Harald Braun, Chairman & CEO, Guident

Companies such as Guident are making autonomous shuttles safer and helping reduce any stigma behind the thought of getting in a car with no driver behind the wheel. In an interview with Invest:, Guident CEO Harald Braun highlighted the company’s efforts in advancing the autonomous vehicle industry and what goes into improving public sentiment toward self-driving cars. “People today still believe that autonomous vehicles are not safe. That is the biggest challenge. But most of the people who make these claims have never used an autonomous vehicle. We understand that some concerns stem from limited firsthand experience with autonomous vehicles. As an industry, we’re committed to addressing those concerns through transparency, rigorous safety practices, and continued public education,” Braun said.

What is your long-term vision for the role of autonomous vehicles and transportation in urban mobility for Palm Beach County?
We built Guident to make autonomous vehicles safer. We developed a software platform to get a human in the loop. Even though there is no driver in an autonomous vehicle, our vision is that we are replacing the driver, taking the driver out of the equation, and providing a platform, which we call a remote monitor and control platform (RMCC), where there is at all times a human in the loop. A human being is at all times overseeing the autonomous vehicles. We built our first  RMCC at our Headquarters in Boca Raton and have in the meantime three across the USA and one in Europe. It is a very high and sophisticated NASA-style remote monitor and control center. My vision is to provide autonomous vehicles with oversight from the RMCC. In West Palm Beach we have six stops on our route, which is a one-mile route going from the Brightline Station to the city center. We believe that we have to take cars and vehicles out of the city so that we have more space for human beings and for other activities in the city as it is already done in some cities in Europe, such as Barcelona and Paris. These are cities that are making big efforts to remove cars from their city centers. Having a large number of cars in city centers is unsustainable. We want to take cars out of the city and provide autonomous shuttle services in city centers and around cities. We want to see that happening in Florida. I want to see that happening in our home base. We started in West Palm Beach, with Boca Raton being next, where we will provide autonomous transportation services between Mizner Plaza and Royal Palm Place. Our second objective is to make it safer for people to use our autonomous vehicles. Global Status Report on Road Safety estimates approximately 1.3 million annual road-traffic deaths, and 95% of these deaths are caused by humans. With autonomy, we have a good chance to reduce this figure.

How are you navigating the regulatory environment around autonomous vehicles in Palm Beach County? 
First of all, we identify where there is an applicable route where autonomous shuttle services will make sense. That needs to be defined together with the customer, in this case the final requirements were established in collaboration with the City of West Palm Beach and a private partner, Related Companies, pursuant to the applicable. Then we perform a risk assessment of the route. We have technology such as radar sensors that we use to test the route and identify the risk profile. Once the risk assessment of the route is done and topics like charging stations and shuttle ‘bus’ stops are agreed, we start the application process with the National Highway and Safety Association (NHTSA). Everything is based on safety. We evaluate how safe it is to operate this route in an autonomous shuttle. Once the route is approved, then we can perform transportation services for people on this route. It is constantly monitored with all sorts of sensors and radar. Additionally, as an added layer of safety, we provide a service where we connect from a remote monitor and control centers to the vehicles. We use our patented software solution called Incident Risk Level System, which sends us alarms to predict and prevent accidents, meaning we can predict if a vehicle is getting into trouble. If there is a navigation error or it is getting into a dangerous situation, we get an alarm. The remote control operator can then make a decision to assist the autonomous vehicle with measures to solve these situations and in some cases can take over remote control of the vehicle to stop the vehicle or get it out of harm’s way. That is another level of safety.

How do key technologies such as AI and telecommunication help power Guident’s operations?
The AI platform is part of our cloud-based solution. The majority of the solution is software-based. There is a small hardware device in the vehicle, and the software runs in the cloud environment. That is where our AI models function together with our software. These AI models get information from different sources in the area where the vehicle is moving, which allow the models to be predictive. The models learn as they travel the route. With every loop around the route, it gets better. We apply the learning from our previous route paths.

What goes into shaping public perception toward autonomous vehicles?
People today still believe that autonomous vehicles are not safe. That is the biggest challenge. But most of the people who make these claims have never used an autonomous vehicle. That is just their perception. As an industry, we need to make sure that we get more vehicles out there, so people can experience them, resulting in more people being broadly educated about them. Additionally, the remote control operator can always (Video-) communicate with the  passengers via a Passenger Communication Module (PCM). The passenger is at all times connected with a human in the loop. The operator can intervene if he needs to solve a situation and inform the passenger when the vehicle is being driven again autonomously. This gives the passenger peace of mind. The passenger communication module  is key to give people peace of mind.

What factors led to setting up your operations in Palm Beach County?
Florida has a very good regulatory framework. There are many states in the United States that are very open and have good regulations for autonomous vehicles. In Florida, we talked to several municipalities and private enterprises. The city of West Palm Beach was looking for autonomous vehicles, as were other cities. We are global and work on opportunities in Europe, Middle-East and Asia.  In the United States, Florida had a very good regulatory framework for us to work with.