Before I Write About NHTSA

Yes, yes, yes, I'm reading the long NHTSA guidelines document. It will take a few days to digest, or at least a day. This is called reading beyond the executive summary. And there is actually other news.

UK insurers are handling driverless stuff behind the scenes and dealing calmly with the driving - or partially self-driving - public by stating that all normal car insurance policies will cover human-operated vehicles and self-driving vehicles. And coverage will extend to whatever insurance usually covers inside and outside of the vehicle.

Lots in England

Oxford-spawned Oxbotica, over in England, is busy designing driverless software and hardware for many types of vehicles. The hardware is lasers and cameras. This is for cars, of course, but also for forklifts, mining trucks, and a NASA Mars rover (I guess the Buy America requirements do not apply).

By a lovely canal

In Amsterdam, you might soon see and be able to ride on a driverless - or should I say captainless - boat. It is called, no joke, Roboat. This is the product of a partnership among MIT, which is a US university, and two Dutch universities. To be ready for testing next year, the Roboat will be able to carry people or packages. Since it is basically a flat raft, a succession of Roboats lined up can operate as a walkway or a bridge.

For fun, meet the Rolls Royce moving fancy TV den 

Without steering wheel and brakes, but with "Eleanor," your personal artificial intelligence assistant, the Rolls Royce driverless concept design is neat, but totally impractical. Bright beige carpeting means you will not be bringing kids, coffee, wine, or pizza. There is a very large screen and a loveseat. Fancy, in a futuristic way.

UK, Japan Serious About Driverless for Seniors and People with Disabilities

I love this article out of England. There's a project that mixes driverless with transit, technology for people with disabilities, and transportation apps. This is definitely a complete trip perspective. The article discusses a technology firm in Coventry in connection with the University of Warwick Science Park's Venture Centre (which sounds more like the name of a children's museum).

The technology to assist people with disabilities is impressive. For instance, there is a whole tactile element for people with visual disabilities.

Growing market of older people

Toyota gets this.  The Toyota video below sends a clear message and, although the narration is in Japanese, anyone can understand that message, that there is a huge market in serving older people who do not drive or who are - or should be - cutting back on driving or not driving entirely.

Solar tidbit

Just for fun, read this piece about an entirely autonomous boat that is traveling across the Atlantic Ocean from Boston to Portugal. The boat is operating solely on solar energy. The guys who built the boat did the work in their spare time. Very neat. You can follow the vessel as well. It is currently approximately 20 percent of the way to its destination.