA administrator under a Democratic presidential administration.

Three of FMCSA’s biggest issues over the past five years were set in motion by Ferro’s predecessors or by events during their tenure: The changes in hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for drivers, electronic logging devices (ELDs), and the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program.

Hours of service

Although every FMCSA administrator since Congress created the agency in 2000 has had to deal with the HOS rules due to a series of lawsuits challenging the Bush administration’s rules, it’s not accurate to consider the agency’s actions under Ferro to be merely caretaking.

When President Obama nominated Ferro, who at the time was head of the Maryland Motor Truck Assn., four groups – Public Citizen, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Truck Safety Coalition and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters – were challenging the 2008 rules in court.

Ferro spoke in favor of reconsidering the rules during her confirmation hearing. In what some at the time assumed was a quid pro quo, the Obama administration settled the lawsuit in October 2009 by agreeing to rewrite the HOS rules. A day later, the Senate Commerce Committee approved Ferro’s nomination, and she was confirmed by the Senate just over a week later.

The proposed new HOS rules came a little over a year later and drew sharp criticism from the American Trucking Assns. for the plan to require that the 34-hour restart include two consecutive periods of midnight to 6 a.m. FMCSA’s final HOS rules issued a year later narrowed that period to 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., but it wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy the trucking industry.

The trucking industry and its critics separately challenged the rules – the latter because they retained the restart in any form as well as 11 hours of driving during a work day. The HOS restart changes took effect on July 1, 2013; a month later, a federal appeals court upheld the rules.

With judicial remedies exhausted, ATA shifted its focus to Congress. A bill was introduced in October to reverse the restart changes pending a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study, and the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) issued the results of a study identifying many unintended consequences from the restart, including pushing traffic into times of more congested traffic.

These efforts led to a contentious hearing by a House Small Business Committee subcommittee in which Ferro defended FMCSA’s actions, questioned ATRI’s methodology and even scolded one or two members of Congress for minimizing the rules’ safety benefits.

As the fight over the HOS restart continued, Ferro signaled some willingness to compromise, but she fought the industry over efforts to use the Dept. of Transportation (DOT) funding bill to reverse the HOS restart changes pending the study. During this battle, which has yet to be resolved, a blog post under Ferro’s name was the last straw for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA), which called on DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx to replace her.

Electronic logging devices

The move toward electronic logs really started in January 2007 when FMCSA Administrator John Hill, who proposed to require electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs) for certain bad actors.

Although FMCSA failed to finalize the EOBR rule before the end of the Bush administration, the agency did something else that that would change the dynamics on EOBR acceptance. On Dec. 24, 2008, the agency issued a memorandum stating that it would begin using satellite positioning data routinely as a supporting document.

Carriers using in-cab communications systems now were accountable for the precise, time-stamped location of their trucks. Some decided that they might as well use EOBRs so they could manage drivers’ time better and avoid getting slammed during safety audits.

FMCSA issued a final EOBR rule in April 2010 that differed significantly from the original proposal, but it still limited a mandate to carriers that had been shown to need additional scrutiny. OOIDA challenged the rule in court. While OOIDA challenge was pending, the agency came back the following January with a proposed rule that would extend the EOBR requirement to all drivers required to maintain records of duty status.

By now, the dynamics of the trucking industry had changed significantly. With FMCSA using satellite data as supporting documents in safety audits and the new CSA program making it more critical to avoid log violations, most large carriers not only were adopting EOBRs but also wanted a level playing field. So in April 2011, ATA endorsed FMCSA’s plan.

FMCSA’s plans derailed in August 2011, however, when a federal appeals court sided with OOIDA, striking down the EOBR rule on the grounds that it violated a longstanding statutory provision barring motor carriers from using electronic devices to harass drivers.

Unlike what has happened with the HOS restart so far, Congress stepped in and mandated the newly renamed electronic logging device (ELD) as part of MAP-21, leading to a new rulemaking in March proposing to mandate ELDs. This time, FMCSA loaded its proposal with steps intended to reduce the use of ELDs to harass drivers, but OOIDA still opposes the plan.

Compliance, Safety, Accountability

In her first months as FMCSA’s administrator, Ferro probably focused more on CSA than on any other initiative, but it certainly didn’t begin with her.  The move toward CSA – then known as the Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 program – began under FMCSA Administrator Annette Sandberg. The first mention of CSA in the Federal Register was an Aug. 20, 1994 announcement of public listening sessions. By November 2009, therefore, CSA and the methodology underlying it, the Safety Measurement System (SMS), had already undergone more than five years of development.

But it was Ferro’s FMCSA that rolled out CSA and SMS in December 2010, and the agency has updated and tweaked SMS several times since to the point where the program is significantly different from how it appeared in November 2009 or even in December 2010.

Gripes about CSA as FMCSA rolled it out fell into two principal categories. First, many critics argued that the SMS methodology was flawed by giving improper weight to certain violations and not taking into account accident preventability, for example. Second, some groups charged that FMCSA and Ferro personally were encouraging shippers and brokers to rely improperly on CSA scores in selecting carriers. FMCSA settled one lawsuit on the latter issue, leading to a new website disclaimer.

Despite tweaks over several years, complaints about CSA have only grown louder. ATA summarized its concerns with a white paper late last year. In February, GAO sharply criticized CSA in several respects, prompting FMCSA to respond with its own analysis. The following month, the DOT Office of Inspector General (OIG) also faulted FMCSA’s implementation of CSA, focusing on issues of data quality and interventions.

FMCSA has responded to the criticism primarily with relatively minor tweaks. For example, the agency next month will change the SMS website presentation to incorporate, among other things, safety ratings and licensing and insurance information. In doing so, it looked past arguments that SMS data is too flawed to be presented at all in its current form.

The agency also has changed the DataQs process to allow drivers and carriers to update their safety records to reflect the outcome of challenged traffic citations. But many in the industry – including OOIDA which is litigating the issue – have a bigger concern over DataQs because it doesn’t allow for a federal appeal. The state – sometimes even the very agency that issued the original violation – is the final arbiter.

Ferro leaves with uncompleted work on ELDs and CSA with a final rule on the former still to come and a proposed safety fitness determination rulemaking years behind schedule and continuing to slide. And on HOS, Congress may yet this year reverse the restart changes pending a study.

Tesla's Model S's Private GPS for Navigation in China

As reported by Stocks.org: Tesla has certainly experienced its highs and lows, and the company has overcome many challenges. The latest issue that is plaguing the American electric car maker is the compatibility problem of its GPS in China.

Tesla announced a few months ago that its Model S electric car would feature a private GPS system powered by Google Maps and is linked to Google Earth. This GPS system is able to provide the user with information regarding terrains, traffic conditions, and speed limit along various roads. The company also says that the GPS is able to learn the user’s driving habits.

Tesla’s GPS does more than just find the fastest way from point A to point B. Through its integrated technology, it is able to calculate the best route to save battery consumption as well. It is able to approximate the amount of battery charge that each trip takes, and advise whether or not the vehicle has enough battery energy to make the trip. If your car needs to charge along the way, it will find and suggest options with charging stations.

However, this GPS system does not work in China.

Tesla has experienced woes in China ever it tried to break into the Chinese luxury vehicle market. The Model S is considered to be in the segment of luxury cars in China. Including tax, the price is about 1 million RMB.

The Model S vehicles that are sold in China no longer offer the GPS feature. The problem is that Google Maps is not available in China, a country that continues to closely monitor everything that is accessible on the Internet and especially prohibits aerial views of its territory.

Tesla explained all this in an official statement and indicated that engineers are trying to find a solution to bring these features to its customers in China. The company is actively working on an alternative system that supports voice recognition and Chinese writing, and should be available by the end of this year. They said that customers will be kept informed and that once the system is operational, the owners of Tesla S will only start updating their system to have GPS and navigation.

UK Driverless Vehicle Trials to Begin in 2015

As reported by GigaOM: Driverless cars will be permitted on British roads for testing from January 2015, when 3 cities will begin hosting trials of the new technology.

The trials will last between 18 months and 3 years. Meanwhile, the U.K. government will also review the current rules of the road to see what might need to change as autonomous vehicles are introduced. This review will examine both fully driverless cars and those that can still be taken over by a human driver.

“Today’s announcement will see driverless cars take to our streets in less than 6 months, putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society,” Business Secretary Vince Cable said in a statement.  

Many car manufacturers and research organizations are working on the development of autonomous cars, including familiar names like Google, Tesla, Volvo, Nissan, Nokia and Mercedes-Benz. Tests of driverless vehicles on public roads are already taking place in Japan and in the U.S. states of California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada. Trials on Swedish roads will begin in 2017.  

The shift towards vehicle automation is largely about energy efficiency and safety. As the vision goes, vehicles will ultimately be able to move down major thoroughfares in wirelessly connected swarms, with individual cars breaking off as needed. There would also be major benefits for the visually-impaired and others who have difficulty driving.