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Accelerator Program
Our Accelerators
#CATWx | Terrestrial Weather
#CAPNT | PNT
#CASC | Resilient Commercial Space Communications
#CAISR | Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance
By Tori Mann
Catalyst Accelerator PNT Company Highlights Part 2: NOVAA, esc Aerospace and Braxton
Innovation can be hard to pin down. By nature, disruptive innovation isn't exactly predictable. It often pops up in places we aren't looking for it.
Thankfully, we've found ways to drastically increase our odds of innovation by putting people with different backgrounds in the same room for three months, for instance (hint: Catalyst Accelerator). But not just any people.
Closing in on innovation
Danny Stirtz serves as the Executive Vice President of multinational esc Aerospace. While his company brings fifteen years' worth of knowledge in mission critical systems for space applications, cyber security and "all things drones," Stirtz is looking for ideas for a commercialization strategy. "As a new company in the U.S., we're not established. So, to a certain extent, we're a startup company with a foundation elsewhere."
The company is proposing a PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) receiver that takes signals from many different PNT sources to provide reliable PNT in environments where GPS is denied or degraded. For Stirtz, what the Accelerator does for his company isn't new, per se, but it is a "forcing function." But the forcing isn't a bad thing: "Doing this type of thing is fun to me."
While esc Aerospace has over a decade of experience, one Accelerator company has only a year: NOVAA, a startup that develops sensing and navigation solutions for challenging environments. Founder and President Markus Novak is proposing digital beamforming and machine learning assisted mapping of multi-path environments (translation: his technology helps you find your correct location when your GPS is confused).
NOVAA's technology was mainly developed for self-driving vehicles; however, it can also have direct application to the navigation challenges overseas military personnel face on a regular basis. Novak saw the potential for overlap even before he started NOVAA: "I had these technologies incubating in my mind for some time throughout my previous work." After he started the company, he found the Accelerator through the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research grants) portal.
At the Accelerator, he is hoping to "learn from all the experts" and "make the right connections to deliver solutions" so that in five years NOVAA technology will "be on the road, helping people [or warfighters!] get around."
Heidi Wright, Director of Technical Marketing for Braxton Technologies LLC, also hopes to help her company grow in the coming years. Braxton is a small business headquartered in Colorado Springs. It develops and delivers commercial off-the-shelf products to outfit an entire satellite operations center and delivers ground control segments for various satellite missions and flight experiments. They are proposing to insert software-defined radio PNT transmitters and receivers into a "FlashMAPTM" architecture and validating communications to provide access to PNT information in GPS-degraded or -denied environments.
"We're not relying on the Accelerator for sustainment," Wright said. "It's really to push the envelope and provide things that people aren't doing right now. The Accelerator's forcing us to and hash out the details of the market and technology." She sees it as an opportunity to not only grow her company's technology area, but also her own capability and knowledge. "I see a lot of potential, so that's what I'm excited about."
Solutions by and for people
By looking at companies like Apple – which is about as close as anyone has come to making innovation a process – we see that innovation is people-centric; that is, innovation is made for people, by people.
It's people like Stirtz and Novak and Wright that drastically increase the odds of innovation. That's why Catalyst Accelerator brings them all together – because we believe that when you do, you produce not only innovation, but successful innovation that helps the people who inspired it.
(This is Part 2 of a three-part article)
AFRL/RV Catalyst Accelerator Welcomes New Program Manager to Oversee PNT-Focused Accelerator Cohort
Catalyst Accelerator PNT Company Highlights Part 3: ColdQuanta and PreTalen
Startup stars shine light on space communication
Catalyst Accelerator and AFRL seek companies for new space-based ISR cohort
Catalyst Campus Overflows for AFRL Space Accelerator Demo Day
Catalyst Space Accelerator Alumni Achieving Great Heights
© 2019 - Catalyst Accelerator. All rights reserved.


Meeting to be held in Los Angeles on August 14 hosted by JMP Securities.
Goldman analyst Andrew Rosivach initiated CBRE Group with a Buy and $54 price target due to its corporate outsourcing exposure and "defensive" business.
As previously reported, Raymond James upgraded CBRE Group to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $62 price target. Analyst Patrick O'Shaughnessy attended investor meetings earlier this week with CEO Bob Sulentic and Group President Mike Lafitte and came away with a greater appreciation of the advantages that CBRE's scale affords the company, combined with increased confidence that it can maintain healthy top-line and bottom-line growth despite potential capital markets headwinds. The analyst continues to view risk/reward as attractive.


The traditional way of straightening teeth was done with stainless steel brackets. This is a highly cost effective way to achieve a new smile.
Whilst the brackets can be seen, it is possible to customise them at each appointment by having the "O" rings changed to a different colour each time. "O" rings are the tiny elastics that keep the wire onto the brackets. This is a popular option with teenagers.
If we spot a potential problem, you don't need to wait until all your child's teeth have appeared. Children can have treatment at any time after the age of 7. In some cases, the earlier potential problems are addressed the better.
Because all permanent teeth have come through by this stage, orthodontic treatment is the most effective in teenage years. We help teenagers embrace their treatment and choose a retainer they'll be comfortable with in front of their friends.
We have a variety of Orthodontic options at our dental practice on the outskirts of Bristol. We are a short 20 minute drive from the centre of Bristol and welcome orthodontic patients from around the Portishead area. Our Orthodontic dentists are able to provide clear braces so that others will never know you are having orthodontic treatment as well as the rapid tooth moving treatment, the Inman Aligner.


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The Heartless Robots
BfK No. 185 - November 2010
This issue's cover illustration is from John Burningham and Helen Oxenbury's There's Going to be a Baby. This book, as well as an exhibition of John Burningham's work, is discussed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Walker Books for their help with this November cover.
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 185 November 2010
Simon Bartram
(Templar)
80pp, 978-1848770317, RRP £4.99, Paperback
Buy "The Heartless Robot (Bob and Barry's Lunar Adventures)" on Amazon
When Moon Man Bob wins the coveted Spacemen Who Are Also Inventors Competition with his kind-hearted robot Galaxobot 3000, runner-up Stan the Man is red-raw with anger. For the last five years Stan has been runner-up, not winner – and now he wants revenge. While Bob is busy celebrating, he gets hold of the robot and reprograms it, doing away with its gentle nature and turning it into a monster of violence with a mission: to destroy the universe.
Moon Man soon discovers that Galaxabot 3000 has been tampered with and is no longer programmed to distribute comfort and endless cups of tea. When the robot attacks and imprisons him, Moon Man realises that he has to come up with a solution – and fast – to restore it to its former good self.
This is the third in the series of stories about Moon Man Bob and his six-legged dog, Barry, who first came to life in picture-book format. Written with vigour and dollops of humour, it is a good-natured romp made all the more appealing by its energetic drawings.
Anne Faundez

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Susanna Reggiani received the undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Since April 1997 she has been working at the Department of Electronics (DEIS) of the same University in the field of the numerical simulation of semiconductor devices. Since 1999 she has been working on simulation of electron transport in nanoscale devices applied to quantum computing. In 2001 she became research associate at the University of Bologna, Italy. Now she is also with the Advanced Research Center for Electronic Systems (ARCES) of the University of Bologna.


TORONTO -- Ontario's new Tory government has canceled a $100-million fund earmarked for school repairs this year, a cut that comes as a result of Doug Ford's campaign promise to scrap the province's cap-and-trade system.
The memo, obtained by The Canadian Press, advises school boards to stop spending the cash that was allocated in April immediately. "Please maintain detailed records of the contracts that have been signed as ministry staff will contact boards to collect information on the scope of the work underway," the memo said.


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Justia Patents US Patent for Wrong-way driving detection and collision mitigation Patent (Patent # 11,505,206)
Wrong-way driving detection and collision mitigation
Dec 14, 2020 - General Motors
A system includes a processor and a memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor configure the processor to receive data from a plurality of sensors in a vehicle, the sensors including a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers; and to determine a location of the vehicle and a direction of motion of the vehicle based on the data and a history of locations of the vehicle in prior N seconds, where N is a number greater than 0. The instructions configure the processor to determine a permitted driving direction for the vehicle based on the location of the vehicle and a map database; and to detect whether the vehicle is moving in a wrong direction based on the permitted driving direction and the direction of motion of the vehicle.
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The information provided in this section is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle control systems and more particularly to a system for wrong-way driving detection and collision mitigation.
Many vehicles are equipped with a monitoring system that monitors whether a vehicle maintains a lane, maintains a distance between other vehicles, etc. The monitoring system typically includes sensors such as cameras that detect lane markings on roadways, surrounding objects such as signs and other vehicles, etc. The monitoring system alerts the driver when another vehicle is too close to the vehicle or when the vehicle crosses a lane marking if a lane change is not intended, which can be detected from a turn signal. The monitoring system can be helpful in reducing the risks of accidents to some extent.
A system comprises a processor and a memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor configure the processor to receive data from a plurality of sensors in a vehicle, the sensors including a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers; and to determine a location of the vehicle and a direction of motion of the vehicle based on the data and a history of locations of the vehicle in prior N seconds, where N is a number greater than 0. The instructions configure the processor to determine a permitted driving direction for the vehicle based on the location of the vehicle and a map database; and to detect whether the vehicle is moving in a wrong direction based on the permitted driving direction and the direction of motion of the vehicle.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to determine the location of the vehicle based on additional data received from a ground station associated with the Global Navigation Satellite System.
In other features, the processor is further configured to determine an attitude of the vehicle based on the data; to receive a grade for the location of the vehicle from the map database; and to detect whether the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction additionally based on attitude of the vehicle and the grade for the location of the vehicle.
In other features, in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction, the processor is further configured to generate a severity metric based on the location of the vehicle and at least one of speed of the vehicle, type of roadway, time of the day, traffic, weather, and construction information; and to generate an alert based on the severity metric.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to alert an occupant of the vehicle using one or more of audio, video, and tactile alerts in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to at least one of turn on hazard lights, sound a horn, and flash headlights of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to at least one of reduce speed of the vehicle, limit maximum speed of the vehicle, and engage automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to modify parameters of an automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to selectively notify a cloud based monitoring system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the processor is further configured to selectively send a message to a V2X communication system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In still other features, a method comprises receiving data from a plurality of sensors in a vehicle, the sensors including a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers. The method comprises determining a location of the vehicle and a direction of motion of the vehicle based on the data and a history of locations of the vehicle in prior N seconds, where N is a number greater than 0. The method comprises determining a permitted driving direction for the vehicle based on the location of the vehicle and a map database. The method comprises detecting whether the vehicle is moving in a wrong direction based on the permitted driving direction and the direction of motion of the vehicle.
In another feature, the method further comprises determining the location of the vehicle based on additional data received from a ground station associated with the Global Navigation Satellite System.
In other features, the method further comprises determining an attitude of the vehicle based on the data, receiving a grade for the location of the vehicle from the map database, and detecting whether the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction additionally based on attitude of the vehicle and the grade for the location of the vehicle.
In other features, the method further comprises, in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction, generating a severity metric based on the location of the vehicle and at least one of speed of the vehicle, type of roadway, time of the day, traffic, weather, and construction information; and generating an alert based on the severity metric.
In another feature, the method further comprises alerting an occupant of the vehicle using one or more of audio, video, and tactile alerts in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the method further comprises at least one of turning on hazard lights, sounding a horn, and flashing headlights of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the method further comprises at least one of reducing speed of the vehicle, limiting a maximum speed of the vehicle, and engaging automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the method further comprises modifying parameters of an automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the method further comprises selectively notifying a cloud based monitoring system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
In another feature, the method further comprises selectively sending a message to a V2X communication system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, the claims and the drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for detecting wrong-way driving and collision mitigation according to the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for detecting wrong-way driving and collision mitigation according to the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for determining a navigation state of a vehicle;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for comparing the navigation state of the vehicle to a map database to detect wrong-way driving; and
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for assigning a severity metric to detected wrong-way driving.
In the drawings, reference numbers may be reused to identify similar and/or identical elements.
Current vehicle control systems rely on availability of advanced sensors like cameras, V2X communication, and so on to warn drivers if a vehicle is in a wrong lane. V2X or Vehicle-to-everything communication is a communication between a vehicle and any entity that may affect, or may be affected by, the vehicle. V2X is a vehicular communication system that incorporates other more specific types of communications such as V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure), V2N (vehicle-to-network), V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), V2P (vehicle-to-pedestrian), V2D (vehicle-to-device) and V2G (vehicle-to-grid). These control systems, however, are not robust to effectively mitigate head-on crashes.
The system of the present disclosure detects whether a vehicle is driving the wrong way (i.e., in a wrong direction such as entering a freeway via an exit ramp, driving in an opposite direction on a one-way street, etc.). The system uses a combination of sensor data and map database for robustness. If wrong-way driving is detected with high level of certainty, the system deploys a multitude of counter-measures to mitigate head-on collision or alleviate severity of a head-on collision.
Specifically, the system detects wrong-way driving using various resources. For example, the resources include offline (or online) map database, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors, and optionally other sensors in the vehicle. GNSS refers to a constellation of satellites that transmit positioning and timing data to GNSS receivers. A receiver in a vehicle uses the positioning and timing data to determine the location of the vehicle. The GNSS system may be augmented by secondary corrections via ground based stations or other systems. The corrections improve the positioning accuracy of the GNSS based positioning system. However, position alone is insufficient to quickly and accurately detect wrong-way driving. The direction in which the vehicle is moving needs to be additionally and quickly determined. While GNSS provides position information (i.e., location of a vehicle), the IMU sensors in a vehicle provide directional information (i.e., the direction in which the vehicle is moving). Examples of IMU sensors include accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, etc.
In addition to the sensor data, the system uses dead-reckoning (prior N second navigation state history of the vehicle which includes position, direction, attitude, altitude, etc.) to establish the direction of the vehicle and compares it with the expected direction of the road, which can be determined from a map database. In navigation, dead-reckoning is the process of calculating current navigation state of a moving object by using a previously determined navigation state by using estimations of speed, heading direction, and course over an elapsed time. The system ultimately provides (to the driver and/or a vehicle control system) a set of actions that are practical and immediately implementable to mitigate head-on crashes when wrong-way driving is detected.
Notably, the state of the art does not consider dead-reckoning to detect wrong-way driving. Instead, the state of the art relies on detecting wrong-way signs, signals, and other visual cues. These indicia not only require high resolution sensors and extensive computations for detection but are also not always reliable. Further, the state of the art issues warnings to the wrong-way driver, issues messages via communication to other vehicles, but does nothing to alert other vehicles in the vicinity when there is no communication system. The state of the art also does not include any powertrain related counter-measures.
The system of the present disclosure detects wrong-way driving using a map-database in conjunction with positioning and inertial measurement sensors. The system uses immediately preceding N seconds of history of the vehicle's motion to improve detection accuracy. The system checks a measured driving direction, grade, lane, etc. against a predicted driving direction, grade, and lane, etc. using a high definition (HD) map to detect wrong-way driving.
The system includes a strategy to prevent collisions through a multi-prong approach. For example, the system controls the vehicle's powertrain by limiting maximum speed, engaging automated braking system, etc. The system controls the vehicle's safety system by expecting an impending crash and modifying automated braking system parameters to prevent a probable head-on collision. The system provides driver alerts (e.g., visual, audible, and/or tactile alerts). The system alerts other vehicles on the road by performing one or more of the following: turning on the vehicle's hazard lights, flashing the vehicle's headlights, sounding the vehicle's horn, alerting a cloud-based monitoring service that other vehicles may subscribe to, and transmitting a V2X message that the vehicle is driving wrong-way. Further, the system can be used as a watchdog in autonomous vehicles to detect and inform a vehicle occupant and/or a vehicle control system of wrong-way driving. These and other features of the system of the present disclosure are described below in detail.
FIG. 1 shows a system 100 that can be implemented in a vehicle for detecting wrong-way driving and collision mitigation. The system 100 comprises a processor 102, a memory 104, a plurality of sensors (110, 112, 114), and a plurality of vehicle control subsystems (130, 132, 134, 136, 140). For example, the plurality of sensors comprise a GNSS receiver 110, IMU sensors 112 (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers), and other sensors 114 in the vehicle (e.g., speed sensor, brake sensors, wheel sensors, etc.). For example, the plurality of vehicle control subsystems comprise an infotainment subsystem 130, an alert subsystem 132, a powertrain subsystem 134, an autonomous subsystem 136, and a communication subsystem 140. The system 100 comprises a map database 120.
Briefly, the infotainment subsystem 130 may include audiovisual aids for vehicle occupants. The alert subsystem 132 may control the vehicle's lights, horn, tactile alerting features, and so on. The powertrain subsystem 134 may control transmission, braking, and other related subsystems of the vehicle. The autonomous subsystem 136 may control autonomous or semi-autonomous mode of driving the vehicle. The communication subsystem 140 may include cellular, satellite, and other communication subsystems for communicating with other vehicles via V2X systems, for communicating with a server in a cloud (e.g., to access a map database and/or to periodically update the map database 120 in the vehicle), and so on. These elements of the system 100 may communicate with each other via a communication network such as Controller Area Network (CAN bus) or Ethernet in the vehicle.
The system 100 is now described in detail with additional references to methods 200, 250, 300, and 350 shown in FIGS. 2-5. The system 100 performs the methods 200, 250, 300, and 350. The method 200 shows an overview of wrong-way driving detection and collision mitigation performed by the system 100. The methods 250, 300, and 350 show specific features of the method 200 in further detail.
In FIG. 2, at 202, the processor 102 determines a current navigation state of the vehicle. A navigation state of the vehicle includes position (i.e., location), direction of motion, speed, and attitude of the vehicle (i.e., orientation of the vehicle; for example, whether the vehicle is moving uphill or downhill). The processor 102 determines the position of the vehicle based on the GNSS data received by the GNSS receiver 110 for a GNSS system. The processor 102 determines the direction in which the vehicle is moving and the attitude of the vehicle based on the data received from the IMU sensors 112. The processor 102 receives the speed of the vehicle from the speed sensor (e.g., 114). For example, the processor 102 determines the navigation state of the vehicle once per second or at any other suitable frequency. The navigation state determination is described below in further detail with reference to FIG. 3.
At 204, the processor 102 updates an N second navigation state history of the vehicle with the current navigation state of the vehicle. For example, N may be 10 or any other suitable number. At any time, the N second navigation state history provides a navigation state history of the vehicle in the immediately preceding N seconds. The N second navigation state history is used as dead-reckoning for determining the navigation state of the vehicle as explained below in further detail with reference to FIG. 3.
At 206, the processor 102 compares the current navigation state of the vehicle to the data in the map database 120. For example, the map database 120 may be locally stored in the vehicle. Alternatively, the map database 120 may be stored in a server in a cloud. The processor 102 can access the map database 120 in the cloud via the communication subsystem 140. The map database 120 in the vehicle can be periodically updated by receiving updates from the map database 120 in the cloud via the communication subsystem 140.
For the current position (i.e., location) of the vehicle indicated in the current navigation state of the vehicle, the map database 120 can provide details about the vehicle's location. Non-limiting examples of the details include the following: current lane, current lane's allowed travel direction, current road-grade, road segment type (e.g., freeway ramp, N-lane road, divided highway, driveway, etc.), road speed limit, and real-time traffic data (e.g., construction, road closures, detours, etc.).
At 208, based on the comparison between the current navigation state of the vehicle and the data in the map database 120, the processor 102 determines whether the vehicle is on the correct road (i.e., whether the detected direction of motion of the vehicle matches the direction in which driving is allowed on the roadway as inferred from the comparison between the current navigation state of the vehicle and the data in the map database 120). The comparison between the current navigation state of the vehicle and the data in the map database 120 and the determination whether the vehicle is on the correct road made based on the comparison are explained below in further detail with reference to FIG. 4.
If the vehicle is moving in the allowed direction on the roadway, at 210, the processor 102 resets a counter. For example, the counter may be stored in the memory 104. As explained blow, the counter is updated several times every second and is used to detect wrong-way driving. After resetting the counter, the method 200 returns to 202.
If the vehicle is not moving in the allowed direction on the roadway, at 212, the processor 102 detects the violation and assigns a severity metric to the detected violation. The processor 102 generates the severity metric based on the comparison between the current navigation state of the vehicle and the data in the map database 120. The severity metric indicates a severity level of the detected violation. The severity metric is granular (i.e., graded) and depends on various factors (explained below). The severity metric is used to deploy commensurate mitigation procedures. The processor 102 adds the severity metric to the counter. The generation of the severity metric and updating of the counter are explained below in further detail with reference to FIG. 5.
At 214, the processor 102 determines whether the counter exceeds a predetermined limit. The predetermined limit is calibrated to not cause false alarms (e.g., when the vehicle briefly veers into a wrong lane while making a turn and then returns to proper lane, or when the vehicle quickly moves into the wrong lane to pass another vehicle on a divided highway and then returns to proper lane, etc.).
If the counter does not exceed the predetermined limit, the method 200 returns to 202, and the processor 102 continues to determine the current navigation state of the vehicle and update the N second position history. If the vehicle continues to move in the wrong direction, the processor 102 executes the loop 202, 204, 206, 208, 212, 214 multiple times per second, and quickly detects that the counter exceeds the predetermined limit.
If the counter exceeds the predetermined limit, at 216, the processor 102 checks if the driver has selected to override the system 100 (e.g., deliberately decided to drive in the wrong direction due to construction, accident, etc.). If the driver has selected to override the system 100, the method 200 returns to 202. If the driver has not selected to override the system 100, at 218, the processor 102 deploys one or more counter-measures according to the severity counter. Non-limiting examples of counter-measures include the following.
For example, the alert subsystem 132 and/or the infotainment subsystem 130 can issue an alert and advice to the driver in the form of visual, audible, and/or tactile alerts. The alert subsystem 132 and/or the infotainment subsystem 130 can also advise the driver regarding mitigation strategies. Additionally, the alert subsystem 132 can alert other vehicles in the vicinity. For example, the alert subsystem 132 may perform one or more of the following functions: turn on hazard lights, flash headlights, and/or intermittently sound the horn of the vehicle. Additionally, the communication subsystem 140 may transmit a message indicating that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction to the V2X communication system.
Further, depending on the severity counter, the powertrain subsystem 134 may perform one or more of the following functions: reduce and/or limit the speed at which the vehicle can move, change transmission state (e.g., lower gear), engage automated brake system (e.g., pull over the vehicle to the roadside), etc. Further, the autonomous subsystem 136 may engage a safety mechanism such as modify automated braking system parameters to avoid a probable head-on collision.
FIG. 3 shows the method 250 that the processor 102 performs to determine the navigation state of the vehicle. In the method 250, as explained below, the processor 102 processes data provided by different sensors and estimates a navigation state of the vehicle based on the data from each sensor. The processor 102 then combines the estimates and determines the navigation state of the vehicle. Due to the use of data from various sensors, the navigation state of the vehicle is more robust than if the navigation state is determined based on data from a single sensor. The robustness is further increased by using dead-reckoning as explained below in further detail.
At 252, the processor 102 estimates the navigation state of the vehicle based on data received from the IMU sensors 112. For example, the accelerometers can indicate vehicle acceleration; the gyroscopes can indicate the vehicle's rotational motion (e.g., turns) and attitude (i.e., orientation; e.g., whether the vehicle is moving uphill or downhill); and the magnetometers can indicate the direction in which vehicle is pointing. This type of information is not available in the data received from the GNSS receiver 110, which can provide only position (i.e., location and altitude) of the vehicle.
At 254, the processor 102 estimates the position of the vehicle based on the data received from the GNSS receiver 110. The processor 102 may further refine the position of the vehicle (e.g., from a resolution of a few meters down to a few centimeters) based on correction data received from local ground stations, which, being immobile, provide indication about offsets or errors in the GNSS positioning signals. The corrections may be received from other information sources as well, which include Internet based correction providers. The processor 102 can adjust the position of the vehicle determined based on the GNSS data received from the GNSS receiver 110 by combining the correction data received from a local ground station and can determine the position (i.e., location) of the vehicle with high accuracy.
At 256, the processor 102 estimates the navigation state of the vehicle based on the data received from the other sensors 114 of the vehicle. For example, the processor 102 can process data from speed and braking sensors in the vehicle to determine how much the vehicle has moved in a given amount of time, which can help in determining the navigation state of the vehicle.
In addition, at 258, the processor 102 estimates the navigation state of the vehicle by using the prior N second navigation state history of the vehicle. The N second navigation state history provides navigation state information (i.e., dead-reckoning) that helps the processor 102 in detecting the vehicle's movement in the wrong direction much earlier than the GNSS system. For example, if a vehicle enters an exit ramp of a freeway to get on the freeway, the vehicle will have traveled much farther down the exit ramp by the time the GNSS system can detect the vehicle's position on the exit ramp. In contrast, due to the availability of recent positions from the N second navigation state history, which may be updated several times every second, the processor 102 can detect that the vehicle has entered the exit ramp as soon as the vehicle enters the exit ramp, sooner than the GNSS system.
As another example, when turning left onto a multilane roadway, the processor 102 can detect sooner than the GNSS system if the vehicle has made a sharper turn (or a wider turn if turning right onto the multilane roadway) and has entered the wrong lane based on the data from the IMU sensors and the N second navigation state history. At 260, the processor 102 combines all of the above estimates and the N second navigation state history of the vehicle to accurately determine the navigation state of the vehicle that the method 200 uses to compare to the map database 120.
FIG. 4 shows the method 300 that the processor 102 performs to compare the current navigation state of the vehicle to the map database 120 and to determine whether the vehicle is on the correct road (i.e., driving in the correct direction permitted on the road). At 302, the processor 102 extracts the position data of the vehicle from the current navigation state of the vehicle (determined in the methods 200 and 250).
At 304, the processor 102 uses the position data of the vehicle extracted from the current navigation state of the vehicle and the data from the map database 120 to determine additional details about the location of the vehicle. Specifically, for the current position (i.e., location) of the vehicle indicated in the current navigation state of the vehicle, the data from map database 120 can indicate one or more of the following additional details about the location of the vehicle: current lane, current lane's allowed travel direction, current road-grade, road segment type (e.g., freeway ramp, N-lane road, divided highway, driveway, etc.), road speed limit, and real-time traffic data (e.g., construction, road closures, detours, etc.).
At 306, from these additional details, the processor 102 can infer an allowable set of vehicle navigation states (e.g., direction and attitude or grade) for the current position (i.e., location) of the vehicle. For example, for the current position (i.e., location) of the vehicle, the processor 102 can infer from these additional details whether the vehicle should be moving north and uphill.
At 308, the processor 102 extracts the direction and attitude data of the vehicle from the current navigation state of the vehicle. At 310, the processor 102 compares the vehicle's expected or allowed direction and attitude, which are inferred at 306 from the comparison of the vehicle's position to the map database 120, to the vehicle's actual direction and attitude data, which is extracted from the determined current navigation state of the vehicle.
If the vehicle's the actual direction and attitude data are consistent with the expected direction and attitude, at 312, the processor 102 determines that the vehicle is on the correct road (i.e., the direction in which the vehicle is moving matches the direction in which driving is allowed on the roadway). The processor 102 may set a flag "On correct road" to true. If the vehicle's the actual direction and attitude data are inconsistent with the expected direction and attitude, at 314, the processor 102 determines that the vehicle is not on the correct road (i.e., the direction in which the vehicle is moving does not match the direction in which driving is allowed on the roadway; or, the vehicle is headed the wrong way). The processor 102 may set the flag "On correct road" to false.
FIG. 5 shows the method 350 that the processor 102 performs to generate the severity metric and update of the counter. At 352, the processor 102 obtains the current navigation state of the vehicle. At 354, the processor 102 extracts the position data of the vehicle from the current navigation state of the vehicle. At 356, the processor compares the position data extracted from the current navigation state of the vehicle to the map database 120 and determines the additional details about the location of the vehicle as described above with reference to the method 300.
At 358, if the vehicle is not moving in the allowed direction on the roadway, the processor 102 assigns a severity metric to the detected violation. The processor 102 generates the severity metric based on the comparison between the current navigation state of the vehicle and the additional details inferred from the comparison of the position data of the vehicle and the data in the map database 120.
The severity metric is generated using a model that is calibrated based on various factors and their combinations. For example, the factors may include the type of roadway being wrongly traveled, the speed limit on the roadway being wrongly traveled, the time of the day when the roadway is being wrongly traveled, the weather conditions when the roadway is being wrongly traveled, road construction or other construction or maintenance activity on the roadway being wrongly travelled, other specific information about portions of the roadways (e.g., intersections, exit/entry ramps, etc.) as being accident-prone, and so on.
For example, traveling in a wrong direction on a freeway when there is light traffic may be less severe than during heavy traffic; traveling in a wrong direction on a downtown street with a lower speed limit may be less severe than traveling in a wrong direction on a freeway; traveling in a wrong direction in bad weather may be more severe than traveling in a wrong direction in clear weather; and so on.
For example, if the processor 102 detects that the vehicle is using a wrong lane briefly to pass another vehicle at a high speed, the severity metric will be lower than if the vehicle is continuing to enter a freeway via an exit ramp albeit at a low speed. For example, the severity metric may be higher than at other intersections if the processor 102 detects that the vehicle is using a wrong lane at an intersection known to have higher accident rates. Many such and other factors can be heuristically included in calibrating the model that the processor 102 uses to assign severity metrics to detected violations.
At 360, the processor 102 adds the severity metric to the counter. That is, the new counter value is a sum of the previous counter value and the severity metric assigned to the vehicle's current navigation state. In other words, the severity metric accumulates each time the processor 102 executes the loop 202, 204, 206, 208, 212, 214 in the method 200.
Accumulating the severity metric helps in rapidly confirming whether the vehicle is in fact progressing in the wrong direction, in which case the severity level (i.e., the counter value) will quickly increase and exceed the predetermined threshold; and the processor 102 can promptly deploy mitigation procedures with certainty. If the vehicle briefly travels in the wrong direction and quickly returns to the proper lane (e.g., after passing a vehicle, after the driver or the autonomous subsystem realizes the mistake, etc.), the counter will not exceed the predetermined threshold, and no mitigation will be necessary.
The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. The broad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, the specification, and the following claims. It should be understood that one or more steps within a method may be executed in different order (or concurrently) without altering the principles of the present disclosure. Further, although each of the embodiments is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described with respect to any embodiment of the disclosure can be implemented in and/or combined with features of any of the other embodiments, even if that combination is not explicitly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and permutations of one or more embodiments with one another remain within the scope of this disclosure.
Spatial and functional relationships between elements (for example, between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) are described using various terms, including "connected," "engaged," "coupled," "adjacent," "next to," "on top of," "above," "below," and "disposed." Unless explicitly described as being "direct," when a relationship between first and second elements is described in the above disclosure, that relationship can be a direct relationship where no other intervening elements are present between the first and second elements, but can also be an indirect relationship where one or more intervening elements are present (either spatially or functionally) between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR B OR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed to mean "at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C."
In the figures, the direction of an arrow, as indicated by the arrowhead, generally demonstrates the flow of information (such as data or instructions) that is of interest to the illustration. For example, when element A and element B exchange a variety of information but information transmitted from element A to element B is relevant to the illustration, the arrow may point from element A to element B. This unidirectional arrow does not imply that no other information is transmitted from element B to element A. Further, for information sent from element A to element B, element B may send requests for, or receipt acknowledgements of, the information to element A.
In this application, including the definitions below, the term "module" or the term "controller" may be replaced with the term "circuit." The term "module" may refer to, be part of, or include: an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixed analog/digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixed analog/digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared, dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit; other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as in a system-on-chip.
The module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples, the interface circuits may include wired or wireless interfaces that are connected to a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), or combinations thereof. The functionality of any given module of the present disclosure may be distributed among multiple modules that are connected via interface circuits. For example, multiple modules may allow load balancing. In a further example, a server (also known as remote, or cloud) module may accomplish some functionality on behalf of a client module.
The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and/or microcode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, data structures, and/or objects. The term shared processor circuit encompasses a single processor circuit that executes some or all code from multiple modules. The term group processor circuit encompasses a processor circuit that, in combination with additional processor circuits, executes some or all code from one or more modules. References to multiple processor circuits encompass multiple processor circuits on discrete dies, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiple cores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a single processor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term shared memory circuit encompasses a single memory circuit that stores some or all code from multiple modules. The term group memory circuit encompasses a memory circuit that, in combination with additional memories, stores some or all code from one or more modules.
The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer-readable medium. The term computer-readable medium, as used herein, does not encompass transitory electrical or electromagnetic signals propagating through a medium (such as on a carrier wave); the term computer-readable medium may therefore be considered tangible and non-transitory. Non-limiting examples of a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium are nonvolatile memory circuits (such as a flash memory circuit, an erasable programmable read-only memory circuit, or a mask read-only memory circuit), volatile memory circuits (such as a static random access memory circuit or a dynamic random access memory circuit), magnetic storage media (such as an analog or digital magnetic tape or a hard disk drive), and optical storage media (such as a CD, a DVD, or a Blu-ray Disc).
The apparatuses and methods described in this application may be partially or fully implemented by a special purpose computer created by configuring a general purpose computer to execute one or more particular functions embodied in computer programs. The functional blocks, flowchart components, and other elements described above serve as software specifications, which can be translated into the computer programs by the routine work of a skilled technician or programmer.
The computer programs include processor-executable instructions that are stored on at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium. The computer programs may also include or rely on stored data. The computer programs may encompass a basic input/output system (BIOS) that interacts with hardware of the special purpose computer, device drivers that interact with particular devices of the special purpose computer, one or more operating systems, user applications, background services, background applications, etc.
The computer programs may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed, such as HTML (hypertext markup language), XML (extensible markup language), or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) (ii) assembly code, (iii) object code generated from source code by a compiler, (iv) source code for execution by an interpreter, (v) source code for compilation and execution by a just-in-time compiler, etc. As examples only, source code may be written using syntax from languages including C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Swift, Haskell, Go, SQL, R, Lisp, Java®, Fortran, Perl, Pascal, Curl, OCaml, Javascript®, HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5th revision), Ada, ASP (Active Server Pages), PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor), Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang, Ruby, Flash®, Visual Basic®, Lua, MATLAB, SIMULINK, and Python®.
a memory storing instructions which when executed by the processor configure the processor to:
receive data from a plurality of sensors in a vehicle, the sensors including a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers;
determine a location of the vehicle and a direction of motion of the vehicle based on both (i) the data received from the plurality of sensors in the vehicle and (ii) a history of locations of the vehicle in prior N seconds, where N is a number greater than 0;
determine a permitted driving direction for the vehicle based on the location of the vehicle and a map database;
reset a counter when the vehicle is moving in the permitted driving direction;
update the counter while the vehicle is moving;
determine whether the counter exceeds a predetermined limit;
determine if an override feature is selected; and
detect whether the vehicle is moving in a wrong direction based on the permitted driving direction and the direction of motion of the vehicle in response to the counter exceeding the predetermined limit while the override feature is unselected.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the location of the vehicle based on additional data received from a ground station associated with the Global Navigation Satellite System.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine an attitude of the vehicle based on the data;
receive a grade for the location of the vehicle from the map database; and
detect whether the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction additionally based on attitude of the vehicle and the grade for the location of the vehicle.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction, the processor is further configured to:
generate a severity metric based on the location of the vehicle and at least one of speed of the vehicle, type of roadway, time of the day, traffic, weather, and construction information; and
generate an alert based on the severity metric.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to alert an occupant of the vehicle using one or more of audio, video, and tactile alerts in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to at least one of turn on hazard lights, sound a horn, and flash headlights of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to at least one of reduce speed of the vehicle, limit maximum speed of the vehicle, and engage automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to modify parameters of an automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to selectively notify a cloud based monitoring system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to selectively send a message to a V2X communication system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
receiving data from a plurality of sensors in a vehicle, the sensors including a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers;
determining a location of the vehicle and a direction of motion of the vehicle based on both (i) the data received from the plurality of sensors in the vehicle and (ii) a history of locations of the vehicle in prior N seconds, where N is a number greater than 0;
determining a permitted driving direction for the vehicle based on the location of the vehicle and a map database;
resetting a counter when the vehicle is moving in the permitted driving direction;
updating the counter while the vehicle is moving;
determining whether the counter exceeds a predetermined limit;
determining if an override feature is selected; and
detecting whether the vehicle is moving in a wrong direction based on the permitted driving direction and the direction of motion of the vehicle in response to the counter exceeding the predetermined limit while the override feature is unselected.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining the location of the vehicle based on additional data received from a ground station associated with the Global Navigation Satellite System.
13. The method of claim 11 further comprising:
determining an attitude of the vehicle based on the data;
receiving a grade for the location of the vehicle from the map database; and
detecting whether the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction additionally based on attitude of the vehicle and the grade for the location of the vehicle.
14. The method of claim 11 further comprising in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction:
generating a severity metric based on the location of the vehicle and at least one of speed of the vehicle, type of roadway, time of the day, traffic, weather, and construction information; and
generating an alert based on the severity metric.
15. The method of claim 11 further comprising alerting an occupant of the vehicle using one or more of audio, video, and tactile alerts in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
16. The method of claim 11 further comprising at least one of turning on hazard lights, sounding a horn, and flashing headlights of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
17. The method of claim 11 further comprising at least one of reducing speed of the vehicle, limiting a maximum speed of the vehicle, and engaging automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
18. The method of claim 11 further comprising modifying parameters of an automated braking system of the vehicle in response to detecting that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
19. The method of claim 11 further comprising selectively notifying a cloud based monitoring system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
20. The method of claim 11 further comprising selectively sending a message to a V2X communication system that the vehicle is moving in the wrong direction.
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Filed: Dec 14, 2020
Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC (Detroit, MI)
Inventors: Bharatkumar Hegde (Bloomfield Hills, MI), Steven E. Muldoon (Royal Oak, MI)
Primary Examiner: Hongmin Fan
International Classification: B60W 30/18 (20120101); B60W 50/16 (20200101); B60W 30/095 (20120101); B60W 40/10 (20120101); H04W 4/40 (20180101); B60W 10/18 (20120101);


text:
Jill Richardson Pandemic
How Do We Help Everyone Who Wants a COVID Vaccine to Get One?
by Moderator June 8, 2021 June 8, 2021
4 Comments on How Do We Help Everyone Who Wants a COVID Vaccine to Get One?
Many essential workers still aren't vaccinated, but it's not because they don't want to be.
[Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York / CC BY 2.0]
By Jill Richardson | OtherWords
After getting vaccinated, I eagerly returned to some parts of normal life, expecting the essential workers I interacted with would be already vaccinated. After all, they became eligible for the vaccine before I did, and our county has one of the highest rates of vaccinations in the country.
I was surprised when a few people told me they weren't vaccinated. They wanted to get vaccinated, and planned to, but they couldn't afford to risk feeling sick from side effects for two days while they had to work.
It's sad and ironic that the very people who most need vaccines because of their jobs can't get them because they can't take time off work.
It turns out the few people I met in this predicament are not alone. People without college degrees are less likely to be vaccinated than people with college degrees, even after accounting for their political party or race.
Vaccination rates also correspond to income: the more you make, the more likely you are to be vaccinated. Among people who say they are willing to get the vaccine, about three-quarters of people with household income under $25,000 have received at least one dose, compared to 93 percent of people with household income of $200,000 or more.
All in all, 30 million Americans want to get vaccinated but so far have been unable. They gave several reasons: some don't have transportation to a vaccination site, others have work or family obligations, and some face disabilities, language barriers, or other difficulties.
How do we help everyone who wants a vaccine to get one?
The people I know who got vaccinated early spent a lot of time searching for appointments online and sometimes found them in far-off towns they had to drive to. Later, our county offered online registration and emailed invitations to make an appointment at a central, drive-thru site.
Either way, you didn't get much choice about where or when you'd be vaccinated. You needed to speak English and have internet access. Often, you needed a car. And you needed the flexibility to take an appointment whenever you could get one.
Then you have to buckle up for potential side effects after your shot. Some people have no side effects, but it's common to have a day or two of flu-like symptoms. They're manageable, but you may need to take a sick day — and a quarter of the U.S. civilian workforce doesn't get paid sick leave.
I've heard friends who have been comfortably middle class their entire lives say things like, "It's better to have two days of side effects now than be on a ventilator later." That's true — but our society often forces low-income people to sacrifice long-term needs in favor of short-term survival.
The next step in the vaccine rollout must be expanding accessibility.
Fortunately, it's getting easier to get an appointment in most places. With the expansion of walk-in appointments, you have more say over where and when you get the shot. But we should do more.
For example, we need to provide multilingual vaccine information, make sure vaccination sites are accessible for people with disabilities, or offer in-home vaccination and mobile vaccine clinics.
Employers can help too. They can arrange on-site vaccination for employees or help with transportation. They should also offer paid time off to get vaccinated and recover from side effects.
The bigger picture is that we need to work toward a less unequal society overall. The gap between vaccine haves and have-nots is a small part of a much larger problem, which has been made worse by the pandemic. We can and should do better.
OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.
Tags: covid-19 essential workers pandemic us vaccination rates us vaccinations vaccine access vaccines vaccines accessibility
Michael O Malloy says:
You sound more like a Big Pharma troll than a Phd. candidate.
Gene therapy experimentation? Jab yourself lady! Let's see, around October when those who have partaken have shedded the Spiked Protein on other people and they themselves start succumbing to various fatal issues. Vitamin D3 is the main defense against the Spiked Protein. Please stay 20 feet away from me, thank you very much!
John R says:
Too bad that those who refuse to get a vaccine have to endanger those of us who do – specifically those healthcare workers and staff that must deal with them in the hospital. I wish there were a hospital staffed by those who refuse to be vaccinated and staffed by healthcare workers that also refuse it. Here in New Mexico (like some others states) they've had to entice them with a cash lottery. I say they have a right to suffer and die if that's what they choose – just don't bring it to those of us who choose to live.
T_Reg says:
How do we help everyone who wants Ivermectin to get it?
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This semi frameless neo angle shower enclosure comes stock with a 6" thru the glass, back to back handle. There is no hardware attached to the top or the handle side of the door. This enclosure comes in stock sizes, and the door can be hinged from either side. This unit comes in ¼" glass. It is shown with clear glass and chrome hardware.


text:
Watch Ken Block's 15-year-old daughter drag race his 1,400-hp Hoonicorn
Lia takes on a 4,000-hp Corvette in the first episode of Block's second season of 'Hoonicorn vs. the World'
Hannah Elliott, Bloomberg
Ken Block's daughter Lia in front of his Hoonicorn Mustang Photo by Hoonigan
Being the child of automotive royalty doesn't mean you can handle a 1,400-horsepower stunt car. "The first time I got in that car, I was scared I would not be able to drive it," says Lia Block. "Because that thing wants to kill you!"
Lia's dad is Ken Block, the mastermind behind the popular Hoonigan channel that celebrates stunt-car driving and racing on YouTube. Since he founded it in 2013, the brand has expanded beyond videos to sell merchandise, build cars, and organize a racing series. The car Lia is talking about is the Hoonicorn, a modified-beyond-recognition 1965 Ford Mustang that Ken Block built with Ford Performance and a bunch of aftermarket suppliers.
Watch Ken Block's 15-year-old daughter drag race his 1,400-hp Hoonicorn Back to video
The car dances, drifts, and drag-races as a character in the Forza Motorsport and CSR2 video games, and appeared in two of Ken's famously death-defying gymkhana videos that created a "hooniverse" of fans.
The car even has its own show on YouTube, Hoonicorn vs. the World , which since it debuted in 2020 has amassed nearly 48 million viewers. The series shows Ken Block racing it against such supercars as a McLaren Senna, an Audi RS 3, and a 1,110-hp Chevy Nova Dragster. Season two started on November 29 and will run for eight episodes until year-end.
It's not like we threw her in this car with no skills. We have been able to build this toolbox of skills that she has now been able to apply and get more experience.
Having ended his exclusive partnership with Ford in January, after 11 years, he is free to pursue deals with other automakers—though he can't drive a Ford vehicle in an official capacity. At 15, daughter Lia will be behind the wheel for season two.
"It was my dad's idea," she says. Lia had driven the Ford Performance Hoonicorn a couple of times before shooting the new season, but says she was surprised when her dad asked if she wanted to drive it for the series. "They were trying to figure out who was going to drive the Ford since he couldn't, and when they asked me, I was like, "I dunno!" It happened very, very fast."
The passing of the crown, as it were, to Lia signals a significant downshift for Ken, 54.
"This is definitely a new chapter," he says. "I have obviously been doing all this for a long time now and am starting to slow down a bit, because my kids have gotten busier and busier with this sort of thing." (Block shares a second daughter, 12-year-old Kira, and a son, 10-year-old Mika, with his wife Lucy, who is also a decorated rally driver.)
On September 28, Block announced he would work with Audi to include a new gymkhana visual series starring an Audi e-tron electric car. The project, dubbed Electrikhana, is scheduled for 2022.
He has also turned his focus toward endurance off-road racing. In November, he participated in his first Baja 1,000 off-road endurance race, finishing fourth.
Swipe Right: Best brands for Ken Block to pair with now he's split from Ford
Rimkhana: Aftermarket wheel company merges with Ken Block's Hoonigan
He has been designing Lia's ascension for years. "It's not like we threw her in this car with no skills," he says. "We have been able to build this toolbox of skills that she has now been able to apply and get more experience."
Lia earned podium finishes as an 11-year-old driving UTVs in the Lucas Off-Road Racing Series. She first did donuts in a serious road car—a manual 1978 Ford Escort Mk2 RS—at 13. Last year, for her 14th birthday, pro driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. gave her drifting lessons in a souped-up 1990 Mustang GT convertible. In November, she competed in her first rally, the Oregon Trail Rally.
The 1,400-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Hoonicorn. Photo by Hoonigan
Season two of Hoonicorn vs. the World will feature Hoonicorn challengers such as a Toyota MR2, a Tesla Model S Plaid, and a 4,000-horsepower Corvette dragster; each episode will feature Lia taking them on in a best-of-three, no-preparation drag race. Lia completed all of it without a valid driver's license because she is too young to obtain one. (She does hold several racing licenses.) A road-going license is not required for closed-course racing.
The Blocks declined to comment on the possibility of a dual gymkhana video featuring them both; a spokesman for the brand indicated a high probability that Ken would appear in at least one Hoonicorn vs. the World episode, probably in a car opposing the Hoonicorn.
Ken Block doesn't mince words when comparing Lia's driving skills to his own at her age. At 15, he was skateboarding and riding dirt bikes: "She would have smoked me," he says.
Share this Story: Watch Ken Block's 15-year-old daughter drag race his 1,400-hp Hoonicorn


text:
Health, Marriage, and Longer Life for Men
by Lee A. Lillard, Constantijn (Stan) Panis
Demographics,
Male Populations,
Numerous studies covering 140 years have shown that married persons tend to live longer than their unmarried counterparts. Attempts to explain this advantage have typically focused on the following questions: Does marriage have a direct protective effect, reducing the risk of mortality by providing benefits such as improved health? Or does increased longevity reflect the possibility that healthy people are more likely to get married—and therefore that married people are simply healthier from the start of their married lives?
The focus of these questions suggests that the connection between longevity and the married state can be explained only by "protection" provided through marriage or by "positive selection" into marriage because of good health. However, a third consideration may also offer insights into the relationship between marriage and health. If being married is a way of gaining increased protection against illness and death, then persons in poor health may have a greater incentive to seek these benefits by marrying and staying married. This mechanism may be termed "adverse selection" into marriage and, theoretically, could be as significant a factor as positive selection. Yet, while it is often suggested that selection may account for at least part of the marriage advantage, previous empirical work has concerned itself with positive selection and has not considered the possibility that adverse selection may also play a role.
Recent research at the RAND Center for the Study of Aging attempts to fill this gap.[1] The researchers use a nationally representative dataset to track more than 4000 men over a 22-year period. The study analyzes changes in the men's health status alongside the course of their major marital transitions—their history of marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, and remarriage. Overall, the findings indicate that both the protection and selection scenarios help explain the marriage advantage. On the one hand, good health reduces the risk of mortality and, in certain circumstances, marriage contributes to good health. On the other hand, the health status of individuals does help determine their selection into the married state.
Effects of Marital Status on Health
Analysis of whether marriage directly affects health produces mixed results. Comparisons of currently married and never-married men show that while the former are generally healthier, this difference cannot be attributed simply to the protective effects of marriage. The self-reported health status of men shows that, by itself, becoming married for the first time does not lead to any noticeable benefits. Comparisons of older married and divorced men, however, show that the relative health levels of the latter drop significantly as they age. By the time divorced men reach age 50, they can expect their health to deteriorate much faster than the health of those who are married. For this group of older divorced men, remarriage offers a direct health benefit, bringing their health up to the level of men who have remained married.
The health benefits obtained by men who stay married or remarry stem from a variety of related factors, including care in times of illness, improved nutrition, and a home atmosphere that reduces stress and stress-related illnesses, encourages healthy behaviors, and discourages unhealthy ones such as smoking and excessive drinking. Influences of this type tend to enhance a man's immediate health status and may often improve his chances for a longer life.
Effects of Marital Status on Mortality after Controlling for Health
As men age, their health declines and the risk of mortality increases. Not surprisingly, however, the level of risk is tied to marital status: married men in their 50s, 60s, and 70s have lower mortality rates than those who are unmarried (never married, divorced, or widowed). For divorced men, this higher risk of death is explained primarily by their poorer health. Among never-married men and widowers, however, excess mortality rates are less related to self-reported health status—a finding that raises questions about the factors that lead to earlier death. Previous research has indicated that part of the marriage advantage stems from co-residence with a partner or with other adults. Never-married men may prefer to live alone, thus forgoing the potential life-extending benefits of social integration.
Effects of Health on Marriage Formation and Dissolution
Contrary to conventional wisdom, which assumes that healthier men enter marriage more readily than their less healthy peers, the study shows that healthier men actually tend to marry later and to postpone remarriage. Relatively unhealthy men, by contrast, tend to pursue marriage more actively. They marry earlier, are less likely to divorce and are more likely to remarry following a divorce or the death of a spouse. For these men, marriage can be an effective means of promoting physical health and increasing longevity. Their behavior supports the view that there is an adverse selection into marriage on the basis of health.
At the same time, the study also found evidence for positive selection into marriage on the basis of factors other than health. In their youthful years, some men have attributes (besides their general health status) that not only make them more likely to marry but also make them healthier individuals. Such habits or preferences are established early in the life cycle, leading to a positive overall association between being in good health and being married. This correlation, however, is not a result of the influence of general health on marriageability or of the health benefits of marriage.
The relationship between marriage and longevity is more complex than had been generally believed. Clearly, the longer life of married men cannot be explained by pointing exclusively to either protection from ill health or selection into marriage on the basis of good health. What the findings confirm for the first time is that the self-reported health status of men does affect marriage decisions—but not in ways that support the notion of positive selection. Since good health discourages marriage, and poorer health encourages marriage, the connection between marriage and better health can be explained by individual habits and preferences that promote both health and marriage.
In addition, the evidence indicates that although marital status has an effect on mortality, the determining factors underlying this effect are not always clear. In the case of older divorced men, being outside of marriage leads to poorer health and also to shorter life. Other unmarried men, however, have higher mortality rates despite the fact that their general health levels are no worse than those of married men. Therefore, while the relatively good health of married men offers a partial explanation for their increased longevity, additional determining factors have yet to be found.
[1] Lee A. Lillard and Constantijn W.A. Panis, "Marital Status and Mortality: The Role of Health," Demography, 33(3):313-327, 1996.
Male Populations
Lillard, Lee A. and Constantijn (Stan) Panis, Health, Marriage, and Longer Life for Men. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1998. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB5018.html.
Lillard, Lee A. and Constantijn (Stan) Panis, Health, Marriage, and Longer Life for Men, RAND Corporation, RB-5018, 1998. As of January 11, 2023: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB5018.html


From its quality pet food assortment to its grooming and day care services, Bozeman, Mont.-based Dee-O-Gee aims to meet the needs of its adventurous and laid-back clientele.
"Up and coming," "dream town" and "the last best place" are characterizations that lately have been applied to the city of Bozeman, Mont. Located in what is known as Big Sky Country, the city enticingly mixes a tight-knit community and wide open spaces in a way that summons the adventurous spirit.
With an expanding citizenry clocking in at approximately 43,000 to date, Bozeman is also home to Montana State University. Further, the city was recently ranked in the top 10 on a list for entrepreneurial activity by a leading business magazine.
In the midst of this activity, Holly and Josh Allen, co-owners of Dee-O-Gee, echo the evolutionary climate of their city, enjoying retail success by accurately recognizing and assessing trends and needs within the local pet community while retaining that neighborly, small town ambience.
Montana natives, the Allens opened the doors to Dee-O-Gee in 2008 after Holly, a veterinary technician, sensed a void.
However, it was the Allens' rescue dog, a little papillon named Jericho, that finally led the way to Dee-O-Gee. The diminutive canine suffered from an array of health issues, and the couple's subsequent research into nutritional remedies soon morphed into a passion.
"We are super blessed and fortunate that both sides of our families retain an entrepreneurial spirit, so we looked to our background, our passion, and our love for community and decided this was something we could do," Holly said.
Further, Holly's veterinary experience dovetailed nicely with Josh's career in the health care field. Their endeavor, based on an offering of grooming, pet foods and supplies, proved successful, and in 2013, a second store began serving Bozeman customers. In 2014, the smaller, original site relocated. The new, 6,000-square-foot space allowed for the introduction of day care for dogs and an expansion of grooming services.
Today, there are a number of big-box competitors in Bozeman; however, in staying true to the original vision of knowledge, passion, innovation and community, Dee-O-Gee enjoys a unique niche.
Dee-O-Gee offers a mix of food for dogs and cats that encompasses raw, grain-free, canned, kibble and toppers, with none containing ingredients sourced in China. The Allens are strong proponents of raw feeding, and seven freezer doors greet pet owners with these selections at the larger site, and four are in the smaller store.
The Allens credit the pet humanization movement, along with the nutritional expertise of Dee-O-Gee staffers, with the increase in consumer demand.
Following that credo, a treat table laden with mouth-watering baked goodies, temptingly displayed on risers and trays, entices both two-legged and four-legged patrons as they enter.
"Sometimes you just have to go with those really fun, fancy cookies," Holly said.
In order to maintain a uniform look and feel between the two stores, the Allens create their own displays.
"We want our product presentations to be branded as Dee-O-Gee," Josh said.
pet supplies, toys, collars and leashes, supplements, human apparel and gift cards are among the offerings.
When Dee-O-Gee opened in 2008, just one groomer was on staff. Today, four groomers and a bather coif and pamper canine clients.
Josh describes the atmosphere in the grooming salon as laid-back.
The Allens decided to create a space that provides a calming atmosphere for pets and visibility for customers. Windows and prominent salon placement enhance that intention.
"Customers walking in can easily see the grooming check-in counter, and if they wish to watch their dog being groomed, they are able to do so," Josh said.
Dogs waiting for a turn on the table, or those finished with their spa day, do not occupy kennels.
Should a customer want to run errands or drop their dog off on the way to work, the adjacent day camp stands at the ready for grooming guests.
Self-grooming is also offered at both locations, with all grooming supplies provided.
Dee-O-Gee's day camp for dogs complements its retail and grooming service offerings.
Like in the grooming salon, two big windows in the retail area offer a view into the 2,000-square-foot day camp.
To the delight of passersby, playful pooches also are visible from an outside sidewalk.
On a normal day, the number of day camp frolickers hovers at 20, depending on the size of dogs in attendance. In addition, areas for small or elderly pets can be sectioned off as needed.
Day camp employees are specifically assigned to the day care facility and receive training in canine body language and proper management by a highly regarded local dog trainer. The same trainer conducts four- to five-week-long puppy camps, where pet owners and their new charges meet weekly.
On Sunday mornings, Dee-O-Gee is the place to be as pet owners and dogs under eight months old gather in a safe and cozy environment for a puppy social.
The day camp space also hosts nutritional seminars presented by manufacturer representatives or Dee-O-Gee staff members.
Key considerations in a new hire include a love of animals and that all-important neighborly spirit.
Training includes bi-monthly meetings. Manufacturer representatives often conduct these get-togethers, but staffers also carry out their own research and present findings to the group.
These well-trained Dee-O-Gee emissaries also offer product demos to customers if manufacturer representatives are unavailable.
"Our associates pass out samples and are able to discuss a product and its benefits, just like a rep would," Holly said.
In an effort to serve as a good neighbor to surrounding retailers, Dee-O-Gee maintains dog-waste stations for the benefit of pet owners as they arrive or exit either store.
This consideration also includes the sponsorship of trail maintenance. With myriad hiking trails in and around Bozeman, pet owners often partake of the outdoors with their dogs, and Dee-O-Gee partners with other groups to raise funds to keep the community trails spotless.
For example, joining with other community organizations on National Trails Day, Dee-O-Gee sponsors a communitywide walk, donating pledge monies toward trail maintenance. In addition, Dee-O-Gee conducts fundraisers throughout the year in support of local trails.
Leash laws exist within the city limits, where many trails begin, and should a hiker head out for a walk and forget a leash for their dog, they may borrow one from Dee-O-Gee.
The Allens were instrumental in the establishment of the Lewis and Bark Dog Park, also within the city limits. In naming the park, Dee-O-Gee conducted a poll with community members to nominate a name for the new facility.
"The winner received a year of free dog food from Dee-O-Gee," Josh said.
The couple's community spirit expands globally with WO Design, a toy company founded by the Allens as a result of Josh's visit to Ethiopia. Toys are marketed across the country, with proceeds from every purchase providing meals to orphaned children in Ethiopia.
There is more growth to come as Josh and Holly, wishing to share their successful ideas, entrepreneurial spirit and passion, launched a Dee-O-Gee franchise model in 2016.
"We are pretty vested in finding franchise partners in the right markets and growing in a sustainable way, and to helping more pet owners ensure a healthier, happier lifestyle for their pets," Josh said.
Terry Cunningham appreciates innovative partnerships. As executive director of Run Dog Run, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting responsible dog ownership and creating off-leash dog parks in the Bozeman, Mont., area, Cunningham often relies on the advocacy of Josh and Holly Allen, and Dee-O-Gee, in furthering that mission.
A favorite fundraising event for Cunningham is Dee-O-Gee's Paw-Casso painting classes, held at the store. Pet-loving, would-be artists, armed with a photo of their four-legged companion, enjoy the tutelage of an art instructor as they create a portrait of their pet. All art supplies are provided, and a portion of the proceeds benefits Run Dog Run.
In addition, when a new dog park in the creation stages needed a name, the Allens lent a hand.
The park was christened Lewis and Bark, in honor of Bozeman's location on the Lewis and Clark trail.
and utilizes grooming and day camp services on a regular basis.
What is Dee-O-Gee best known for?
Holly Allen: Our staff is incredible. Their knowledge base is phenomenal and really extensive. People love to come in to visit with them.
Josh Allen: We often receive comments on our in-store experience. Our stores smell fresh and clean, they're well lit, with unique products, along with the day camp and grooming.
What is the greatest challenge for the independent pet retailer?
Josh: E-commerce. Finding companies that are really, fiercely committed to the independent channel is something that will be more difficult the longer we are in this industry.
What is the biggest challenge for the pet industry overall?
Holly: Keeping up with the trends and making sure it's not something that is going to come and go. Finding products that people want, and are sustainable, is definitely a challenge.
Are you watching any interesting trends in the industry right now?
Holly: The service trend is huge right now. People are spending a lot of money on things like our day camp, and that's really exciting as we expand our business.
Most gratifying as a small independent?
Josh: The ability to leverage our business locally and to serve as a positive light to our local community.


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Amount raised worldwide last year.
You're likely going to be hearing the term "Movember" tossed around for the next few weeks. You may even see a few mustaches showing up around the office. Or even decide to grow one yourself.
Launched by some Aussies back in 2004 as a month-long celebration of the mustache—a symbol of masculinity—in honor of men's health issues like prostate and testicular cancer. Now a global effort, men grow 'staches all month raising money (and awareness).
Ask your barber what style might work with your hair texture and face shape. Keep it trimmed—the hair shouldn't grow over your lip. For a cleaner look, The Art of Shaving's master barber Carl Cwiok suggests shaving a quarter inch off of the area below the nose.


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You are here: Home / Voice of the customer / News & Press / Ministry of Magic named as Finalist in 2019 Stevie® Awards for Sales and ...
Ministry of Magic named as Finalist in 2019 Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service
13th annual awards will be presented on February 22 in Las Vegas
BRIGHTON, UK – January 17, 2019 – Customer Thermometer's Ministry of Magic was named a Finalist today in the Customer Service Department of the Year category in the 13th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and will ultimately be a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award winner in the program.
The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world's leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards® and the Stevie Awards for Great Employers.
The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie placements from among the Finalists will be revealed during a gala banquet on Friday, February 22 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. More than 600 professionals from across the globe are expected to attend.
More than 2,700 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry, in 45 nations, were evaluated in this year's competition. Finalists were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals worldwide, working in seven specialized judging committees. Entries were considered in 93 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 60 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Business Development Executive of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.
Customer Thermometer's customer support team, the Ministry of Magic, looks after the entire sales, support and customer success process for the business. The team deals with thousands of customers across the globe, answering questions on everything from CSAT best practice through to technical support, integration and ongoing customer success. It is a varied and fast-paced environment staffed with a the best team in the business and as a result, Customer Thermometer's CSAT and retention rates are incredibly high.
"We believe we've created a truly unique customer service department that is delivering excellent customer satisfaction and is setting the standard for the way customer service should be done. The Ministry of Magic team is a joy to work with for my team and our customers, and we are incredibly proud of them." Jim Turner, Managing Director, Customer Thermometer
"The 2019 judges were very impressed by the caliber of this year's nominations, which set another record for this competition. The quality of the accomplishments outlined in every Finalist nomination was remarkable," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. "We look forward to announcing the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award placements in Las Vegas next month."
Lindsay Willott, Founder of Customer Thermometer said, "Customer Thermometer is the market leader in survey solutions; with our 1-click email feedback software we're helping the world's most customer-obsessed businesses get quick and accurate feedback from their customers in seconds. With thousands of customers operating across 60+ countries, customer service is paramount to our success and we want to be both a trailblazer for excellent service and an exemplar of it to our customers."
Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.
About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.
17th January 2019 /by Lindsay Willott
https://www.customerthermometer.com/img/Ministry-of-Magic-named-as-Finalist-in-2019-Stevie®-Awards-for-Sales-and-Customer-Service-blog-header.png 248 710 Lindsay Willott https://www.customerthermometer.com/img/logo@2x.png Lindsay Willott2019-01-17 15:57:582019-02-04 14:38:00Ministry of Magic named as Finalist in 2019 Stevie® Awards for Sales and Customer Service
Essential Customer Service Skills for Your Employees Excellent Customer Service Phrases Every Team Should Use


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A trickle of birds whilst working?
The nets next to the office were set today to monitor any movement during a vaguely promising cloudy morning with a north-east wind and a slight shower/fret soon after dawn........and also get on with some work. The net rounds were predicted to consist of a trickle of migrants and perhaps a few Greenfinches on the sunflower hearts, ideal for multitasking with work
Office area 0630-mid-afternoon
The first round of the mist nets produced 42 birds, a mixture of migrants and finches attending the feeder - a quiet 'trickle' indeed! The ringing continued to be productive with two pulses of migrants - early on and around lunchtime - the latter is supposed to be the classic west coast rarity time-slot, but it is a bit early in the autumn and we had to make do with two 'out of habitat' Reed Warbler
Ringing by the Heysham Nature Reserve office: Greenfinch (57), Goldfinch (3), Chaffinch (8), Linnet (3), Blue Tit (4), Great Tit (1), Long-tailed Tit (2), Chiffchaff (2), Willow Warbler (4), Common Whitethroat (5), Reed Warbler (2), Sedge Warbler (1), Blackcap (2), Dunnock (1), Robin (1), Swallow (1), Wren (1), plus just FOUR retraps. All but two of the Greenfinches were this year's young, indicating excellent local productivity. It was also quite windy for the first two hours and many birds were missed due to the higher shelves being a bit obvious
Coal Tit - dispersing juvenile flew through (do not breed in immediate vicinity)
Absolutely no chance of checking the morning tide!
Highlighted by Bordered Beauty and Dingy Footman with a Bedstraw Hawk-Moth just up the road at Betty and John Holding's trap on Heysham road about 50 metres outside the recording area in SD46B! (didnt have time to see that either!)