"Hands-free" isn't necessarily "risk free"

A new study from the AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety indicates that while some "hands-free" technologies may make it easier for drivers to text, talk on the phone, or use applications like Facebook or email while they drive - that such activity can cause "dangerous mental distractions"; even if drivers are keeping their hands on the wheel of the vehicle.

In a report by FleetOwner - Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, endorsed AAA’s position, saying OEMs should reconsider the inclusion of communications and entertainment technology built into vehicles that allow, or even encourage, the driver to engage in these activities at the expense of focusing on driving. “Auto crashes are the leading cause of death for everyone between five and 35 years old in the U.S.,” she added. “About 100 people die every day on our nation's roads. And the number one cause of car crashes is human error and driver distraction is the top human error. Based on this new research and many earlier studies, it is irresponsible to permit, enable and even encourage non-driving related activities that divert a driver's attention from the task of driving.”

Dr. David Strayer and a research team from the University of Utah conducted the "cognitive distraction" study for the AAA.  His team categorized the mental distraction as follows:

• Tasks such as listening to the radio ranked as a category “1” level of distraction or a minimal risk.
• Talking on a cell-phone, both handheld and hands-free, resulted in a “2” or a moderate risk.
• Listening and responding to in-vehicle, voice-activated email features increased mental workload and distraction levels of the drivers to a “3” rating or one of extensive risk.

As a result of the study AAA is formulating some suggested policies on "hands-free" technologies:

• Limiting use of voice-activated technology to core driving-related activities such as climate control, windshield wipers and cruise control, and to ensure these applications do not lead to increased safety risk due to mental distraction while the car is moving.
• Disabling certain voice-to-text technologies, such as social media e-mail and text messages, when the vehicle is in motion.

GPS CNAV Civil Capabilities Now Being Tested

From GPS World - U.S. Air Force Space Command is now testing CNAV capabilities on the GPS L2 and L5 signals. The initial CNAV Live-Sky Broadcast began June 15 and will take place until June 29. Civil users and manufacturers are invited to participate.

The GPS Directorate (SMC/GP) is implementing the CNAV (Civil Navigation) Test Program, conducting Live-Sky CNAV testing before deployment of the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX). CNAV is a capability to be provided by Civil Navigation message types for the purpose of improved GPS navigation through the use of signals L2C and L5.

According to the GPS Directorate, the CNAV Live-Sky testing program will span several years and will evolve to support GPS enterprise and modernized civil navigation performance objectives. Objectives include:

• Verify and validate the CNAV requirements specified IS-GPS-200F and IS-GPS-705B.
• Facilitate the development of robust IS-compliant L2C and L5 civil receivers.

Below is the latest Notice Advisory about the upcoming test issued to NAVSTAR users. More information can be found in the NAVCEN test plan PDF.

Atomic Clocks to sync wirelessly for more accurate GPS satellite systems

NIST researchers transferred ultra-precise time signals over the air between a laboratory on NIST's campus in Boulder, Colo., and nearby Kohler Mesa. Signals were sent in both directions, reflected off a mirror on the mesa, and returned to the lab, a total distance of approximately 2 km indicated study co-author Nathan Newbury of NIST's Quantum Electronics and Photonics Division. "The actual link is a loop." The experiment used an infrared laser to generate ultra-short pulses at a very precise rate of 1 picosecond every 10 nanoseconds, where 10 ns corresponds to a set number of "ticks" of an optical atomic clock.  The two-way technique overcomes timing distortions on the signals from turbulence in the atmosphere, and shows how next-generation atomic clocks at different locations could be linked wirelessly to improve distribution of time and frequency information and other applications.

The stability of the transferred infrared signal matched that of NIST's best experimental atomic clock, which operates at optical frequencies. Infrared light is very close to the frequencies used by these clocks, and both are much higher than the microwave frequencies in conventional atomic clocks currently used as national time standards. Operating frequency is one of the most important factors in the precision of optical atomic clocks, which have the potential to provide a 100-fold improvement in the accuracy of future time standards. But the signals need to be distributed with minimal loss of precision and accuracy. 

The test was done across land, but eventually, the researchers hope, it should be possible to transfer the pulses via satellites. 

In the future, optical atomic clocks could be used for satellite-based experiments to create more precise GPS satellite navigation systems, which "could be improved in the sense that you could put better optical clocks in satellites and cross-link them optically," Newbury said. 

For GPS systems, an error of just one nanosecond, or a billionth of a second, would mean the location is about 12 inches (30 centimeters) off.

The 'Astronomical data' Behind UPS’ New Tool to Deliver Packages more efficiently

An excellent article from 'Wired' on the logistical challenges of UPS, and the use of heuristics to make their delivery methodology even more efficient.  

Here is a quick summary of some of the numbers that they deal with on a daily basis:

30—The maximum number of inches UPS specifies a driver should have to move to select the next package. This is accomplished through a meticulous system for loading packages into the truck in the order in which they’ll be delivered.

74—The number of pages in the manual for UPS drivers detailing the best practices for maximizing delivery efficiency.

200—The number of data points monitored on each delivery truck to anticipate maintenance issues and determine the most efficient ways to operate the vehicles.

55,000—The number of “package cars” (the brown trucks) in UPS’ U.S. fleet. If the figures involved in determining the most efficient route for one driver are astronomical in scale, imagine how those numbers look for the entire fleet.

16 million—The number of deliveries UPS makes daily.

$30 million—The cost to UPS per year if each driver drives just one more mile each day than necessary. By that same logic, the company saves $30 million if each driver finds a way to drive one mile less.

85 million—The number of miles Levis says UPS’ analytics tools are saving UPS drivers per year.

100 million—The reduction in the number of minutes UPS trucks spend idling thanks in part, the company says, to onboard sensors that helped figure out when in the delivery process to turn the truck on and off.

200 million—The number of addresses mapped by UPS drivers on the ground.

15 trillion trillion—The number of possible routes a driver with just 25 packages to deliver can choose from. As illustrated by the classic traveling salesman problem, the mathematical phenomenon that makes figuring out the best delivery routes so difficult is called a combinatorial explosion.

Google's 'Loon'y Internet Balloons

 Using helium filled balloons launched from New Zealand, and floating about 12 miles (20 km) in the stratosphere; Google is testing Internet access via remote controlled balloons with flight computers.  The balloons will control their location by changing altitude to pick up different wind patterns.  The transmitter on each balloon would beam down the Internet to an area about 780 square miles (1,250 square kilometers) — twice the size of New York City; but will require a special transceiver on the ground.  Connection speeds will be equivalent to 3G.  Inter-balloon and ground-to-balloon communication will use ISM bands (specifically 2.4 and 5.8 GHz).  You can follow their progress on g+.

Parking sensors, smart street signs and their implications for vehicle tracking systems

Imagine a robotic street sign that can anticipate points of interest for you as you approach it in your vehicle - using a host of information such as the time of day, holidays, weather, important local events, and location relevant social media data - like the start (or end) of nearby concert.  


That's the concept of a company called 'Breakfast' and their product called 'Points': a smart, dynamically rotating set of digital signage.

In an ongoing effort to setup intelligent parking infrastructure, several cities have started installing smart parking sensors to indicate when parking areas are taken, and when they have become recently available. These devices are placed in the pavement in order to detect when a vehicle is parked in an individual space.

How are these and other related sensors going to impact drivers and vehicle tracking systems?

In the future with a more prominent foothold for the 'Internet of things', machine to machine communication will be a given - not only will the parking sensor know that you've parked there, but it will be able to identify the vehicle's make and model, and in some cases, the VIN number as well.  The sensor will be able to securely relay your associated credit card information to the electronic parking meter, and verify that you don't have any prior outstanding parking or speeding tickets - while your in-vehicle navigation system suggests the closest parking spot to your destination - and your vehicle tracking services let your company, and your customer (or vendor/associate) know that you've arrived. 

Vehicle tracking system providers will have the opportunity to take the lead on this technology revolution by providing a variety of communication system integration features (such as integrated, GPS, Zigbee, RFID, OBDII, and/or Bluetooth voice and data connections) acting as a communication hub, and retrofitting vehicles with tracking and communication technology that will allow their owners to have relatively easy access to these systems.  This will allow for smoother integration between communication and automation devices that the driver/passengers are wearing or carrying; and the vehicular environment.


'Smart hubs' will be able to rapidly increase the uptake of integration with systems like hand-held or wearable communication devices, automated road systems, and Internet parking; which cities will be actively (and in some cases aggressively) setting up to help manage services like parking and traffic control, but also to handle crowd-sourced information for things like real-time traffic reporting by the vehicles, vehicle health, reporting accidents, road or environmental hazards, stolen vehicles, while also providing access to social features such as how close friends and family are in case you wish to setup an impromptu get together; not to mention location relevant ads for possible meeting places.

Why is all of this important?  Because the underlying driver for this technology will be the ongoing pressure regarding energy use, increased efficiency, and decreasing impact on our environment, which is going to continue to build over time; and this kind of flexible technology will be able to help to reduce overall costs while providing new amenities and efficiency to individuals, businesses, and governments alike.

U.S. Supreme Court turned down operational mandates set by the Port of Los Angeles in an attempt to impose regulation on interstate commerce

In an opinion authored by Justice Kagan, a unanimous Supreme Court rejected the Port’s contention. 

The legal arguments were regarding "concession agreements" that the Port made mandatory for drayage trucks performing short haul movement of cargo in and out of the port - under the auspices of the "Clean Truck Program" which was implemented in 2007.  The agreement required that the trucking company meet additional regulations for financial capacity, maintenance, and additional regulations for it's employment of drivers.  The agreements also require specific placards be placed on the vehicles with a phone number for reporting issues or concerns, and a plan for off-street parking.  An amended tariff made it a misdemeanor for terminal operators to grant access to any unregistered drayage truck.

Agreeing with ATA on these rules, the Court concluded that, whatever the Port’s asserted motivation, the concession agreements amounted to “classic regulatory authority” and thus fell within the scope of the FAAAA’s preemption provision. It observed that the concession agreements, while technically contracts between the Port and trucking companies, were not the “result merely of the parties’ voluntary commitments.”  Rather, the Port compelled trucking companies to enter into the contracts as a condition of access to the Port, by “wielding coercive power over private parties, backed by the threat of criminal punishment.”  By imposing the concession agreements through coercion rather than “ordinary bargaining,” Los Angeles was “performing its prototypical regulatory role.”.