August 2008 Edition

news & analysis

GM, CMU partner to create driverless ‘vehicle of future’

By Peter B. Alpern

By the year 2020, chauffeurs might no longer be exclusive to the affluent.

At least that’s the implication of the research currently taking place at Carnegie Mellon University as part of a joint five-year, $5 million partnership with General Motors.

Research at the laboratory is focusing on "creating and maturing the underlying technologies required to build the autonomous vehicle of the future," says Raj Rajkumar, a Carnegie Mellon professor and co-director of the lab.

The venture seeks to produce wireless capabilities, digital mapping, and other driving technologies in five-year stages, with the hope of reaching full autonomy in about 20 years.

The first generation, which could be released in about six years, will stress safety features. GM then will hone in on comfort and convenience features. Engineers suggest computer-driven autonomous vehicles will avoid human error.

Both GM and Carnegie Mellon have a history in joint ventures. The first GM-Carnigie Mellon Collaborative Research Laboratory was established in 2000 to study smart car technology.

The difference now is to advance that computer intelligence several notches.

"Imagine being virtually chauffeured safely in your car while doing your e-mail, eating breakfast, and watching the news," says Larry Burns, General Motors vice president of Research and Development and Strategic Planning.

"We foresee a future where vehicles will be aware of their surroundings and to react accordingly," says Alan Taub, executive director of GM Research and Development. "We will begin with technology involving warning the driver of issues, to helping the driver address those issues. The goal is full autonomous driving, where in fact, the vehicle is driving itself and the driver becomes a passenger."

The question, then, becomes timeframe.

"If you had asked that 10 years ago, we would have said that would have required a lot of changes in our infrastructure first," says Taub. "But with the technology we are working on now, we believe that you could start to see the technology for full autonomy for the car in the 2020 time frame, with some limited use or applications on highways before then."

Faculty from CMU’s School of Computer Science and College of Engineering will participate in the work done at the new lab.

GM sponsored Carnegie Mellon’s Tartan Racing team, which won the Pentagon-sponsored DARPA Urban Challenge robot race last year. The event featured driverless vehicles negotiating a 55-mile course in Victorville, CA.

"We were able to show that it’s feasible to drive a car autonomously through an urban-like environment," Taub says.

Carnegie Mellon and GM also hope to develop petroleum-free vehicles powered by an electric plug and alternative fuel.

General Motors

Egypt named top emerging overseas market

By Peter B. Alpern

Companies looking to invest in emerging overseas markets would do well to look beyond Brazil, Russia, India and China, according to research carried out by Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

The accounting firm’s inaugural report, The EM20 Index Balancing Risk & Reward, ranked 20 key emerging markets and found that for manufacturers looking to invest overseas, Egypt is the most attractive destination, while for services businesses, Poland comes out top.

BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) continue to offer interesting opportunities for investment — all four appear in both the Manufacturing and Services Indices. However, the results also indicate the emergence of South East Europe as a rising power for both manufacturing and services businesses.

Bulgaria and Serbia are ranked second and third for emerging manufacturing markets, with Romania in seventh place. All three countries are also featured in the top 10 of the services index.

For manufacturing companies seeking to invest in emerging markets, low production costs are a key requirement. Other facts then come into play, including a country’s distance from key export markets and the local corporate tax rate. For businesses in the service sector, relatively high GDP per capita levels are a significant factor. Typical service businesses represented in the model would be banks, insurers, media, telecoms, and IT-related operators.

But one factor was cited in greater emphasis this year, according to Ian Coleman, UK head of emerging markets at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP: political risk.

"It’s emerged as a factor which has a major impact on countries ascending or descending both indexes," says Coleman.

This was illustrated strongly in the case of Serbia, largely due to its improved political stability since 2000. This year, Serbia is third on the index, compared to 25th in 2004.

"The Index can act as a valuable framework or filter to help companies with their initial screening of investment location opportunities, but a good investment appraisal is bespoke and considers all factors relevant to a business," says Coleman. "That means including factors over and above economically-derived risk and reward such as the need for certain types of labor skills or language capabilities. The regulatory environment and business culture may also be relevant for many companies."

 Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP

Briefly

In motion

Acme Manufacturing Co., Auburn Hills, MI, has opened an office in Bangalore, India. Acme designs and integrates deburring and grinding systems … Ford Motor Co. will expand its Cuautitian, Mexico, operation in order to build the new Fiesta subcompact, and its Chihuahua engine plant, which builds I-4 engines. A transmission plant in Guanajuato will be established in a joint venture with Gertag.

Briggs & Stratton will acquire Victa Lawncare Pty. Ltd. of Sydney, Australia. Victa manufactures outdoor power products … Cimatron Ltd., which already has a presence in China, is adding GibbsCAM software to the product line offered to toolmakers and manufacturers in the region. Gibbs and Associates is offering online, print-on-demand documentation for GibbsCamm at www.Lulu.com .

BAE Systems intends to acquire a former TRW plan in Sterling Heights, MI, to support its $58.4 million expansion of its Land & Armaments operating group. The site is 81 acres … Caterpillar has announced its will undertake a $1 billion expansion project in Illinois for its mining and large construction equipment for infrastructure applications. The expansion will occur from 2008-2010 and will involve five existing facilities.

Heinrichs USA LLC has opened a new office in Hebron, KY. The warehouse will offer a selection of precision turned parts made by Heinrichs & Co. KG in Germany … To meet growing demands, BorgWarner Inc. will invest $125 million to increase manufacturing capacity for car turbochargers. New facilities in Mexico and Thailand will be built, and facilities in Hungary and Poland will be expanded.

Oil and gas service industry company Key Energy Services has acquired Hydra-Walk Inc., a provider of downhole pipe handling solutions. Hydra-Walk operates over 80 units in Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming … Simrit, a division of Freudenberg-NOK, has purchased the assets of the Tetralane companies of Houston, TX. Tetralane manufactures specialized components for the oil and gas industry.

TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. has developed an Automatic Emergency Braking system that uses radar and a video camera to slow a vehicle and potentially lessen the severity of an unavoidable collision, with or without driver intervention … Hexagon has acquired all outstanding shares in Advanced Metrology Solutions. Advanced distributes metrology products in a nine-state territory.

To be consistent with other business units of the company, alpha gear drives Inc. will change its named to Wittenstein Inc. The servo gear technology company is located in Bartlett, IL … Delcam has recently added its 25,000 customer, JR Automation Technologies of Holland, MI. The order was for six seats of FeatureCAM.

New at the top

 David C. Dauch has been appointed president and COO of American Axle & Manufacturing. He has been with AAM since 1995, and has 26 years of automotive experience … Tata Motors has named David Smith CEO for Jaguar and Land Rover. He was formerly CFO and acting CEO.

The former COO of Hardinge Inc., Richard L. Simons, has been elected president and CEO. He replaces J. Patrick Ervin, who stepped down from that position, and will continue in a consulting role … Kaiser Aluminum has appointed Neal West vice president and chief accounting officer. He replaces Lynton Rowsell, who is returning to the accounting firm Ernst & Young.

Robert Willet has been named president of Cognex Corp.’s Modular Vision Systems Division. Cognex manufactures vision sensors used in automation … Steven W. Demster has been named CEO with the responsibility for the strategic direction of CEO, has been appointed president of Ross’ North American Operations … Kia Motors America has announced that Kia president Byung Mo Ahn was named to the newly created position of chairman and group CEO for KMA and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia … Stephen A. Diehl has been named president and CEO of Surfware Inc. He is the son of former CEO Alan Diehl, founder of the company … GE Aviation has a new president and CEO. He is David Joyce, who had been vice president of commercial engines for GE Aviation since 2003.

New websites

KRC Machine Tool Services of Independence, KY, has launched a new site to be more accessible and easy to navigate: www.krcmachinetoolservices.com... Makino has launched a weblog for all EDM users at www.EDMmatters.com . The blog will cover topics such as EDM technology, machine design, consumable use, and other topics related to EDM. Makino has also created a multimedia library for its more than 60 past webinars.

The PowerMILL 8 Release Centre is now online at www.powermill.com/releasecentre. It’s by Delcam and is billed as a "one stop shop" for anything to do with PowerMILL 8 … Mate Precision Tooling is now offering Spanish, www.mate.com/es , and French, www.mate.com/fr  versions of its website … Tooling U, a Cleveland-based online training company specializing in manufacturing, has launched TU Mobile at www.toolingu.com/mobile . Users can connect their Blackberries, Apple iPhones, and Windows Mobile devices for real-time training information.