Blog Articles
Building Pedestrian Trust in Driverless Vehicles
Article by Paul Schmitt, Chief Engineer and Systems Architect, Motional | Editor and writing partner: Miranda Hlaing | February 10, 2021
Imagine this. You’re walking down a street in a busy city and, as you’re about to cross the road, you see a vehicle approaching. Something gives you pause. You look closer, and you realize the driver’s seat is empty. There’s no one behind the wheel, and the car appears to be driving itself. What would you do? How would you feel? Is it safe to cross?
Driverless vehicles aren’t yet commonplace, so you might feel uncertain. As a pedestrian, you’re used to interacting with traffic, but you might rely on human interaction — like hand gestures, eye contact, body language, or the typical behavior of a human-driven car — to navigate it safely. Those human cues don’t exist in a driverless car.
Now take this scenario and multiply it by the number of pedestrians a single driverless vehicle may encounter in a day, a week, or a year. Then multiply that again by the dozens, then hundreds, then thousands — then millions — of driverless vehicles that are expected to be on the roads in our lifetime. It’s an immense number of interactions for which pedestrians don’t yet have a clear set of internalized instructions, and that’s ultimately because we’re asking humans to do something that’s still foreign: communicate with robots.
Creating Safer Streets and Smarter Driverless Vehicles with nuScenes
Written by Miranda Hlaing for Motional’s corporate blog | September 2, 2020
At Motional, we’re constantly working to make our vehicles safe, smart, and reliable.
Driverless technology is as complex as it is promising, and industry collaboration is key to its success. There’s tremendous intellectual and organizational firepower directed at building a driverless future; thousands of roboticists, engineers, scientists, and researchers, working in automotive and tech companies both large and small. And while competition may be a fact of life, some things are more important—like safety.
We believe industry-wide collaboration will bring safe driverless vehicles to our streets and communities faster. That’s why we created nuScenes, the industry-leading and publicly-available dataset that teaches driverless vehicles how to safely engage with their ever-changing surroundings.
A Milestone Year for Motional
Article by Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO, Motional | Ghostwriter: Miranda Hlaing | March 26, 2021
One year ago today, we proudly established the autonomous driving joint venture between Aptiv, a global driverless technology leader, and Hyundai Motor Group, one of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers — a deal that led to the creation of Motional.
Motional team members have been building the technology that defines this industry for decades. The joint venture fused that heritage with Hyundai’s manufacturing excellence, and Motional quickly emerged as a powerful leader in the driverless space.
Our creation coincided with the COVID-19 shutdowns last March. We quickly pivoted — we repurposed our fleet in Las Vegas to deliver meals to vulnerable community members, leveraged our simulation capabilities when road testing wasn’t feasible, and introduced new protocols to safely restart our public robotaxi service. As others downsized, we grew. Our team has expanded by nearly half since Motional’s inception.
We used our first year to lay the critical foundations for scalable robotaxi operations. We secured landmark partnerships, proved the sophistication and safety of our vehicles and systems, and built the framework to bring driverless technology to millions. Our team, in all its previous forms, has driven some of the industry’s largest leaps forward. The milestones of the past year represent our most significant steps yet.
Forbes Recognizes Gatik on its 2024 List of America’s Best Startup Employers
Written by Miranda Hlaing for Gatik’s corporate blog | March 5, 2024
In an era where many autonomous vehicle companies have scaled back, slowed down, or even ceased operations, Gatik continues to make strides. Despite industry-wide challenges, we have remained committed to our employees, our culture, and our mission to develop technology that makes B2B logistics safer, more reliable, and more efficient – without the need for a human driver. Today, we are proud to share that Forbes has named Gatik on its 2024 list of America’s Best Startup Employers for the third year in a row.
At Gatik, we pride ourselves in fostering an environment that inspires innovation and encourages collaboration. Every individual’s talents within the company contributes to our success; and when individual efforts are aligned with a shared vision and clear technical roadmap, we move closer to our commercial goals.
White Papers and Reports
Motional Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment (VSSA)
Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including engineering, product, safety, and government relations to co-author Motional’s Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment (2021).
Self-driving technology promises to deliver vast benefits to humanity: increased mobility, more free time, and—most importantly—safer roads and fewer accidents. But the only way to fulfill this promise tomorrow is to invest in the safety of the technology today. At Motional, we’re making self-driving cars a safe, reliable, and accessible reality. We’re developing this technology for all people—for families, for commuters, for elderly passengers who need better access to mobility, and for urbanites who want to choose how they move through their cities. We prioritize the safety and security of passengers and the public at every step.
Motional Consumer Mobility Report
Inaugural report led by Miranda Hlaing | Agency partner: Team Lewis | Sep 24, 2020
Motional, a global leader in driverless technology, today releases the inaugural Motional Consumer Mobility Report, a survey and report examining Americans' perception and understanding of driverless vehicles.
"People are more open to driverless vehicles than ever before -- but seeing is believing, and this is technology few people have actually experienced," commented Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO, Motional. "This report makes clear that familiarity is the key to adoption. As we get more cars on the road, we'll bridge the gap between the perception of this technology, and the reality of how positively and permanently it will change our daily lives."
The report revealed several key themes.
