A Meditation on Automation - Part 1

11/14/22 • 37 min

In March 2018, one of Uber ATG's self-driving test cars slammed into a pedestrian. Who is responsible for the accident: The pedestrian? The driver? The software? Or someone no-one suspected?

In this episode, which is the first part of a two-part series on automation, we take a look at the 2018 Uber ATG accident in Tempe, Arizona, and use it as a starting point to discuss the role of automation. Automation has made us safer, there is no doubt about that. But if we add even more automation, will we become even safer?

Sources for this episode include:

The National Transportation Safety Board’s accident report (https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/har1903.pdf);

The article Driver in fatal Uber crash rejects plea deal; death in Tempe was 1st in nation for self-driving vehicle written by Ryan Randazzo and published on azcentral.com in June 2022;

Julie Bort’s excellent article Uber insiders describe infighting and questionable decisions before its self-driving car killed a pedestrian published in Business Insider in November 2018;

Sumit Singh’s article: Airbus Says Single Pilot Flight Crews Are The Long Term Future, published in Simple Flying in September 2021;

Driver Behavior in an Emergency Situation in the Automated Highway System by Dick de Waard, Monique van der Hulst, Marika Hoedemaeker and Karel Brookhuis, published in Transportation Human Factors in 1999;

Automated driving: Safety blind spots by Ian Noy, David Shinar, and William J. Horrey, published in Safety Science in February 2018.

The news clip at the beginning of the podcast was taken from a 12 News Arizona report: https://www.youtube.com/c/12NewsAZ

In March 2018, one of Uber ATG's self-driving test cars slammed into a pedestrian. Who is responsible for the accident: The pedestrian? The driver? The software? Or someone no-one suspected?

Sources for this episode include:

The National Transportation Safety Board’s accident report (https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/har1903.pdf);

The article Driver in fatal Uber crash rejects plea deal; death in Tempe was 1st in nation for self-driving vehicle written by Ryan Randazzo and published on azcentral.com in June 2022;

Julie Bort’s excellent article Uber insiders describe infighting and questionable decisions before its self-driving car killed a pedestrian published in Business Insider in November 2018;

Sumit Singh’s article: Airbus Says Single Pilot Flight Crews Are The Long Term Future, published in Simple Flying in September 2021;

Automated driving: Safety blind spots by Ian Noy, David Shinar, and William J. Horrey, published in Safety Science in February 2018.

The news clip at the beginning of the podcast was taken from a 12 News Arizona report: https://www.youtube.com/c/12NewsAZ

Previous Episode

Superficial Excellence

In 2011, the RAF's famous display team Red Arrows lost two pilots in accidents. The second accident occured when the pilot inadvertently activated the ejection seat while preparing the aircraft. Was it really an isolated accident, a mishap that has no connection to the team? This episode reviews the accident, diving deeper into the organizational issues. We are going to talk about how team culture may influence individual team members, and how the pilot's demise may be due to his team getting along all too well.

You can find the original investigation report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/service-inquiry-into-the-accident-involving-hawk-tmk1-xx177

Next Episode

A Meditation on Automation - Part 2

In the second part of our Meditation of Automation, we take a look at the practical aspects of automation. Artificial intelligence is progressing at a staggering pace – but does that equate to automation being smart enough to replace human pilots? To answer that question, we are going to review some of the practical challenges that fully autonomous aircraft and single-pilot airliner would face.