Xoogler.co: Autonomous Vehicle Meetup
By: Zachery Lim
Tags: Xoogler, Autonomous Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, Discussion

Xoogler.co’s November Autonomous Vehicle meetup featured a discussion of the industry’s current state led by Joel Pazhayampallil, CEO of BlueSpace.ai, and Sid Misra, founder and CEO of Perceptive Automata. The talk was moderated by Mohammad Musa, founder and CEO of Deepen AI, which builds industry-leading computer vision tools for AI.

Backgrounds

While Joel Pazhayampallil studied to receive his MS in mechanical engineering at Sanford, he and his fellow lab mates co-founded Drive.ai. Drive.ai uses artificial intelligence to make self-driving systems for cars and was acquired by Apple in 2019. Today, Joel is the CEO of BlueSpace.ai, which implements AV technology to transit services.

Sid Misra also started his company at his university. While Sid studied for his MBA at Harvard, he founded Perceptive Automata. Perceptive looks to give machines human intuition, and allow the software to predict what a human will do next. If a person is standing on the side of the road, Perceptive looks to use human cues to know if that person intends to cross the street. This was explored in the discussion.

Kinematics vs Inferences

While Perceptive focuses on technology that makes inferences based on human cues, Joel described how it is essential to focus on the kinematics behind AV. At its core, this involves the software understanding the locations of all objects relevant to the vehicle, calculating the physics behind each variation of object movement, and then driving in a way in which it would operate safely under any variation. Joel describes how this allows more certainty for safety. The car operates in a way that ensures no harm. Brad Templeton, Chairman Emeritus of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted the drawbacks, which are that the kinematic focus often requires nearly perfect conditions and that it often leads to too many restrictions for the vehicle to function. Joel agrees with this dynamic, but would prefer to lean on software that calculates no possibility of any injury at the car’s fault.

On the other hand, Sid’s Perceptive is centered around software taking in visual cues such as eye contact, posture, orientation, and head movements to infer a person’s intentions and drive accordingly. Perceptive does take in kinematics, but their company is focused on developing the inference technology. Sid explains that this creates a more human driving experience. The drawback is that the technology is very complex, and there is more uncertainty regarding error.

All in all, Joel and Sid agreed that a balance is optimal. Joel described how the kinematics are essential for safety, and the inference stack is a good addition. Sid agreed and says that when both kinematics and perception agree, it creates a stronger safety assurance.

Problems in the AV Industry

Joel described a problem in AV in which everyone focuses on the product being self driving without being aware of the problem they are looking to solve. Rather, companies need to understand their problem and make an MVP to solve it. Another problem Joel notes is the inability to ensure a self-driving car’s functionality without collecting so many miles. If we rely solely on collecting miles, we will not have certainty in the car’s functionality in other locations.

Thank you

Thank you Joel Pazhayampallil, Sid Misra, and Mohammad Musa for taking the time to share your insights on the industry! The Xoogler community is excited for what is next for BlueSpace.ai, Perceptive Automata, and Deepen AI!

Other discussions by various attendees included recent funding rounds, AV business models, economic feasibility, and technical focus areas. To keep the discussion open, we are unable to report on the open ended discussion topics. However, you can request to join the next AV Xoogler meetup by keeping an eye on our monthly newsletter and Linkedin.