With Tesla getting into the custom silicon game, the gang dives into the wild world of processors for autonomous vehicles while attending the Auto-Sens conference in Detroit. Joining the show to help explain this complex field are two deeply knowledgeable guides: David Fritz, Global Technology Manager for Autonomous and ADAS at Siemens, and Jim McGregor of Tirias Research. Produced in partnership with Siemens, this episode demystifies the rise of custom silicon, the different strategies around autonomous vehicle compute, and the next generation of AV architectures

It's been another busy week in the world of mobility technology, so the gang has plenty to discuss in the latest episode. First up is Google's move into the automotive center stack with Android Automotive OS debuting on the Polestar 2, then comes Cruise's unexpected cash raising round and finally Waymo's partnership with Lyft in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Plus, Alex was in the New Yorker and Ed finally finished his book (like actually, for real).

As countless dead-end demos have proven, building the features and functionality of an autonomous drive system is far easier than creating a system that can reliably keep passengers safe in the chaos of a modern roadway. Dr Phillip Koopman of Edge Case Research spends his days looking at all of the potential safety challenges inherent to autonomous drive systems and is developing UL4600 as a framework through which AV developers can demonstrate the safety engineering and validation that their systems have gone through, as an AV-specific compliment to functional standards like ISO26262 and ISO21448 (SOTIF). On this week's show, Dr Koopman argues that some in the AV space still don't take safety seriously enough, explains how UL4600 can raise the safety bar for the entire sector, the unique challenges of the end-to-end deep learning approach and much more.

Tesla's "Autonomy Day" packed a lot of information into a few hours, but Kirsten, Alex and Ed all watched with interest and they have a few thoughts. The gang discusses Tesla's decision to develop a chip in-house, the demo video showing surprisingly little in the way of challenging domains and scenarios, the firm's vaunted "data advantage" and much more. All that, plus a brief discussion at the end about Rivian's deal with Ford. Don't miss this action-packed episode tackling the most controversial company in autonomous driving technology!

A recent paper by Lex Fridman and other MIT researchers looking at the "functional vigilance" of Autopilot users has attracted considerable controversy in recent weeks. The authors claim a finding that bucks all the existing research about human interactions with automation, suggesting that Autopilot users do not suffer from the complacency and distraction that typically comeswhen humans monitor partial automation. In this episode Alex, Kirsten and Ed dig into the study and discuss what they see as being some of its issues.

SXSW isn't typically on the circuit of mobility-related events, but this year we went to participate in our partnership with Wards Intelligence and C3 Group's Smart Mobility Summit. Doug Newcomb of C3/Wards joins the show to explain why the Austin confab is such a good place to discuss new mobility matters, followed by a conversation with San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo about leading one of Silicon Valley's major metropolitan areas into the autonomous era. Liccardo suggests that AVs are replacing decades-old investments in light rail, setting off a lively conversation about how cities should allocate scarce transit resources.

Another episode of backstage conversations from the Wards Intelligence Austin Smart Mobility Summit comes to you from Empire Garage in Austin, where we are discussing the steps needed to achieve the robotaxi dream we've all heard so much about. Joining the show are John Sousanis of Wards Intelligence, Finch Fulton of USDOT, Manuela Papadopol of Designated Driver, Dr Ipek Sener of Texas A&M's Transportation Institute and Ted Trepanier of INRIX. The Autonocast thanks Wards Intelligence and the C3 Group for partnering with The Autonocast to produce these conversations from their excellent event.

The Autonocast partnered up with Wards Intelligence and C3 Group to participate in their Austin Smart Mobility Summit at SXSW, where we spoke with some of the speakers and panel members. Up first in our series of episodes from that event is a conversation about how private companies and cities are learning to work together to create new mobility options, the topic of a panel at the event moderated by our own Kirsten Korosec. Joining the discussion are: Ben Bear, Chief Business Officer of Spin; Carlos Cruz-Casas, Assistant Director, Department of Transportation and Public Works at Miami-Dade County; and Brett Wheatley, Vice President of Mobility Marketing & Growth at Ford Motor Company.

On March 18, 2018, one of Uber's autonomous test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian named Elaine Herzberg as she crossed a street in Tempe, Arizona. In the year since the first fatality caused by an autonomous vehicle a lot has changed in the sector, both internally at developers and in public perceptions of the technology. Alex, Kirsten and Ed look back at the tragic event and tumultuous aftermath and discuss what went wrong and what we can learn from the incident.