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www.ADandP.media Robotic lawn mowers and self-parking technologies— these are the sorts of things that are making autonomous technology possible and more appealing. When you talk with Dr. Kay Stepper, head of the regional business unit Driver Assistance and Automated Driving, and vice president of engi- neering for the Chassis Systems Control Div., Robert Bosch LLC, about Bosch's efforts in the development of automated driving, he talks about something that is completely unexpected. Yes, there are "robotics" and "artificial intelligence." (He notes that when he started—he joined Bosch in 1996 and his doctorate is in elec- trical engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, so he's got both experience and deep knowledge—the latter was referred to as "machine learning," a term, he suggests, dates him, although one could counter that in this fast-developing field, experience is not in the least bit a bad thing.) Anyway, what Stepper talks about—after citing such facts that Bosch rolled out with antilock brakes in 1978, electronic stability control in 1995, 77-GHz radar systems in 2000 . . . –is a lawn mower. Yes, a lawn mower. But this isn't your run-of-the-mill Toro. Rather, it is a Bosch lawn mower. A robotic lawn mower. Back in 2014 Bosch introduced the Indego 1200 Connect, a lithium- ion-battery powered lawn mower that can be controlled by a smartphone app (iOS or Android). You think being able to honk your horn and blink your lights via an app is impressive? What about cutting your lawn? Stepper admits that the notion of a lawn mower doesn't sound all that exciting in the context of, say, a Jeep Cherokee that's out in the parking lot fitted with radar, cameras, electronic power steering, electronic stability control, a motor control unit and a human-machine interface that provides lane guidance and lateral and longitudinal control so that it is able to change lanes (after driver confirmation), as well as having the ability to automatically resume from a standstill. Yet it shows a point about intelligence in motion. The Bosch robotic lawn mower (they've now moved on to the Indego 400 Connect), he says, isn't like one of those robotic vacuum cleaners that goes bumping along. "It does complete planning. It will plan a strategic pattern, then it will execute that pattern," he says. This is a long way from traveling on I-75 at speed. But it goes to the point of developing automated technology for the benefit of people, something that Stepper and his team, as well as many other Bosch associates, as well as partners in academia, are deeply involved in doing. And just as you'd imagine that a Ph.D. in electrical engineering would focus on the technical challenges that are being faced vis-à-vis developing autonomous vehicle technology, Stepper says, "Yes, there are technical challenges. But I am absolutely convinced we're going to solve them. We already have many technical elements in place." A big "Consumer education is a huge, huge piece of autonomous driving that's not talked about often enough," says Dr. Kay Stepper, head of the Regional Business Unit Driver Assistance and Automated Driving and vice president of Engineering, Chassis Systems Control Div., Robert Bosch. They may get the tech ready to go, but if people don't understand what various levels of autonomy can—and cannot do—then the promise will not be fulfilled. Yes, this is a lawn mower. But not just any grass clipper. The Indego 400 Connect is able to determine the best path for cutting the lawn and then executing, but it is also smartphone-enabled. Tech like this can help with the development of the tech that will drive you to the golf course (because you don't need to be cutting your lawn because the robotic lawn mower is doing it for you). 45 BOSCH AD&P; ∕ OCTOBER 2017