Met the Ford team today + charging tips from Donna Dickson (Mach-E Chief Engineer)

[zhackwyatt]

Actually, CEOs have to be VERY careful about word choices on Earnings Calls. Both for regulatory reasons, and for investor reasons (saying the wrong thing, or the right thing the wrong way) could cause a bad market reaction. CEOs of major companies rarely wander too far off script (one notable exception being the “CEO” of a major conglomerate with interests in aerospace, medical devices, earthworks machinery, alternative energy production, and alternative fuel vehicles ?)

What you said is completely true. But I'm talking about a pedantic detail.

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[Tom L]

Whatever man. You act like you're the only one with clarity and not drinking your own kool-aid. You have no interest in considering other's point of view. Have a good night.

I have to agree with you. This person is very cynical. He is so negative I had to stop reading his comments, even though he has some good insights.

 

[strangeengine]

Are there any cars that use LiDAR?

Yes, new Volvo and Audi models both have LiDAR sensors. Mercedes has announced LiDAR on production cars as well.

I don't believe that LiDAR is ultimately the future, as they are expensive, fragile, hard to package (ie designers hate them), and they have serious limitations in rain, snow, fog, dust, etc.

But then I am somewhat biased, as I'm a co-founder in a next-generation digital radar startup.

 

[strangeengine]

I have to agree with you. This person is very cynical. He is so negative I had to stop reading his comments, even though he has some good insights.

Agree - same.

 

[Jimrpa]

And that's what happens when MBAs take over from the engineers.

Excuse me - just WHAT are you trying to say about MBAs (says the MBA with both an engineering degree AND a graduate degree in Computer Science to accessorize his MBA ??)?
Having actually BEEN an engineer, designing and developing some fairly complex things, as well as a “manager” (and no, my hair isn’t pointy), leading teams responsible for the development and implantation of complex things, there actually is a much broader perspective beyond the world of the engineers.

 

[Jimrpa]

Yes, new Volvo and Audi models both have LiDAR sensors. Mercedes has announced LiDAR on productions cars as well.

I don't believe the LiDAR is ultimately the future, as they are expensive, fragile, hard to package (ie designers hate them), and they have serious limitations in rain, snow, fog, dust, etc.

But then I am somewhat biased, as I'm a co-founder in a next-generation digital radar startup.

Do the production Volvos and Audis use LIDAR, or are they just announcing it in upcoming models? I’ve been trying to follow Luninar, who seem to have the most practical solution, but I haven’t heard of anyone adopting it yet?

 

[strangeengine]

Do the production Volvos and Audis use LIDAR, or are they just announcing it in upcoming models? I’ve been trying to follow Luninar, who seem to have the most practical solution, but I haven’t heard of anyone adopting it yet?

Fair enough - the 2023 XC90 replacement will have a Luminar LiDAR sensor. So not quite on the road yet (unless you live in Silicon Valley like I do - development cars with LiDAR sensors are all over the place).

 

[Jimrpa]

Yes, new Volvo and Audi models both have LiDAR sensors. Mercedes has announced LiDAR on production cars as well.

I don't believe that LiDAR is ultimately the future, as they are expensive, fragile, hard to package (ie designers hate them), and they have serious limitations in rain, snow, fog, dust, etc.

But then I am somewhat biased, as I'm a co-founder in a next-generation digital radar startup.

Could you answer a question that’s been bugging me? There are a lot of autos on the road now that are using radar for things such as adaptive cruise control? How does a car distinguish between its radar and radar from ther vehicles/sources? Also, how is frequency congestion dealt with? I’ve always speculated that some kind of spread spectrum is used with automotive radar applications to address these issues, but I really have no idea.

 

[Jimrpa]

Fair enough - the 2023 XC90 replacement will have a Luminar LiDAR sensor. So not quite on the road yet (unless you live in Silicon Valley like I do - development cars with LiDAR sensors are all over the place).

I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia - our equivalent would be some pretty cool bio technology (think stuff that makes pharmas very rich) ? if you have a horrible, likely incurable disease, and LOTS of money burning holes in your pockets, come to town - someone around here might be able to cook up something for you ?

 

[ab13]

Are there any cars that use LiDAR?

Yes, starting this year. Companies including Lexus, Mercedes, Nio, Volvo, etc... will start rolling them out. Since they use systems that have redundant sensor systems.

https://www.valeo.com/en/in-a-world...lass-allowing-it-to-reach-level-3-automation/

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36633927/toyota-lexus-teammate-driver-assist/

 

[strangeengine]

Could you answer a question that’s been bugging me? There are a lot of autos on the road now that are using radar for things such as adaptive cruise control? How does a car distinguish between its radar and radar from ther vehicles/sources? Also, how is frequency congestion dealt with? I’ve always speculated that some kind of spread spectrum is used with automotive radar applications to address these issues, but I really have no idea.

That is a GREAT question and it is a large part of why our startup exists. Current analog (FMCW) radar tech means that you don't get a lot of emitters in a given space before they start interfering with each other. There's currently 5GHz of spectrum set aside for mobility radars and due to the limitations of A/D converters in the radar front-ends, 200Mhz of bandwidth is the practical minimum for a radar to operate on. That means that when you get more 25 radars in a given area, they start stepping on each other.

There's at least once company doing PMCW radar, which does some light digital encoding to allow a radar to determine which returns are its own vs from other radars. You can think of this as CDMA-level radar tech. It increases the interference immunity significantly.

Our radar is fully digital, which means that every pulse (and there are a LOT of them) are identifiable, to the point that you can actually carry data on them if you want. 5G-level technology, if you will.

Anyway, that's the plan. ?

 

[Tom L]

That is a GREAT question and it is a large part of why our startup exists. Current analog (FMCW) radar tech means that you don't get a lot of emitters in a given space before they start interfering with each other. There's currently 5GHz of spectrum set aside for mobility radars and due to the limitations of A/D converters in the radar front-ends, 200Mhz of bandwidth is the practical minimum for a radar to operate on. That means that when you get more 25 radars in a given area, they start stepping on each other.

There's at least once company doing PMCW radar, which does some light digital encoding to allow a radar to determine which returns are its own vs from other radars. You can think of this as CDMA-level radar tech. It increases the interference immunity significantly.

Our radar is fully digital, which means that every pulse (and there are a LOT of them) are identifiable, to the point that you can actually carry data on them if you want. 5G-level technology, if you will.

Anyway, that's the plan. ?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

 

[AZBill]

Are there any cars that use LiDAR?

GM has it on the Cruise Origin and Waymo has also used it. Lucid has it as well.

https://www.hotcars.com/a-detailed-look-at-the-cruise-origin-an-electric-driverless-car/

 

[AZBill]

I disagree about MCAS. MCAS mimics flight characteristics of the earlier NG 737, gives full authority to the automated system to go nose down, then, didn’t disconnect with Pilot resistance on the yoke. So, regardless of bad AoA sensor inputs, MCAS functioned in a way contrary to Pilot training for the Type.

And, yes, eschewing multiple sensor redundancy to save a few bucks usually turns out bad.

The aircraft had two AOA sensors, but no voting algorithm. I have worked on many certified aerospace systems and the first rule is "no single failure can be catastrophic".

 

[mdolan92869]

Excuse me - just WHAT are you trying to say about MBAs (says the MBA with both an engineering degree AND a graduate degree in Computer Science to accessorize his MBA ??)?
Having actually BEEN an engineer, designing and developing some fairly complex things, as well as a “manager” (and no, my hair isn’t pointy), leading teams responsible for the development and implantation of complex things, there actually is a much broader perspective beyond the world of the engineers.

You are forgiven because of having engineering degrees. I've worked with managers who only had business degrees. They always seemed lost when trying to work with us engineers. They also seemed to not last long.

A friend of mine since high school got an engineering degree like most of our group. Went back for an MBA and started on Wall Street. Ended up running a team. He said he'd only hire people with an engineering degree in addition to an MBA. Said they actually knew what was going on. His group was always the highest performing one, but he wouldn't share his secret to the others, he liked his bonuses.

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