E02: The Future of Self-Driving Cars with Leaf Jiang

The world has come a long way in terms of transportation technology. How we go from point A to point  B has fundamentally changed over the centuries. On the long road from horses and carriages to automobiles, automated vehicles are now joining the journey. What does the future of autonomous vehicles look like? How ready are consumers to start accepting them into everyday life? Joining us on this episode of The Future of Ground Transportation Podcast is NODAR CEO, Leaf Jiang. He shares his insight on the future readiness of autonomous vehicles. Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation: The role of sensors for autonomous vehicles Five levels of driving automation Consumer acceptance of autonomous vehicles Developing software for transportation The future of autonomous vehicles moving forward Episode Highlights: [08:32] 3D Vision for Autonomous Vehicles Sensor technology is one of the things limiting automotive development. 3D information opens up a whole opportunity in automation. Getting clarity that LiDAR technology wasn't going to get there anytime soon, Leaf founded NODAR in 2018. NODAR builds sensors that apply from L2 vehicles today to L4 in the future. As a B2B business, they sell to OEMs and tier-one suppliers. [14:21] Going Automated It’s about understanding whether it makes sense to go forward fully autonomous. Looking at recent developments, the approach we’re seeing is selling the low-hanging fruit and expanding from there. In the coming years, we'll see slow consumer acceptance and little change in future car designs. As for flying vehicles, the most probable development is drone delivery more than human air transport. [19:44] How NODAR Sensors Work NODAR sensors work like triangulation. The farther you put the two cameras apart, the more accurately and farther you can see. It has a lot of applications, including land vehicles, aerospace, infrastructures, smart roads, etc. [22:17] The Future of Vehicle Automation We’re moving away from the idea of a static product. Software now plays a bigger role in car development in terms of feature updates and improvements. Safety plays into consumer acceptance. Part of what needs to happen is a focus on consumer education about what they're buying. In some sense, safety is accessibility. Resources Mentioned: NODAR UN R157 SAE International Connect with Leaf on LinkedIn About the Guest Leaf Jiang is the CEO and founder of NODAR, a leading authority on next-generation 3D sensor technology for autonomous vehicles. Prior to founding NODAR, he developed LiDAR technology for MIT Lincoln Laboratory for 12 years. You can learn more about Leaf on LinkedIn.