If you know anything about autonomous drive technology, you probably know the name Chris Urmson. From Carnegie Mellon's DARPA Grand and Urban Challenge teams to head of Google's Chauffeur program (now Waymo) and now as co-founder and CEO of Aurora, Urmson has been in the thick of AV development since its earliest days. He joins The Autonocast for the first time, recorded live as the annual CES party gathered steam, to discuss what he's learned at the forefront of this new technology and where he sees it going.

Cruise's mysterious "Beyond The Car" event turns out to have been the reveal of its first dedicated robotaxi, the Origin. Both Ed and Kirsten were on hand for the reveal, and share their impressions and analysis of the first production-intent autonomous mobility device by a major Level 4 AV developer. Alex provides the critical perspective (disclosure: he works for a competitor), prompting a lively debate about AV strategy, positioning and communication.

As Aptiv's President of Autonomous Mobility, Karl Iagnemma now finds himself at the head of a massive $4 billion joint venture with Hyundai Motor Company. The former NuTonomy founder is one of the quiet heroes of self-driving, having spearheaded the first AV deployment in Singapore and led Aptiv into an industry-leading position. Joining the show from the Autonocast suite prior to their CES 2020 party, Iagnemma discusses everything from AV development to his turn as an author and novelist.

With the Autonocats still recovering from the annual grindfest that is CES, they discuss the most important trends and developments highlighted at the show and preview the episodes that will be running in the coming weeks. Topics range from the infamous annual party, which produced conversations with top AV leaders like Waymo's John Krafcik, Aptiv's Karl Iagnemma and Aurora's Chris Urmson, to Rivian's surprising popularity, and the importance of ADAS and teleoperation. If you missed CES this year, this is your chance to view it through the eyes of The Autonocats.

With a new year upon us, Alex, Kirsten and Ed pull out their crystal balls and try to predict what might play out during 2020. From the continued rise of ADAS and commercial applications of autonomous drive technology to potential acquisitions, a  deployment "land grab" and yes, the "million robotaxis" thing, the gang maps out what they see coming in the world of automated driving. Get your timestamps out, and we'll see you back here next year to see how many of these predictions actually panned out.

With another year coming to a close, Alex, Kirsten and Ed look back at some of their big takeaways from 2019. Technical progress has continued, as Ed's driverless Waymo ride proved, but new technologies alone don't create viable business models or solve product-market fit. ADAS also made a comeback over the last year, with lots of OEMs announcing new plans to make up for delayed autonomy plans, but will safety considerations spoil the party? It seems that for every new opportunity, 2019 managed to create a corresponding challenge.

What do Ed's recent driverless Waymo ride, simulation, trust and the NTSB's investigation into a fatal Uber crash have in common? More than you might think. Alex, Kirsten and Ed weave these and other issues together in the latest discussion episode of The Autonocast. If you enjoy conversations like this one, please take a moment to fill out The Autonocast's first-ever listener survey at autonocast.com/survey.

Delivery bots were one of the big topics of 2019, attracting huge amounts of hype and venture capital but also generating a good deal of backlash and mockery. Much of that backlash centered on San Francisco, which banned sidewalk-based delivery bots only to provide a single company the necessary permit to test there: the delivery company Postmates. The company's VP of Special Projects Ali Kashani joins The Autonocast to explain what makes their approach different, and what kinds of design considerations and technology went into building a bot that could be a better citizen of the sidewalk.