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In 1902, the Studebaker Automobile Company entered the automotive business with electric vehicles, though it also entered the gasoline vehicles market in 1904. However, with the advent of cheap assembly line cars by Ford Motor Company, the popularity of electric cars declined significantly.

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Edmunds expert reviewers rank the best electric vehicles of 2024 and 2025 on a 10-point scale that includes performance, comfort, interior, technology, and value.

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Wyoming joined Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah (Signatory States) in signing the REV West memorandum of understanding (MOU) to create an Intermountain West Electric Vehicle (EV) Corridor that will make it possible to seamlessly drive an EV across the Signatory ...

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I was excited when I got my current vehicle primarily because it came with some cool features like a wireless phone charger, phone-to-car data transfer, real-time scanning of street signs, and sensors. I could also use an app to start the vehicle, lock doors, and set and monitor speed. There was also an option to connect the vehicle to my home network or turn it into a hot spot. However, I was jolted from my reverie by the sudden realization that connecting my phone to the car exposes me to potential cybersecurity risks. After all, 7.3% of incidents affecting connected vehicles between 2010 and 2021 involved a companion mobile app. Remotely Carjacking Is Not Just a Hollywood Fantasy My concern about potential cyber incidents was not due to Hollywood's portrayal of hacked vehicles like in . There is evidence pointing to the possibility of vehicles being hacked and hijacked. Fast and Furious 8 researchers successfully killed the engine of a moving car by exploiting a vulnerable Bosch Drivelog Connector dongle. A security researcher, , remotely accessed dozens of Teslas scattered around the world due to a vulnerability in TeslaMate logging software. Argus David Colombo Cybersecurity researchers were not the only ones interested in exploiting vulnerabilities in connected automobiles. According to a , cyberattacks on vehicles increased by 225% in 2021 from 2018, while threat actors were responsible for 54.1% of the incidents. report About 85% of attacks were executed remotely, 40% targeted back-end servers, 38% involved data/privacy breaches, and 20% affected control systems. Keyless entry and key fob attacks accounted for 50% of all vehicle thefts. An increase in attacks was observed in the first half of 2022, paving the way for large-scale disruption of charging capabilities, compromise of administrative privileges, and ransomware attacks against electric vehicle users. combined charging station Some of the ways used to compromise smart vehicles include manipulating internal codes and data, sending harmful messages through infotainment systems, exploiting vulnerabilities in software and connected devices, compromising privileged access, embedding viruses in communication media, hijacking servers to communicate malicious codes to networked vehicles, and deploying denial-of-service attacks to cause vehicles to malfunction. Emerging threat vectors are proving to be very disruptive. An increase has been observed in attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in APIs to remotely access and control vehicles, steal them, and disrupt critical functionalities. Threat actors also use charging stations to attack electric vehicles, commit impersonation fraud, and disrupt the ability to charge electric vehicles at scale. Connected Vehicles Risk Is an Emerging Imminent Threat Like any other Internet of things (IoT) devices, connected vehicles are susceptible to cybersecurity risks. The infamous 2016 Mirai botnet attack weaponized many IoT devices to cause global widespread distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In the US, nearly half of organizations using an IoT network have been hit by a security breach, resulting in significant financial loss. The possibility of weaponizing smart vehicles is achievable if appropriate cybersecurity controls are not in place. Common Vulnerabilities and Enumerations (CVEs) found in smart vehicles increased by 321% in 2021 from 2020. There were 26 critical and 70 high which included unauthorized Bluetooth pairing (CVE-2021-0583) and an in-vehicle infotainment operating system vulnerability (CVE-2021-22156) which could be used to execute a DoS attack. vulnerabilities Connected vehicles and charging stations running Apache Log4j libraries are susceptible to Log4Shell vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046, and CVE-2021-45105). These vulnerabilities have been exploited to vehicle-to-grid (V2G) infrastructure, firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems, and digital keys that control critical vehicular functionalities. compromise Emerging cyber threats against connected vehicles include threats to communication channels (89.3%), threats to vehicle data/code (87.7%), unpatched vulnerabilities (50.8%), threats to vehicle connectivity and connections (47.1%), and threats to backend servers’ connectivity (24.1%). With the growth of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) technology networks, the opportunities are endless for threat actors to explore. This network includes vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), vehicle-to-network, (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-cloud (V2C), vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I). Any vulnerability in the ecosystem could be weaponized to cause mass disruption, including safety hazards. With More Smart Vehicle Growth Comes Greater Risk The connected vehicle market is projected to grow to USD 121 billion by 2025. By 2023, the global automotive industry is predicted to deliver more than 76 million connected vehicles. 5G connectivity is set to transform the automotive experience through enhanced telematics, automated factory parking, advanced driver-assistance systems, autonomous driving, seamless data, and cellular connectivity. A smart vehicle is estimated to generate 25GB of data per hour by 2025, surpassing web browsing or video streaming activities. The growth and transformation of the automotive industry extend the attack surface and amplifies exposure to significant business risk. According to the , the forecast for the connected vehicle market is USD 215 billion by 2027. World Economic Forum However, by 2024, it is estimated the industry would lose more than USD 500 billion to . It is safe to assume that most of the gains of the smart vehicle market would be wiped out by cyberattacks. cyberattacks Besides cybersecurity regulatory standards such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) WP.29 R1552 & R1563 regulations and the ISO/SAE 21434 standard, smart vehicle manufacturers must prioritize adequate security controls to reduce the attack surface and minimize successful exploitation of vulnerabilities. Things You Can Do to Secure Your Smart Vehicle Protecting connected vehicles is not only the responsibility of vehicle manufacturers. Vehicle owners have a role to play in minimizing data access and breaches. Following these simple recommendations will make it difficult for criminals to steal your data or vehicle. Limit personal information shared with your smart vehicle, including how you save your home address (funny enough, after my car updated, it requested that I set up a user profile with my intelligent key - you guessed right, I declined the setup). Keep your mobile phone updated and ensure apps are safe to install. Infected apps could be used to compromise phones and connected vehicles. Don’t synchronize your phone with rental vehicles. You might be leaving too much information than desired. Update firmware when available, but not in motion. You can’t predict what the new update will affect, so you want to do it safely. Ensure connected devices such as USB dongles are free of malware. Try as much as possible to avoid connecting your vehicle to your home network. If you must, keep the connection on a dedicated channel. Be aware of your surroundings when using key fobs. If your vehicle is equipped with a keyless entry on the door, use it to lock/unlock the vehicle rather than the key fob. Charge your electric vehicles only at dedicated stations with adequate deterrence control (e.g., surveillance cameras). When connected to social media through your vehicle, be careful not to click on suspicious links. Be aware that if your vehicle can connect to the internet, it can download malicious software. Be aware of the websites you visit. If you notice that your dashboard is displaying strangely, it is better not to drive till you are sure that the infotainment system has not been messed with. Hit The Road With Confidence The possibility of a cyberattack should not deter you from enjoying your smart vehicle. Making smart security choices as recommended above empowers you to explore the cool features your connected vehicle offers without compromising your safety and security. Furthermore, automotive makers should ensure secure engineering principles are integrated into every phase of the vehicle development life cycle. Third-party suppliers play a significant role in maintaining the integrity of connected vehicles by implementing adequate controls to minimize the exploitation of vulnerabilities in the digital supply chain.

How to Protect Your Smart Vehicle from Cyberattacks 

Cómo proteger su vehículo inteligente de los ataques cibernéticos

Comment protéger votre véhicule intelligent contre les cyberattaques

अपने स्मार्ट वाहन को साइबर हमले से कैसे बचाएं

スマートビークルをサイバー攻撃から守る方法

Como proteger seu veículo inteligente de ataques cibernéticos

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如何保护您的智能汽车免受网络攻击

The electrification of the car industry is still in its baby years, and yet we should already be thinking of what will happen in a few years, when millions of electric vehicles (EVs) start getting retired. In 2021, EV sales more than doubled to 6.6 million, representing close to 9% of the global car market and more than tripling their market share from two years earlier [ ]. Assuming that the average lifespan of an EV battery pack is 10 to 15 years, we will soon start seeing the first electric cars getting retired. 1 Considering that EV batteries —like any other battery— degrade slowly over time instead of suddenly failing, it’s reasonable to think that those EVs retiring soon will still have batteries that can hold some percentage of their original charge capacity. However, many customers will not want a car that can only hold, say, 60% of its original charge capacity. Finding a sustainable solution for this situation will be critical for the successful global transition to electric vehicles and its long-term sustainability. Fortunately, there are multiple possible solutions, even though none of them are easy to implement. Let’s take a look at the top 3 possible futures for an EV battery. 1. Recycle its materials EV batteries are composed of valuable minerals like lithium and cobalt, which come with their own environmental challenges, especially for the local communities where they get mined. For example, lithium is primarily extracted from Australia and South America, but this process requires using billions of gallons of water a year with a dire environmental effect. Cobalt reserves found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are being mined by workers who experience labor abuses [ ]. 2 Recycling old batteries seems at first glance like the most reasonable solution, because it would help reduce the industry’s dependency on new virgin materials. However, recycling an EV battery pack is costly due to its hazardous complexity; the process starts by shredding the batteries, and then by breaking them down further with heat or chemicals until the different materials are properly separated. A startup founded by a former Tesla executive, Redwood Materials, is going this route, and they already got the attention of car manufacturers like Ford [ ]. A Canadian battery resource recovery company, Li-Cycle, is following suit with GM [ ]. 3 4 Other companies, like Ascend Elements, are trying to go one step further, transforming retired lithium-ion batteries into a better product: batteries that charge faster and last longer. Instead of using high-temperature furnaces to smelt metals and separate the materials, this company has patented a new process that shreds batteries multiple times until it creates a fine powder they call “black mass”; this powder is then used to create new battery cathodes that have a 30% longer lifecycle [ ]. 5 Their ultimate goal is to create a circular battery economy, where mining new materials is not necessary. In this scenario, EV battery manufacturers buy all their required materials from recycling companies, and then sell the new battery packs to the car manufacturers. Then, car manufacturers take the retired batteries that were sold years before back to the recycling centers, and the cycle starts again. Nonetheless, this model requires economic incentives to ensure that costs are kept below the costs of mining, and even though that's not today's case, many hope that the economies of scale will fix this. 2. Find a new purpose Given the inherent challenges of the recycling process described earlier, an alternative approach might have a more immediate application: repurposing old EV battery packs to build energy storage systems. These can support large power stations by contributing towards grid stabilisation and even help with supply reconstruction following a power station outage. Mercedes-Benz has started doing this with a new venture, Mercedes-Benz Energy [ ], and they are not alone. Startups like RePurpose Energy, Smartville Energy and ReJoule have received funding from the California Energy Commission Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) funding pool [ ]. 6 7 Battery storage systems can be used to directly balance the intermittency of wind and solar generation in a world that is working to transition consumption to renewable energy sources. A system like this can also be used short-term to store energy when electricity is cheaper, and then discharge it during peak hours, reducing customer load on existing power plants. One of the biggest challenges of building these storage systems is data. Battery manufacturer, cathode material, battery condition, and usage history are all critical data points for the potential secondary market. The Global Battery Alliance has proposed a “Battery Passport”, endorsed during the 2021 G7 Leaders’ Meeting; a platform for securely sharing information and data across the industry value chain [ ]. 8 3. Store and wait Understandably, the used EV battery market is still full of uncertainty, so a final, cheaper but disappointing alternative to this whole problem is to store old batteries in warehouses, waiting for the future to come. Spiers New Technologies, recently acquired by Cox Automotive, is a company attempting to do a little bit of everything: disassemble, fix, refurbish, recycle and store old EV battery packs. A recent Wired article described how their warehouse in Oklahoma City contains towers of retired EV batteries [ ]. The article mentions in an interview with Dirk Spiers, CEO & founder of the company, that “they’re still figuring out the plan for many of the batteries in that warehouse, but he believes that in the end, they’ll be viewed as an opportunity, not waste.” 9 A report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from July 2021 [ ] analyzed the impacts of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries going into the municipal solid waste management process, which showed a growing amount of fires in these storage facilities primarily caused by issues with small consumer devices like cell phones, tablets or laptops. 10 The risk of fires will only increase as more batteries get stored, waiting for a significant change in the recycling/repurposing space. Conclusion EVs are projected to account for 45 percent of the U.S. market in 2035, up from a forecast of 32 percent in 2030 [ ]. In its plans to cut CO2 emissions over the next few years, the European Union proposed a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine cars from 2035 [ ]. 11 12 Abandoning fossil fuels and internal combustion engine cars in favor of electric vehicles cannot happen fast enough; it's an exciting greener future that will hopefully come alongside a move to renewable energy sources. My hope is that with regulation across the world slowly moving towards that electrified future, the battery recycling market will spark with innovation in the coming years. It’s imperative that we find viable solutions, both economically and environmentally, to address the upcoming EV battery challenges. Did you like this article? Subscribe to get new posts by email. Also published here.

3 Ways to Deal with Old (and Drained) Electric Vehicle Batteries

The coronavirus pandemic has brought countless changes to our daily routines but here is something many of you, readers, may have also noticed: Computer coding and programming jobs have skyrocketed. Thus, a whole world is open to IT professionals, lucky bastards… Nevertheless, HRs are still struggling to find their perfect candidate. The question, then, arises: why is that? To answer that question I have with one of the top HR companies in Russia - , led by . conducted an interview Unicornsearch Daria Barkova of our discussion was . I believe this info can be useful to both job seekers and HRs. Why? The first is that they will not struggle to find perfect candidates, and the second is that they will learn to determine whether it is worth taking up a case or nothing good awaits. The main topic the mistakes recruiters make Without further ado, let’s dive in. Mistake #1 Usually, HRs in the job description. And here is a fact to keep in mind, IT experts hate this because everyone has a different concept of "good" money. It is like when a kid receives a coat instead of an electric vehicle. Not very pleasant, is it? forget to mention salary limits Sometimes, recruiters do include the salary bands but and simply rely on outdated information. Obviously, if there is a lack of C++ experts, it is very unlikely a company will be able to attract the golden goose offering $2,000. Circumstances change, thus HR methods should too. forget to check the current market When considering an application, it is important to ask questions that will help form the profile of the future desired candidate. Mistake #2 Recruiters frequently (for example, write the code in JAVA deployed in GIT). forget to describe the actual tasks “our guy” will be expected to do Instead, the vacancy . It is true that most of the time it is hard to be specific, but mentioning more certain tasks is very important. This way the candidate can evaluate what kind of work and projects are offered to him, what is the amount of work required, and its complexity. description contains tons of not very useful information about the company Mistake #3 of challenging positions. It is critical to understand with whom you will compete for specialists and know your competitive advantages: schedule, money, atmosphere, opportunities. In other words, where you can go chill playing Xbox rather than working at home 24/7 without any additional benefits. Unawareness of the competitors in the search it is not the same to work at Google Mistake #4 Obviously, companies would prefer to have multi-professionals that know tens of coding languages and who will close all the holes in the huge infrastructure but the reality is not that simple. Stop looking for everything! Usually, in such "job openings," the described range of skills is , so many candidates do not even want to bring the matter to the technical level. so extensive that with sufficient workload it might bury a person Mistake # 5 Nowadays, . There are just too many offers from all over the world. Check your recruiting strategy, especially if you are competing with corporations. now you need to practice active search and sourcing. don’t expect perfect candidates to come on their own The “Rely only on incoming applications” approach is long gone, Mistakes at the interview stage Mistake #1 It may be hard to believe but often recruiters don’t even read the candidate's CV. An interview is not a place where you can raise your self-esteem, indulge your pride and provide an exam for all 5 years of study. It is forbidden to turn an interview into an interrogation; in the modern world, an interview is a dialogue on an equal footing. You choose the candidate, and the candidate also chooses you, especially speaking about the IT field. Never forget that the IT market is the candidate's market. Internet activities will tell an experienced IT recruiter much more than a candidate’s self-presentation during the interview. Don't be limited to a CV. Many IT specialists publish on Medium or Habr, speak at conferences, have blogs, and are active on social media (by the way, these sources are almost the main way of hunting for IT recruiters). Yes, you may not always be able to find an introverted developer on Facebook, find out his nickname in the professional community, and even understand what he writes about, but it's worth a try. Many people are open to communication and suggestions. Just write in a polite and friendly manner about yourself and an open position. Don’t be too official;) Mistake #2 about the company and the vacancy. It immediately reduces your chances of getting a good candidate for your team. Lack of a selling speech Tech directors, leads, owners forget that they need to add something personal to sell the company well. The following question may be helpful: Why did you come to this company? What's your story? How did you choose? Why this particular offer? What are the difficulties, why did you doubt? What success stories are there (both teams and individuals) Mistake #3 ,  career prospects are not described during the interview Incorrect definition of motivation , and they also want medals, they want their piece of cake for God's sake! IT people also want growth Many IT specialists, having worked in one position for more than two years, “burn out” and just leave the company. In this case, you can discuss a promotion or transfer to an absolutely new position. For example, . However, you should ensure that he’s interested in the development and ready for active communications. If the role is chosen incorrectly, then there is no way back: you will lose both the manager and the developer. offer a developer to become a project manager or department head For some programmers and developers, Sometimes this is the only way to motivate. changing roles is not as important as increasing wages. Mistake #4 Don’t give a test task immediately, just stop doing that! From the point of view of modern IT recruiting, the approach is extremely ineffective/crap. Firstly: to make a candidate want to do a test task, he should talk to a professional from your company, get answers to his questions about projects, technologies, tools, and workflows, see your interest in him. After that, the candidate is much more motivated to do the test task. But even in this case, you need to understand that the candidate spends his time on the test task. He could spend it on rest, communicating with family and friends, playing sports, etc. Secondly: as a rule, without a test task and, if other things are equal, the candidate chooses an easier path. the candidate has alternative proposals Mistake #5 Is there something worse than time-wasting?  Bear this in mind once and for all, you are not Google.  Do not tire the applicant. It is faster to test him in action than to drive through 5+ stages, which will not reveal anything new to you in the end. Delaying the recruitment process, plenty of stages. Mistake #6 , mistakes in basic terminology. Low level of competence of the IT recruiter Instead of “Agile” - “Agil” If your recruiter does not know how to communicate, do not let him meet with a highly-qualified specialist. Mistake #7 There Read about Steve Jobs and his .  He dabbled with being a vegetarian and vegan at times, and for a while was convinced that having a meat-free diet, free of toxins, meant he didn't produce body odor. He basically stopped showering or using deodorant, much to the chagrin of his co-workers. Assessment of the applicant by appearance. are not many George Clooney's in programming. diet Mistake #8 , the candidate is left in limbo, the employer's brand is rapidly falling, or long feedback. There is a sign that “if you look at a developer's CV for a long time, you can see how he accepts another offer. Lack of feedback after the interview And finally, mistakes at the offer stage Mistake #1 No elaboration of the pre-offer part. The pre-offer stage is the most important. Before the "moment X", the recruiter must determine if the candidate agrees to accept the offer under certain conditions. : it’s like going into battle without reconnaissance. Before you send the offer, I advise you to look at each condition together with the candidate to see if there are no omissions. Skipping this step is dangerous Mistake #2 Pressure on the candidate to make a decision. No one likes to be pressured! IT specialists are mostly introverted and not inclined to make quick decisions. It usually takes 2-4 days to compare offers and advice with the family. Pressure is immediately and throws you out of the competitive list of employers. perceived as a stop factor Mistake #3 . The candidate does not have a clear understanding of competitive advantages in his head, or there is no wow effect from the tasks and atmosphere in the team. Low objection processing

What are the most common mistakes in IT recruitment?

Renault Twizy — a good candidate for affordable self-driving car development platform Intro I’ve been planning to write this post for a very long time. My initial idea after doing a research in this area was to work on a real hardware and blog about the progress. But due to personal reasons (I’ll be moving from Stockholm to Berlin soon), I’ve decided to kick things off with this post about current challenges and potential solution for building an affordable car development . self-driving platform Goal The goal of this post is to explore a possibility . Cost for additional sensors like radars, LIDARs and etc. are not included in the final price. The scope of the effort should only be drive-by-wire system and not the actual brains of the autonomous vehicle. to build an affordable self driving car platform under 10K USD The final outcome should be something similar to: Basically, you should be able to control the car with your Xbox joystick. Background One of the main challenges in the self-driving car industry (among other things like technology itself, policy updates, ethical issues, etc.) is the If you are a small start up building a local autonomous delivery service or a single engineer trying out latest deep learning approaches for car/traffic sign detection, it is incredible hard (sometimes even impossible) to get things off the ground and test your solution in the real world setting. barrier of entry. Some people would argue that simulations would be good enough, but what if you want to make that next step? At the moment, this industry is reserved only for the big league, with heavy financial backing, which is pushing small players out at the very beginning of the game. Another side effect of current state is that this technology, which clearly has so many benefits on the society as a whole, will be first developed and deployed in just a few countries around the world. This puts the rest of the world in unequal position where we would need to license the tech from big players and experience even deeper technological and economical divide. Current developments in the self-driving car industry are at the moment one big science project for big VC funds. The topic of costs of building products and services in this area is usually not something which is openly discussed. That is why I was surprised once I stumbled upon this interesting video from Raquel Urtasun, current lead of Advanced Technologies Group at Uber, where she covers few ideas on how to build more affordable autonomous systems: So what are the costs exactly? There are few vendor companies ( et al) which are specialized in retrofitting cars with drive-by-wire, steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems. The costs for their services are between depending whether you are going for electric vehicle or the one with internal combustion engine. Of course, the price goes up in case you want to add advanced sensor set (LIDAR units i.e.). Most of these retrofitting companies are located in USA. Therefore, I needed some alternatives since I’m based in Europe. I’ve reached out to a company in Germany which is doing car retrofits for disabled people (since it’s the same by-wire system), but ended up with similar price tag. AutonomousStuff 70K and 100K USD and above Recently I’ve seen a British company trying to brake into this market, . But the price for their solution is also still too high ( ). Also, their primary customer focus seems to be educational market. StreetDrone over 60K USD There are some other advanced concepts like from OSVehicle, but I could not find any details on the release dates or price ranges. EDIT The car After going through many manufactures and models, I’ve ended up with choosing as an ideal candidate for this project. You can easily get a used one which is several years old for a price tag of . You might want to consider looking at Cargo version of it since you would have additional space in the back of the car for the necessary computing power. Renault Twizy 5K USD Steering Retrofitting steering column in the car is usually the most intrusive part of this procedure. I came up with two different approaches while doing my research for Renault Twizy. More expensive approach I’ve stumbled upon system on web site. I would assume that they are using this vendor for one of their own electric car retrofits. DC Electronics EPAS AutonomousStuff Source: DC Electronics The benefits of this system is that it’s replacing complete steering column in Twizy. It would be also possible to control the steering axis with CAN messages which I find quite useful. By reading the documentation of it, I found it straightforward to support the scenario where driver is supposed to take back control of the vehicle. Downside of this approach is of course the price. This is the price offer I’ve got from the company: So, not really the cheapest setup since the price of the new steering column can easily go over the price of the car itself. Cheaper approach After some time searching for the cheaper approach, I’ve discovered the work of (Dresden University of Applied Sciences). Basically, the way they approached this problem is replacing the steering column from Renault Twizy with the one from Renault Clio 2. In the video down below they demonstrate their solution where steering column is controlled as an RC unit. HTW Dresden You can find related Power Point presentation and you can also read their on this as well where they go into details (it is in German though). here paper Renault Twizy and Renault Clio 2 steering columns side-by-side You can find used Renault Clio 2 power steering column for as much as . 65 USD on eBay Throttle Exposing throttle as by-wire system seems to be the easiest part of the retrofit for this car. According to the web site from Dutch university group (which is taken down recently), sending raw 0–5 voltage signal to Engine Control Module (ECM) will enable you to control the throttle. They were also experimenting with Renault Twizy as their research vehicle. This approach is pretty much the same as . Autonomous Eindhoven Voyage used on their Ford Fusion The voltage itself can be controlled with an Arduino board or if you want something more fancy you can go for . CAN based voltage potentiometer Brakes Brakes on Reanult Twizy are based on hydraulic system. One way to approach this problem is to put in a brand new braking actuator. I’ve reached out to folks asking for help on this since they have solved this for their Kia Soul setup. You can find more info about it . But essentially they have used Electronically Controlled Brake system from Toyota Prius (it’s around ). According to Polysync, this approach is quite generic and should work on most of cars with hydraulic braking system. Polysync here 100 USD on eBay Source: Polysync Wiki Conclusion We’ve explored different options for retrofitting Renault Twizy for drive-by-wire scenario. This is far from a complete guide but it gives you a glimpse on the necessary work for building up an affordable platform for developers and startups interested into kicking off their own product/service in self-driving car area. The next step would be deciding on the brain for the vehicle. For some basic scenarios would be a good start since it has a low power consumption spec. You could consider putting ROS on it and expose steering, throttle and brakes as ROS nodes. If you are interested in more advanced scenarios which include sensors as well, you should check other options like or which are open source and free for your experimentation. NVIDIA Jetson TX2 Apollo Autoware If anyone is interested in doing this on a real Twizy, please reach out to me! You can easily find me on Twitter.

Building an affordable self-driving car development platform

In the era of widespread adoption of AI models, the data science community exhibits a rich diversity of backgrounds, fostering an environment conducive to innovation. Collaborative efforts stemming from this diversity continue to propel us toward the envisioned future of a decade or two ago. However, innovation often follows incremental patterns and may require decades before yielding tangible commercial benefits. Among industries adept at translating ideas into tangible products, automotive manufacturers stand out, boasting a deep familiarity with research and development processes and advanced algorithms. This proficiency is evident in the innovation pipeline for super and hypercars, drawing inspiration from advancements in rocket science. Leveraging extensive simulations and field tests, these manufacturers consistently push the boundaries of performance and safety in vehicle design. Major manufacturers have achieved breakthroughs with torque vectoring systems by capitalizing on established development pipelines and harnessing the capabilities of reinforcement learning. The late 2010s witnessed a surge in commercial vehicles featuring these systems, attributed partly to their association with electric and hybrid vehicles and partly to the appeal of enhanced safety. While the full extent of their influence on driver experience remains to be realized, these systems have already demonstrated remarkable efficacy, particularly in high-performance vehicles. So, what exactly is a torque vectoring system, and how is this innovation shaping the landscape of automotive manufacturing? What is Torque Vectoring In Torque Vectoring Systems (TVS), torque denotes a rotational force applied to a vehicle’s differentials or generated by independent electric motors on its wheels. These systems aim to regulate this rotational force to enhance speed, stability, handling, balance, and other performance aspects. A compelling illustration of the protracted nature of innovation is evident in the evolution of torque vectoring systems, with the first cars equipped with Torque Vectoring Systems (TVS) debuting in the 1990s, pioneered by Mitsubishi. Initially known as Active Yaw Control, Mitsubishi integrated this technology into vehicles like the 1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR models. The initial implementation relied on steering, throttle inputs, and g-force sensors to mitigate torque steer, a phenomenon where engine torque influences steering behavior. Initially geared towards racing applications, these systems have since evolved to cater to broader audiences, with companies like Rimac continuing to employ them for racing. In contrast, others emphasize safety and enhanced handling features for everyday drivers. Furthermore, advancements driven by the pursuit of eco-friendly transportation have led to the utilization of independent electric motors in torque vectoring systems, further expanding their applicability. Commercial Applications Ricardo (Honorable Mention) In 2006, Ricardo, a renowned engineering consultancy with over a century of experience, introduced the concept of torque vectoring. Ricardo rolled out its initial torque vectoring project centered around the Audi A6 4.2L, intending to license its technology to interested automakers. Unlike Mitsubishi’s Active Yaw Control system and similar counterparts, Ricardo’s torque vectoring approach prioritized safety and stability, showcasing a different aspect of the technology. Limited information is currently available on Ricardo’s involvement in assisting manufacturers in developing these systems for commercially available vehicles. However, they have publicly provided engineering support to Chinese students building cars for the global multi-event Formula SAE race in 2019. Rimac When discussing electric vehicles, Tesla typically takes the spotlight regarding market dominance. However, Rimac stands out as a company dedicated to crafting high-performance electric hypercars, where they excel. Just ask Elon… ( t) X pos Rimac burst onto the scene in January 2016 with their inaugural concept car, the Concept_One prototype. This marked the debut of their torque vectoring system (TVS) in an all-wheel-drive fully electric vehicle. Spearheaded by Tomislav Šimunić, Rimac’s TVS development pushed the boundaries by employing individual motors on each wheel. Moreover, they implemented reinforcement algorithms utilizing data from various sensors, including accelerometers, gyroscopes, steering angle, and wheel speed sensors. This data is then used to predict torque distribution to optimize vehicle stability. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i4jVW29gbDc?embedable=true Currently, Rimac boasts one of the fastest and safest hypercars on the market. Their innovation has led to unprecedented control, resulting in their car achieving the title of the fastest production car ever in 21 acceleration and deceleration categories. Furthermore, their TVS is so reliable that their drivers can cruise hands-free at speeds exceeding 230 mph while enjoying gelato! Toyota In 2018, Toyota introduced their Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD and Electric 4WD systems, expanding the scope of this technology beyond on-road safety and control to encompass off-road safety features and enhanced fuel efficiency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqCa7PP1gE&embedable=true The video above showcases Toyota’s emphasis on “proactive torque transfer,” allowing for seamless adjustment of torque distribution when one or more wheels lose traction, enabling drivers to navigate various terrains more effectively. https://youtu.be/d1UG1a38diw?embedable=true Furthermore, Toyota optimizes torque distribution to enhance fuel-efficiency, shifting from AWD to 2WD when conditions permit, directing torque predominantly to the front wheels and thus cutting fuel consumption. Their limited content suggests the employment of a Dynamic Control System designed for stability, taking into account challenging driving scenarios. Moreover, the system can evaluate tire traction levels. These functionalities resonate with the research findings discussed below, showcasing the seamless transition from research concepts to practical implementation in the automotive industry. Research Review Conceptual Models — Bicycle, Vehicle, Tire Model Following Occam’s razor principle, simplicity reigns supreme when initiating modeling endeavors, with complexity introduced only when its benefits are worthwhile. This philosophy holds for TVS as well. Early TVS adopted a bicycle model, allowing researchers to streamline vehicle dynamics assumptions by confining movements to two wheels. This simplified framework facilitated the study of lateral vehicle dynamics during various events like braking, acceleration, and cornering under typical conditions. Key inputs into the bicycle model include yaw rate, lateral acceleration, steering angle, and velocity. Yaw rate denotes the vehicle’s rotation speed around its vertical axis, aiding in determining its orientation during maneuvers like cornering. Lateral acceleration captures sideways movements perpendicular to the vehicle’s direction of travel. Steering angle refers to the front wheel angle, typically in relation to the rear wheel positioning, while velocity represents the vehicle’s speed. For more details, check out this article explaining a simple bicycle model. https://dingyan89.medium.com/simple-understanding-of-kinematic-bicycle-model-81cac6420357?embedable=true Simplicity in modeling often comes with assumptions that may not hold, especially in challenging driving scenarios. Extreme conditions like rain, snow, or rough off-road terrain expose the limitations of the traditional bicycle model. The assumption of symmetry between the left and right wheels hinders the accurate analysis of lateral dynamics across all four wheels. To address this, researchers upgraded to a more comprehensive 4-wheel vehicle model. One such model, proposed in the 2023 journal article by Hui Deng, Youqun Zhao, Fen Lin, and Qiuwei Wang, boasts seven degrees of freedom. This expanded model captures all four wheels’ lateral, longitudinal, rotational, tilting, leaning, and spinning movements. However, it still falls short in capturing driving dynamics such as suspension behavior and tire-road interactions. Although suspension dynamics may be indirectly represented within the model, a separate tire model is necessary to capture tire-road interactions accurately. Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Torque Vectoring Control Considering Economy & Safety² Tire models typically include parameters like tire force and slip angles. In the journal article by Michele Vignati, Edoardo Sabbioni, and Federico Cheli, researchers describe a simple tire model that incorporates lateral and longitudinal dynamics, slip angles, and slippage. Like the seven degrees of freedom model indirectly addresses suspension dynamics, the tire model considers slippage influenced by latent variables such as surface texture, conditions, and angles. This comprehensive approach allows researchers to analyze vehicle dynamics across various conditions and terrains, enhancing the torque vectoring system’s adaptability and performance. A Torque Vectoring Control for Enhancing Vehicle Performance in Drifting³ Control Schemes/Implementations In Torque Vectoring Systems (TVS) development, a significant portion of research revolves around employing Reinforcement Learning techniques, leveraging real-time data collected from various measurement devices. These solutions are predominantly implemented in all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive hybrid, and electric vehicles. Typically, the training of these systems takes place within simulated environments. However, in certain instances, researchers conduct road tests and utilize live test outcomes to validate simulation results. Torque Vectoring System Testing While specific details about testing TVS are often limited, researchers generally have three options: entirely computer-based simulations, hardware-in-the-loop testing combining simulation with real parts, and full-scale vehicle road tests. Computer-based simulations offer cost-effective evaluation of TVS with precise control over various driving conditions. Hardware-in-the-loop testing balances simulation and road tests, providing insights aligned with real-world performance. Although the most expensive, road tests offer the most reliable results by implementing TVS fully, enabling the most accurate evaluation of model performance. In the study by Shayan Taherian, Sampo Kuutti, Marco Visca, and Saber Fallah, computer-based simulations were utilized to test their RL algorithm across diverse environments. The researchers employed an adaptive algorithm based on Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient to update TVS control parameters as it learns from the environment. Testing across various velocity and friction environments allowed validation of their adaptive algorithm, particularly in high-speed/low-velocity scenarios. Self-adaptive Torque Vectoring Controller Using Reinforcement Learning⁴ Similarly, in the research by Wei Xu, Hong Chen, Haiyan Zhao, and Bingtao Ren, real-time Simulink simulations were leveraged to validate their model predictive controller. This controller predicts future system states and optimizes for multiple energy efficiency and safety objectives. Tests were conducted using an electric vehicle model with a 120 km/h velocity and an “adhesion coefficient” of .85, measuring tire friction between tire and ground. Torque Optimization Control for Electric Vehicles with Four In-Wheel Motors Equipped with Regenerative Braking System⁵ Powertrain & Fuel Types The specific problem addressed by torque vectoring systems heavily influences the powertrain choice and fuel types utilized in their implementations. Traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles necessitate mechanical implementations due to a single torque source, leading to complex mechanical differentials, challenges in power distribution, and overall less efficiency compared to hybrid and electric vehicle setups, which enable independent motor implementations. Similarly, All-Wheel Drive (AWD) and Four-Wheel Drive (4WD) powertrains offer superior advantages over other options. These configurations enhance stability, versatility, and energy efficiency. The work of Jeongmin Cho and Kunsoo Huh, in their study , underscores the stability and versatility benefits of AWD vehicles. By distributing power to all four wheels, AWD enhances the effectiveness of torque vectoring systems, granting increased control over each wheel. This translates to improved vehicle dynamics during cornering, acceleration, and deceleration. Torque Vectoring System Design for Hybrid Electric–All-Wheel Drive Vehicle⁶ Meta Control Algorithms In Reinforcement Learning (RL), an agent decides actions based on the current situation to maximize a reward function. It learns which actions yield the highest rewards by assessing the outcomes of its actions. In torque vectoring algorithms, auto manufacturers define different reward functions based on the specific goals of their TVS, which vary depending on the type of vehicles used, such as sports cars versus mini-vans. These goals include increased stability, controllability, fuel economy, cornering performance, and optimizing various vehicle dynamics behaviors. One example of a multi-objective implementation is outlined in the paper by Jae-Young Park, Seung-Jin Heo, and Daeoh Kang. Their algorithm features a supervisory controller that selects between an “agile” mode and a “safe” mode based on vehicle and driving conditions. Agile mode prioritizes driver controllability, while safe mode focuses on stability. Controllability refers to the synchronization between driver steering input and vehicle direction, while stability relates to the vehicle’s resistance to deviations or disturbances. Inputs such as vehicle speed, steering angle, yaw rate, lateral acceleration, and wheel slip guide the supervisory controller’s decision-making process. Development of Torque Vectoring Control Algorithm for Front Wheel Driven Dual Motor System and Evaluation of Vehicle Dynamics Performance⁷ Another example is presented in the paper by Hui Deng, Youqun Zhao, Fen Lin, and Qiuwei Wang. Here, the researchers optimize for safety, economy, and driver load. Economy involves assessing motor efficiency and energy savings compared to vehicles without torque vectoring systems. Safety focuses on vehicle stability, while driver load considers the physical and cognitive load based on the correlation between the driver’s steering wheel angle and the vehicle’s longitudinal acceleration. Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Torque Vectoring Control Considering Economy and Safety⁸ The algorithm includes an active safety controller and a torque allocation layer. The active safety controller calculates total longitudinal acceleration and additional “yaw moment” values based on driving conditions, applying safety and driver load penalties. These values are then fed to the torque allocation layer, which distributes torque to all four wheels. Additionally, the researchers implement a tire model using a Fibonacci tree optimization algorithm and a vehicle model with 7 degrees of freedom to enhance system performance. The , research done by Park et al., aims to enhance the driver’s experience through improved smoothness and convergence. Their TVS, designed for commercial application, underwent rigorous validation through real vehicle experiments conducted under various conditions. Torque Vectoring Algorithm of Electronic-Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles for Enhancement of Cornering Performance⁹ The researchers implemented a smooth sliding controller, GPS, and sensor inputs to generate desired yaw moment values. These values are then utilized by the torque allocation algorithm, which employs a daisy-chaining allocation method to distribute torque efficiently. The goal is to optimize the convergence from current yaw moment values to target values, thereby reducing the instability during this transition. Conclusion The evolution of torque vectoring systems underscores the transformative power of innovation within the automotive industry. From pioneering beginnings to cutting-edge applications, these systems have revolutionized vehicle dynamics, speed, stability, and handling. As automotive manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of technology and leverage advancements in advanced algorithms, the future holds promise for further improvements in safety, performance, and driver experience. However, hurdles remain in integrating this technology into internal combustion engine vehicles, and ongoing research and development efforts are required to overcome them. With continued dedication to innovation, torque vectoring systems are poised to shape the future landscape of automotive manufacturing, driving us toward a new era of mobility. Research Reference Martin Dendaluce Jahnke et al., “Efficient Neural Network Implementations on Parallel Embedded Platforms Applied to Real-Time Torque-Vectoring Optimization Using Predictions for Multi-Motor Electric Vehicles,” 8, no. 2 (February 22, 2019): 250 Electronics Huifan Deng et al., “Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Torque Vectoring Control Considering Economy and Safety,” 11, no. 4 (April 6, 2023): 459 Machines Michele Vignati, Edoardo Sabbioni, and Federico Cheli, “A Torque Vectoring Control for Enhancing Vehicle Performance in Drifting,” 7, no. 12 (December 5, 2018): 394 Electronics Shayan Taherian et al., “Self-Adaptive Torque Vectoring Controller Using Reinforcement Learning,” , September 19, 2021 2021 IEEE International Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (ITSC) Wei Xu et al., “Torque Optimization Control for Electric Vehicles with Four In-Wheel Motors Equipped with Regenerative Braking System,” 57 (February 2019): 95–108 Mechatronics Jeongmin Cho and Kunsoo Huh, “Torque Vectoring System Design for Hybrid Electric–All Wheel Drive Vehicle,” 234, no. 10–11 (April 7, 2020): 2680–92 Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering Jae-Young Park, Seung-Jin Heo, and Dae-Oh Kang, “Development of Torque Vectoring Control Algorithm for Front Wheel Driven Dual Motor System and Evaluation of Vehicle Dynamics Performance,” 21, no. 5 (October 2020): 1283–91 International Journal of Automotive Technology Huifan Deng et al., “Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Torque Vectoring Control Considering Economy and Safety,” 11, no. 4 (April 6, 2023): 459 Machines Giseo Park et al., “Torque Vectoring Algorithm of Electronic-Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles for Enhancement of Cornering Performance,” 69, no. 4 (April 2020): 3668–79 IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology

Driving Innovation: The Science of Torque Vectoring Systems

Welcome to HackerNoon’s Writing Prompts! Would you like to take a stab at answering some of these questions? The link for the template is . HERE A quiet revolution recently occurred on our roads—the rise of electric vehicles (EVs). EVs have shifted from a niche interest to a global sensation, from super city cars to robust SUVs. However, myths and misconceptions have dimmed the true potential of EVs. Clearing these misconceptions is essential for cars and trusting individuals to make informed choices for a sustainable future. Our journey starts with recognizing that debunking these myths enables people to make decisions aligned with a forward-thinking and eco-friendly future. We'll explore the unknown parts of electric mobility, uncovering stories, breakthroughs, and innovations driving this dynamic evolution. Join us in this adventure—a journey that reveals the truths behind the wheels, quietly steering us into a cleaner, greener, and electrifying future. Myth #1: Electric Vehicles Have a Short Driving Range In the old times, electric cars didn't go too far. They were like short-distance runners, not built for long trips. It made people wonder if they were really practical for everyday use. But then, something cool happened. Scientists improved the batteries, especially with a thing called lithium-ion. These new batteries turned electric cars into long-distance champs, giving them the power to cover long distances on just one charge. Look at cars like the Tesla Model S and the Chevrolet Bolt. These cars can go over 300 miles without needing more charge. Even the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona Electric are joining the club, showing that electric cars are now way better than in the old days. Electric cars are not just for short trips. Nowadays, they can handle all kinds of journeys, from city streets to country roads. Say goodbye to worrying about running out of power. It's time to zoom into the future, where distance is no problem for electric vehicles. Myth #2: Charging an Electric Vehicle Takes Too Long Let's tackle this myth: the idea that charging an electric vehicle (EV) takes forever. In the past, waiting for an EV to charge felt like watching paint dry, but times have changed. Say hello to a world of charging options. We've got Level 2 chargers, like your smartphone charger but faster, and then there are the fast charging stations. These chargers are like pit stops for your EV, charging it up in a fraction of the time. The future is even faster. Rapid-charging technologies are popping up, promising to shorten your EV break times. Imagine grabbing a coffee, and by the time you finish, your car is ready for the next part of the journey. Modern charging infrastructure is like having gas stations but cooler. Charging points are popping up everywhere, from malls to parking lots. You can plug in while grabbing groceries or shopping, turning your regular stops into EV power-ups. It makes charging more convenient and efficient. Myth #3: Electric Vehicles Are Not Environmentally Friendly Due to the Electricity Source Let's clear the air on this one: some people think electric vehicles (EVs) aren't eco-friendly because of where their power comes from. It's time to break down this myth and understand the bigger picture. EVs are still doing better than their gas-guzzling vehicles. A closer look at the numbers shows that EVs tend to produce fewer emissions than traditional vehicles, even when charged with electricity from not-so-green sources. It's a step in the right direction for cleaner air. The world is shifting towards cleaner energy sources. Solar, wind, and other renewables are becoming bigger players in the energy game. As the electricity grid gets greener, the environmental footprint of EVs gets even smaller. It's a win-win for the planet. EVs are part of a solution, not the problem. They are contributing to cleaner air and a healthier planet. Electric vehicles have a smaller environmental impact from manufacturing to daily use than traditional vehicles. It's time to see EVs as cars and champions for a more sustainable future. Myth #4: Electric Vehicles Have High Initial Cost The idea is that electric vehicles (EVs) are too expensive to be practical. It's time to break down this myth and show there's more to the story than the upfront cost. The government is on board with electric dreams. Some incentives and tax credits can make getting an EV a lot friendlier on your wallet. These perks are like a little bonus for choosing a more sustainable ride. As technology advances, batteries are becoming more affordable. That means the overall price tag of electric vehicles is getting more budget-friendly, making them a smart choice for consumers. The starting price might surprise you, but think about the overall situation. Electric vehicles are money-saving in the long run. They have fewer parts to wear out, which means lower maintenance costs. Plus, charging up with electricity is kinder to your wallet than filling up with gas. It's time to see EVs as an upfront investment and a smart financial move for the road ahead. Now, there are tools that can decrease maintenance costs, such as Torque360. It's a complete auto repair management software that helps repair shops fix vehicles more efficiently and quickly. Myth #5: Electric Vehicles Are Impractical for Long-Distance Travel The idea that electric vehicles (EVs) are impractical for long-distance adventures. It's time to navigate through this misconception and discover the truth. Say goodbye to old-school thinking. Modern EVs are your travel buddies. Manufacturers have equipped them with features designed for the open road. Today's electric cars are made for people who love the freedom of the open road, with advanced battery systems and energy-efficient designs. Are you worried about getting left in the middle of nowhere? Fear not. EVs are smarter than ever, with built-in navigation systems that map out charging stations along your route. It's like having a co-pilot who always knows where the next pit stop for a quick charge is. Long drives got a lot more convenient. So, buckle up and get ready to rewrite the story. Electric vehicles are not just for short hops around town – they are the companions you need for those epic road trips. It's time to redefine what's possible on the open road and end the myth that EVs can't go far. Conclusion We've dismissed the myth of limited driving range, proving that today's electric vehicles are quick and constant champions, ready for the longest drives. Do we have a charging concern? Consider it a dead issue as we explored the swiftly advancing charging infrastructure, turning regular breaks into power refills. We've seen the powerful shift towards cleaner energy sources, highlighting that electric vehicles lead the way to a greener future. EVs aren't just suitable for city drives but are ideal companions for road trips. As we drive into tomorrow, it's clear that electric vehicles are changing and steering us toward a more sustainable, efficient, and exciting era on the roads. So, whether you're considering your first electric vehicle or have long been a part of the EV movement, remember: the myths are dead, and the reality is enlightening. Strap in, power up, and welcome to the age of electric clarity!

Breaking Down the Myths About Electric Vehicles

Business is dynamic, and innovation is important, but it's not always necessary to reinvent the wheel to be successful. A game-changer is not always the one that started the game. Innovation is simply creating something completely new to solve a problem while improving is about looking for problems within existing solutions and basically solving those problems found. Innovation and Improvement go hand in hand; success often stems from knowing the time for innovation and the time for improvement and strategically implementing accordingly. Enhancing existing solutions should not be underestimated. The most impactful advancements in technology are often built upon foundations laid by predecessors. Modern-day innovations like electric vehicle technology build upon and are reliant on the foundational principles introduced by Karl Benz in the initial invention of the automobile which is also reliant on other foundational innovations. Now, imagine enhancing a business with this strategy and a transformative force—cryptocurrency. In a landscape where change is the only thing that’s constant, hesitating on cryptocurrency adoption could mean missing out on transformative opportunities. Integrating crypto isn't just about staying relevant; it's seizing the chance to redefine your business's future and survive in the evolving digital economy. You can do this within your business and in competitors' business models to achieve a great amount of growth. And one of the best ways to do this is by adopting new progress in technology (cryptocurrency in this example). Advantages Of Improving on Existing Solutions: 1. Marketing becomes more straightforward as you can build on the familiarity of the existing solution and highlight specific improvements. Easier Marketing: 2. You can charge more from day 1. Your enhanced solution to something can never be cheaper than the prior solution. Immediate Revenue: 3. Enhancements can strengthen relationships with existing customers, fostering loyalty and repeat business. Customer Loyalty: 4. Addressing known issues in current solutions mitigates the risks associated with launching entirely new products. Reduced Risk: 5. Utilizing existing foundations speeds up the development process, resulting in a quicker time-to-market for improvements. Faster Time-to-Market: 6. Existing solutions offer a wealth of feedback that will provide you with valuable insights for targeted improvements. Feedback Utilization: 7. Leveraging existing tools, research, and knowledge will reduce the need for new investments. Resource Optimization: 8. Incremental enhancements make it easier for customers to adapt. Building completely new solutions comes with the challenge of trying to make users understand, believe, and trust your solution. Adaptability: Improving Has a Simple Recipe Pick an existing solution you're interested in. Step 1: : Identify problems within the existing solution. Step 2 Look for existing technology/technologies that you can combine to solve the problem (this is an active and iterative process and isn't always instant) Step 3: Integrate the new technology/technologies to significantly improve the existing solution. Step 4: Hakuna matata 🚀 Step 5: Optimize for best results based on lessons learned. Step 6: It is important to continue improving the improvement. So, instead of brainstorming and validating and pivoting and all the other stress you'd normally go through. You're just taking two or more systems and combining them together to make a superior solution. You'll still have to use your expertise, best practices, and common sense to make sure that the business works well. Few Examples of Improvements Using the Simple Recipe: Stores/Supermarkets: Ingredient Example Need Shopping Convenience Technology Mobile Apps Improved Solution Using to create mobile apps Shopping Convenience Customer service: Ingredient Example Need Enhanced Communication with Customers Technology Chatbots Improved Solution Using to create chatbots enhanced communication with customers Interior Decoration: Ingredient Example Need Enhance Customer Satisfaction Technology Augmented Reality (AR) Improved Solution Using to Augmented Reality enhance customer satisfaction Practical Example: Enhance Existing Solutions With Crypto A similar opportunity arises with cryptocurrency. Integrating crypto into systems already excelling with conventional payment platforms can leverage the unique benefits of crypto to make a profit. Before we proceed: It's important to make sure that the new improvement is significantly better the pre-existing solution in order to provide better value and make more money. It's not advisable to build your own  𝕏 (Twitter), just because you had the idea that when someone posts images, it should be horizontally scrollable instead of clicking in one at a time. So, I'll share some benefits that cryptocurrency can bring into the business; this will help you determine whether your business is a good fit for integrating and accepting crypto payments or not. Benefits of Accepting Crypto Payments: Privacy Enhancement: In industries where customer privacy is paramount (e.g., healthcare, legal), crypto transactions can offer heightened confidentiality. Benefits: The integration of crypto payments fosters a heightened level of trust between businesses and their clientele. Knowing that their sensitive information is safeguarded enhances customer confidence. Increased Trust: Customers, especially in sensitive fields like healthcare and legal services, often hesitate to share personal information during payment transactions. With crypto transactions, this reluctance diminishes, leading to smoother and more efficient transactions. Reduced Reluctance: 2. Global Accessibility: Traditional payment methods often pose challenges for businesses aiming to cater to a global audience. Cryptocurrency, with its borderless nature, overcomes this limitation. Benefits: Businesses can tap into a global customer base without the constraints of geographical limitations. Crypto payments facilitate cross-border transactions, opening up opportunities for unprecedented market expansion. Expanded Market Reach: Cryptocurrencies transcend national currencies, eliminating the complexities associated with currency conversions. This simplification in transactions benefits both businesses and customers, fostering a more seamless global trade environment. Currency Freedom: 3. Enhanced Security: Conventional payment systems are susceptible to fraud and security breaches. Cryptocurrency transactions leverage blockchain technology to provide secure and tamper-resistant transactions. Benefits: The blockchain ledger ensures transparent and secure transactions, minimizing the risks of fraud and unauthorized activities. Reduced Fraud Risks: Transactions recorded on the blockchain are immutable, creating an incorruptible record of financial activities. This feature enhances the overall security of financial transactions. Tamper-Resistant Records: 4. Lower Transaction Costs: Traditional payment systems often involve intermediary fees, resulting in higher transaction costs for businesses. Crypto payments offer a solution to reduce these expenses through decentralized payments. Benefits: Cryptocurrency transactions generally involve lower processing fees compared to traditional payment methods, contributing to cost savings for businesses. Cost-Efficient Transactions: The absence of intermediaries streamlines the payment process, minimizing additional costs associated with third-party involvement. Direct Transactions: 5. Financial Inclusion: A significant portion of the global population lacks access to traditional banking services. Cryptocurrency provides a means for financial inclusion, allowing individuals without bank accounts to participate in economic activities. Benefits: Cryptocurrency enables individuals without access to traditional banking to engage in financial transactions, fostering a more inclusive global economy. Broadened Financial Participation: Businesses can reach a broader customer base by accommodating those who prefer or are limited to cryptocurrency transactions, reducing reliance on traditional banking systems. Reduced Dependency on Banks: 6. Increased Payment Speed: Traditional banking transactions often involve delays, especially in cross-border payments. Crypto transactions offer a swift and efficient alternative. Benefits: : Cryptocurrency transactions are processed swiftly, reducing the typical delays associated with traditional banking systems. Rapid Transaction Processing Businesses can enjoy near-instantaneous settlements, contributing to faster cash flow and improved liquidity. Real-Time Settlements: 7. Innovation and Adaptability: Industries constantly evolve, requiring businesses to adapt to changing market trends and customer preferences. Cryptocurrency integration allows for innovation and adaptability. Benefits: Cryptocurrency integration positions businesses at the forefront of technological innovation, showcasing adaptability to emerging trends. Agility in Technology Adoption: Readiness for Future Technologies: By embracing crypto payments, businesses are better prepared to incorporate future advancements in blockchain and financial technologies. These benefits collectively contribute to a transformative impact on businesses, unlocking new possibilities and ensuring a competitive edge in a landscape where change is the only constant. There are more benefits, but it's just so you can compare the strengths of accepting cryptocurrency to see if they solve some significant weaknesses to existing solutions. For example, if the system is slow, it's a good business opportunity because crypto is fast; if there's less financial inclusion, it's a good opportunity because crypto is inclusive. And so on. Example Crypto Payments Ideas Across Industries: 1. Users purchase web hosting services using cryptocurrencies, providing a secure and efficient payment option. Web Hosting: Benefits: Faster transactions Lower fees Enhanced security 2. Customers buy event tickets using cryptocurrencies, and transactions are recorded on the blockchain for transparency. Event Ticketing: Benefits: Secure ticket sales, Global accessibility Reduced fraud risks. Transparent transactions recorded on Blockchain 3. An Online store sets up products, integrates crypto payment options, and customers pay with cryptocurrencies. E-commerce Store: Benefits: Global reach Decentralized payments Attraction of a tech-savvy customer base. 4. Patients pay for health consultations using cryptocurrencies, ensuring confidential and secure transactions. Private Health Consultation Service: Benefits: Enhanced privacy for patients Transparent payment records Reduced reliance on traditional banking. 5. Travel services are booked and paid for using cryptocurrencies, providing quick and secure cross-border transactions. Travel Agency: Benefits: Reduced dependence on traditional banking Attraction of crypto-savvy travelers Global accessibility. 6. In-game purchases or gambling bets are made with cryptocurrencies, ensuring faster and more secure transactions. Online Gaming and Gambling: Benefits: Enhanced privacy for users Global audience reach without currency restrictions Lower transaction costs. Viewers pay for content subscriptions using cryptocurrencies, facilitating direct and transparent payment distribution to creators. Content Streaming: Benefits: Reduced dependence on intermediaries Lower fees Engagement of cryptocurrency enthusiasts in content consumption. 8. Users pay for cloud storage services with cryptocurrencies, ensuring decentralized and secure payment options. Cloud Storage: Benefits: Lower transaction costs Secure and decentralized storage payments Increased user privacy. 9. Subscribers pay for app services using cryptocurrencies, benefiting from seamless global subscription payments. App Subscription: Benefits: Lower transaction fees for recurring payments Global accessibility Appeal to users that value privacy 10. Freelancers and clients use cryptocurrencies for secure escrow services, reducing payment processing time. Freelance Marketplace: Benefits: Secure transactions through smart contracts Reduced fees Attraction of freelancers and clients in the crypto space. 11. Donors contribute to charities using cryptocurrencies, ensuring transparent and secure donation records on the blockchain. Charity and Donations: Benefits: Lower fees Transparent donation records Appeal to privacy-conscious donors. 12. Affiliates receive commission payments in cryptocurrencies, benefiting from faster and more secure cross-border transactions. Affiliate Marketing: Benefits: Transparent commission. Lower transaction fees Appeal to affiliates in the crypto community. These are just some examples of business ideas where accepting crypto payments can potentially make an impact. It's important to do your own research and apply your expertise, skills, and common sense. You don't have to exactly copy them–but can use them to create or improve your own ideas. If you'd love to learn more about the tech and arts of developing money printing systems and earning more with creativity, subscribe to my newsletter by clicking on the button below my bio, where I share it weekly. Don't sleep on this; adopting these things with the right strategies is what keeps big companies ahead: Microsoft, AT&T, Wikipedia, Burger King, KFC, ExpressVPN, and more are reap benefits of adopting the acceptance of crypto payments early. In summary, we've seen the importance of looking for problems within existing solutions and solving them, and how an example of crypto can solve problems within your solution or the solution of competitors. Remember the cheatcode: Take an existing model that works and plug it into your niche. If you have questions, you can connect with me personally through my newsletter to access my free consultation as well, click on the button below my bio to get started.

Build a Money Printing Business With Other People's Sweat - (With a Practical Example)

Words by and Zaira Rasool Alex David Pratt WHAT ARE THE TECHNOLOGICAL POSSIBILITIES THAT EXIST IN THE GAMBIA AND IN AFRICA? The significant impact of technology on society, culture, and economy is undeniable. It has now become common to discuss technology together with innovation, as well as becoming a growing consideration for the government, the law, social initiatives, and families to contend with. How should we use technology for our benefit? What are the risks, and how do we manage them? How can we use technology to enhance our businesses? What safety measures do we need to take to protect our children from unwanted influence? What new possibilities in terms of careers and aspirations does technology make possible? There are some pioneering examples of technology initiatives within Africa. Wave (Fintech) has taken Africa by storm, Maraphones (Locally Manufactured Smartphone), BuXin (Electric Vehicle), Kids in Tech (robotics) and Fortizo Technologies (consumer electronics) are but a few of many other examples. Within the Gambia itself, you see people solving a whole range of social problems with technology (you can hear more about it in ). this video In this article, we will dive deeper into the possibilities that exist for young Gambia, full of innovative and energetic minds who seek better opportunities and environments to thrive, to technologically advance their nations, and to contribute their innovative solutions to the global landscape. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE? WHAT NEW REALITIES AND SOLUTIONS CAN BE CREATED THROUGH THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY? The Gambia is in dire need of a change in the status quo. Most of the methods and processes of doing business and more are quite antiquated. Take, for instance, the banking sector; we should have passed the point where people have to queue for long hours just to withdraw money. Change should be initiated in the financial realm, as well as many other areas, and this necessary evolution is possible mainly through the transformative power of technology. Opening up new ways of doing business, creating new lifestyles, and interacting with each other: Until now, many within Africa may have felt limited by the skills, knowledge, and resources available within the country and, to some extent, lost hope or the ability to look to the sky and dream big. However, with the increasing access to technology and the access to information that comes with it, Gambians have new opportunities at their fingertips. With time, this allows us to dream bigger and imagine new realities for our prospects and lives. Opening up the imagination and sense of empowerment through technology: Technology wields the power of solving some of the most pressing problems in the Gambia, illegal migration included. We can create innovative solutions to these problems and then communicate and take action to solve them without the need to leave our homes. This is the power of technology. That isn’t to say that you should aim to rely on technology and never leave home, but when there is no other option (due to safety and accessibility issues), technology plays a key role in empowering people to make a difference. On a lighter note, boredom, suppressed ambitions, and depression can be resolved with virtual gaming experiences, or furthermore, other extended reality tools can aid youth to vividly live their dream lives and make income by gaming professionally. A means of pulling us out of our boredom and suppressed ambitions into a world of possibilities: Although one of the smallest countries in Africa, The Gambia has the potential to be a pioneering hub of digital innovation. Like Cuba is known globally for its expert doctors, Gambia can champion its skills in technology and enterprise. The country is 65% under 25, many of whom are self-starters from a young age. The economy is, in bulk, self-employed rather than in jobs, with a large percentage of the population working in agriculture. This is a fertile breeding ground for the next generation of technology innovators solving some of the most pressing global problems in agriculture, urbanization, and youth unemployment. Putting the Gambia on the global map: HOW CAN WE MAKE THESE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES HAPPEN IN THE GAMBIA? HOW SOON CAN IT HAPPEN? An open-source approach to skills development is perfect for developing the technology ecosystem in a place like The Gambia. There is a sincere desire to grow and learn within the country, and a willingness to share and support each other is an integral part of the culture. This creates the perfect environment for a robust open-source culture to flourish - where skills and opportunities are resources that can be exchanged and traded between people and organizations for economic growth. In recent years, young Gambians have been able to access information, resources, and support from around the globe - courses in technical skills, online mentoring from professionals in other countries, and countless examples to inspire innovation. Creating an open-source network, sharing skills, resources, and opportunities: There are a plethora of courses now available to Gambians through which they can acquire the relevant technical skills to create extraordinary innovations. The University of Applied Science Engineering and Technology features an innovation lab, one of the many great institutions in the Gambia, granting young minds the opportunity to create disruptive solutions and out-of-the-box conceptions. Technical training is a means of creating higher IQs, mental training, and sharper attention to detail. The bridge between potential and performance is training, and although there is a lot already available, there are significant gaps that need to be filled. Changing what is possible, what opportunities are available to young Gambians: The Gambia needs more research labs that delve into cutting-edge technology like robotics, AI, and other advanced technology areas if we are to majorly contribute to the rapid technological advancement happening all over the world, and expose Gambians to the possibilities of technology for the country. We can start imagining smart cities and artificially intelligent traffic systems that are integrated with self-driving cars through IoT, holographic technology, and customized learning through AI. Creating spaces and places for young, innovative minds to thrive and imagine: New realities emerge on the technological horizon at a rate that sometimes seems too fast-paced for developing nations like The Gambia to keep up with. Nonetheless, history has proven and continues to prove that this is not the case. Africans continue to amaze more developed nations with the novel ideas they invent. From the biological AI revolution by Nana Kofi Quaky in Ghana to the IoT waste management systems in Kenya, it is clear that Africa has a lot in store for the global technological community. This future, although sophisticated,  is one that preserves rather than harms or destroys the planet. The introduction of electric vehicle (EV) technology is ironclad proof that there is a big appetite for more green alternatives to technology. With EV, Fairphones, and other green technology our future is looking both safe and nourishing, so we can preserve the beauty of the Smiling Coast and help it to thrive for generations. Recognizing the potential and power that already exists for us to make these realities now: What does Gambia want their future to look like? How can technology aid the creation of that future? What new realities can we imagine for our planet? What part do Gambians have to play in that? Tell us your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. Authors Zaira Rasool is the Founder of Coderoots, on a mission to provide digital access and technology education to those who need it most. The majority of Coderoots’ work is focused on providing access to resources that will allow people to create their own pathways within technology and succeed in their careers, as well as provide opportunities for their country. She is a Software Engineer with a decade’s experience in community development. Find out more on and via . Instagram this video Alex David Pratt is the author of AI Demystified and the pioneer of Fortizo Technologies, a consumer electronics creator and managed IT services company on a mission to reinvent how Gambians consume technology through the invention of technology solutions geared towards the local market. He is a self-taught technologist, delving into software engineering, ethical hacking, deep tech, and AI. He describes himself as a tech futurist on a mission to catapult mankind to technological advancement through research, development, and innovation. You can learn more about his work on the and his personal . Fortizo Technologies blog LinkedIn

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