Noblis Autonomous Vehicle Interoperability Concept Wins Three Awards at MOBI Grand Challenge Phase II

Noblis’ Pieces of Eight (Po8) trusted autonomous operations concept ranked first for “Most Creative” and “Highest Potential Impact” – and second in the “Overall Category”

RESTON, Va.—December 17, 2019—The Pieces of Eight (Po8) trusted autonomous operations concept, developed by researchers from Noblis, a leading provider of science, technology and strategy services to the federal government, continues to receive wide industry recognition. At the MOBI Grand Challenge Phase II held recently in Los Angeles it was recognized for its “distributed ledger system that keeps a record of interactions between multiple modes of transportation including buses, trains, bike-shares and rideshares – allowing them to build a record of earned trust to facilitate future coordination.”

In February, Pieces of 8 earned the Highest Potential Impact Award and the Most Creative Award at the MOBI Grand Challenge Phase I in Munich, Germany. In November the concept received a 2019 Government – Industry Innovator award from 1105 Public Sector Media Group.

“We are very pleased with the continued recognition from industry leaders of our autonomy at scale concept,” said Amr ElSawy, Noblis president and chief executive officer. “It validates our approach to the vision of trusted autonomous operations allowing connected, autonomous land, sea and air vehicles to communicate, self-organize and safely interact.”

“The Noblis Po8 approach can have a significant impact on public sector endeavors, unmanned systems and the future of human-machine interaction,” said Mile Corrigan, vice president Federal Civilian Solutions, Noblis. “Our system enables nearby connected machines – such as autonomous passenger vehicles, autonomous drones or autonomous robots traversing hostile terrain – to share situational awareness regarding obstacles and threats projected over time, and collectively plan actions that avoid collision or other conflicts.”

“Po8 allows pick-up teams of autonomous machines to perform as if they have trained together extensively,” said Karl Wunderlich, Noblis research team lead.  “Further, if one machine in the system malfunctions or begins to perform erratically, the team will self-organize to re-assign critical team functions and isolate the compromised machine.”

MOBI (mobility open blockchain initiative) is a nonprofit global foundation formed to accelerate the adoption of standards in blockchain, distributed ledgers, and related technologies for the benefit of consumers, communities and mobility industries. According to MOBI, their Grand Challenges are part of MOBI’s commitment to the new economy of movement. The first grand challenge considered the future of autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, usage based payment, and ridesharing. Phase II explored new solutions for human mobility to create smarter and greener cities while improving the quality of life.

  • Watch a video about the Po8 Concept here.
  • Watch a video about Sustainable Po8 here.

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