Portland startup develops AV remote control

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In an era of self-driving vehicles, roadside assistance could transform into on-road assistance.

Instead of asking OnStar for help, riders might instead press a button and ask a remote driver to control the vehicle through situations autonomous driving systems deem too complex to handle on their own. Sometimes, the vehicles themselves will ask for an intervention.

That's the premise of Designated Driver, a startup in Portland, Ore., that has enabled remote control of both autonomous and traditional vehicles. Surrounded by six monitors that provide real-time video and information, one of the company's remote operators can drive from hundreds of miles away.

"We'll see autonomous vehicles start to anticipate where they're going to need a human to intervene," said Walter Sullivan, chief technology officer at Designated Driver. "Maybe a couple of hundred meters before a construction zone there will be a request, and in several seconds, an operator can take over, understand the situation and maneuver the vehicle safely."

As automakers and tech companies reach the realization that widespread operations of fully self-driving vehicles remain years away, they're seeking ways to ensure they can deploy in the meantime with the means and know-how to support vehicles that get stuck in tricky situations.

"There's a big gap in figuring out how we can actually deploy autonomous driving in the near future when the technology isn't fully baked yet," said Bobby Hambrick, founder and CEO of AutonomouStuff, a supplier of r&d platforms and software for the fledgling AV industry that is Designated Driver's first customer.

Remote operations, also known as teleoperations, are increasingly viewed as a linchpin to the first wave of AV deployments. In California, teleoperation capabilities already are required for companies testing autonomous vehicles that are permitted to operate without human safety drivers.

Designated Driver, which expects to be deployed on AutonomouStuff products in 2020, isn't the only company forging into the remote-operations market. Global supplier Valeo demonstrated its technology in a closed parking lot at CES in January in Las Vegas, and Phantom Auto, another Silicon Valley startup, has entered the space as well.

During Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, Calif., in March, Designated Driver showcased its remote operations system for the first time. Easing its way into rush-hour traffic, the company's Lincoln MKZ took a short jaunt around downtown, making multiple right turns at stoplights and enduring stop-and-go conditions before finding a curbside parking spot. Five passengers were aboard. The car's remote driver was 685 miles away in Portland.

From the car, passengers could see and talk with the driver, a trained professional whose licenses and credentials could be viewed on an in-vehicle touch screen. From his remote-driving workstation, the teleoperator could steer, accelerate, brake and even honk the horn.

The remote driver can view video from four primary cameras that provide a near-360-degree view as well as a cabin-facing camera. The driver also has access to a map of the area and information on speed and connection latency. Though the test cars can operate at speeds up to 45 mph, for safety, Designated Driver says it has set a maximum of 25 mph.

"The teleoperator has a hard task in maneuvering in all kinds of situations, whether it's construction zones or in weather that's rain or shine or snow," said Manuela Papadopol, CEO of Designated Driver. "They need to see what's going on around them and make fast and informed decisions."

A low-latency connection is critical to making that happen. There are no hard-and-fast safety rules in this nascent field. A 2016 study from Swedish researchers at Chalmers University of Technology found 300 milliseconds of latency would be an appropriate safety threshold. Designated Driver says it typically functions with 100 milliseconds of latency and won't enable a connection at speeds slower than 150 milliseconds — about half the blink of an eye. Its hardware includes four independent cellular radios so a connection is never dependent on a single carrier.

The company believes its first customers will use the technology in limited deployments within the trucking, mining and agricultural industries. But as ride-hailing services improve their self-driving technology and the robotaxi market matures, remote-driving systems may be needed at greater scale.

Exactly how many vehicles a remote operator could or should oversee at a given time remains an open question. Bijit Halder, CEO of Drive.ai, last week said he envisions a gradual transition toward full autonomy in which teleoperators could handle one car at a time, then three, then five, as technology improves and the need for intervention diminishes over the years.

As the broader industry evolves, so will remote operation.

"My expectation is that as the industry moves forward, there might be companies that specialize in running teleoperations centers, where maybe you have a building full of remote operators managing a large fleet of vehicles," Sullivan said. "I also see this as the domain of an OnStar or AAA — companies that specialize in roadside assistance. In many ways, this is that."