US2024

Join us on an exciting business trip to the United States and discover everything you need to know about autonomous driving. Explore the latest technologies, network with industry experts, and visit leading companies at the forefront of autonomous driving. This trip offers a unique opportunity to broaden your knowledge and explore new business opportunities. Register now and join us to test, learn, meet, network and to discover.

17-24 August 2024 - Autonomous driving in San-Francisco

This is the second edition of this study visit. A group of 25 people already went last summer:

Xavier Tackoen (Espaces-Mobilités) is the host for this event and has a broad knowledge and expertise within autonomous driving. In 2022 (see video below) he already paid a first visit to the USA to see with his own eyes what for some sounds like a long future goal, but which is actually already happening... In 2023 he invited 25 Belgian delegates.

Take part in this unique visit!

 

Objectives:

In the United States, the development of robotaxis has been driven by the growing demand for on-demand transportation services, such as Uber and Lyft, as well as by technological advances in autonomous driving. In 2016, the US government published a guide for autonomous vehicles, with the aim of providing a regulatory framework for the development and deployment of these technologies. Several large companies, such as Google (Waymo), Uber, Tesla, General Motors (Cruise), and Amazon (Zoox), have invested heavily in the research and development of autonomous cars. The development of these technologies has also been driven by economic and social issues, such as reducing transport costs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving road safety. Many US states have also passed legislation to facilitate the development of autonomous vehicles and encourage road testing such as in Arizona and California. Although robotaxis are still in a relatively early stage of development, some companies have begun to offer limited autonomous transport services in some US cities, especially in Phoenix and San Francisco. However, the deployment of autonomous vehicles on a large scale still raises many questions and concerns, including safety, legal liability and employment impacts. 

 

Program:

Saturday August 17

  • Flight to San Francisco
  • Evening : Welcome drink at the Marriott Marquis

Sunday August 18

  • Morning : Free
  • Afternoon : San Francisco tour with Waymo's robotaxis service

Monday August 19

  • Morning : Meeting with Waymo managers at San Francisco headquarters
  • Visit Toland's robotaxis depot in San Francisco
  • Afternoon : Meeting with Cruise officials at the San Francisco headquarters

Tuesday August 20

  • Morning : Meeting with Tesla officials at Fremont headquarters
  • Test of the “Full self-driving” system
  • Visit to the vehicle manufacturing plant
  • Afternoon : Meeting with Pony.ai managers at Fremont headquarters
  • Demonstration of robotaxis

Wednesday August 21

  • Morning : Meeting with California Transportation Agency, California Department of Motor Vehicles and California Highway Patrol
  • Afternoon : Conference at the University of San Francisco
  • Prof. William Riggs - University of San Francisco
  • Ruth Bridger - Imagry
  • Lighthouse SF - Speaker to be confirmed
  • Nvidia - Speaker to be confirmed
  • Google Maps - Speaker to be confirmed
  • Evening : European night at Hub.Brussels

Thursday August 22

  • Morning : Meeting with Nuro managers in Mountain View
  • Demonstration of delivery pods
  • Afternoon : Meeting with ZooX officials in Foster City (to be confirmed)
  • Testing an autonomous shuttle
  • Evening :​ Delegation dinner

Friday August 23

  • Morning : Program to be confirmed
  • Afternoon : Free

Saturday August 24

  • Flight from San Francisco to Brussels

Practicalities:

Espaces-Mobilités is in charge of the preparation and visits. Participants have to arrange themselves the flight and booking of hotels. A preparatory concall will be organised. We'll have a discount offer for the hotel.

For organizational reasons, only 35 people will be admitted for this technical visit (first come - first serve principle), making this a unique - not to be missed - visit!

 

This technical visit will included (as mentioned flights, hotel, meals are excluded):
- coordination of the trip
- tests of robotaxi services 
- meetings with robotaxi providers, officials and local experts 
- delegation dinner (date to be confirmed)
- report of the visit and processing of results
- video footage

Price (tax excluded) : 1500€ (1250€ for ITS.be members until end-May)

 

Register via this link (REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED)

(registering for this visit contains committing to join this unique delegation and to join the preparatory concall period May)

Contact:

Kurt Marquet

km@its.be

&

Xavier Tackoen

xavier@espaces-mobilites.com