Category Archives: transportation

24 Great Truckin’ Songs

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In 1976 I was 8 years old, living on a farm in Kiacatoo, outside Condobolin in central New South Wales, and… into trucks. For Christmas that year I was given my first LP: ’24 Great Truck Drivin’ Songs’. It even had CB Trucker Talk code words on the back to decode the “secret” trucker talk, and this led me to build myself a side band radio to listen to the truck drivers in the vicinity!

Being on a farm in the wheat country meant a lot of trucks and I would often be found sketching ‘18 wheelers’ (see CB code for a 5-axle truck) with chrome and spotlights adorning the cab and bull bars. We would often go to the Farm Days in local towns to check out equipment with my dad and uncle to see what new ideas were available and admire the shiny rigs and monster tractors that are common in the outback of Australia.

Image source: http://www.discogs.com

Each year in the harvesting season, when not in school, I would join my dad and grandfather on the trip to the grain silo in the centre of the town, about 30 miles away. We would carry around 10-15 tonnes of wheat in each load.

My dad remembers his favourite story of me being an earnest young man. He was driving the F600 with a dog trailer fully loaded with 13 tonnes of grain, from the farm to the wheat silo in Condobolin.

Pictured: My father with the multi-purpose F600 Ford with a 500 gallon tank with optional tipping tray and cattle pen

Given the angle of the truck on a crossroads, he asked me if there were any cars coming.

I replied: “No cars.”
So he set off changing through the gears of the 8-speed gearbox with the fully loaded truck.  

“But there is a truck”, I said literally

“£(%*£@£(£*£!@”, was the reply…
But we made it to the silo and he learned to ask very literal questions from then on.

Fixing the Staines Truck

One school holiday my cousins and I decided to fix a truck to keep us busy. We found an old Comer truck pictured below, that my uncle had taken the crane off the back and onto a new truck chassis. The old Comer had stood around for many years and was not operational.

Over the next few days we would walk into my uncle’s shed and ask how things worked. After vacuuming out the spiders and ants we tried to start it with the keys that were in the ignition. No joy.

First question: How do engines start?

“You will need some fuel and a battery.”  

“How does a battery work and why would this one be broken”, we pointed to the truck battery we had brought into the main workshop. “Be careful with the battery acid.” 

After learning about the water in a lead acid battery and hooking it up for the night on a trickle charge we left to create makeshift seats out of bean bags and a chair for the driver!

Next, the fuel tank

Next was a fuel tank, as you can see in the picture, a 44 gallon drum, NOT strapped down to the chassis! We had to learn how to prime a fuel pump and then finally, bump start the truck with a tractor. Oh, and I think we also had to learn how to drive at the same time, as there were multiple jobs to be done!

Pictured: Mark in the driver’s seat with sisters and cousins

As we sped past the main shed, my uncle looked out and noticed that not only did we not have the fuel tank strapped down, but we also had an exhaust which did not have a muffler, and in the middle of Australia, that is how bushfires get started!

All good fun!

Pictured: Tractor used for bump starting our truck adventure

From driving to designing

After university, I started work designing dangerous goods trails for a company called Tieman in Melbourne. My first vehicle was a hydrogen peroxide tanker, my first experience at designing a Class A pressure vessel. The second one was a bitumen tanker. I really enjoyed that experience as I travelled around with some of the truck drivers understanding what they – as the customer – really needed and made updates to the design of the tanks accordingly.   

Pictured: Tieman bitumen tanker

Little did I know that I would get back to trucks through a career in Formula E and Formula 1 and bring that technology to the autonomous trucking industry with StreetDrone. StreetDrone is pioneering the commercialisation of yard logistics in the trucking sector with our highly successful project at Nissan’s Sunderland plant where we work closely with Hitachi Vantec, Nokia, BP, and the North Eastern Automotive Alliance. I’ve come full circle, only now with technology that we couldn’t have imagined in the 70s, like teleoperation, electric powertrains and, of course, autonomy.

The StreetDrone Origin Story

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STREETDRONE STORY_

If you want to understand how StreetDrone came to be, simply visit their office courtyard around the end of June every summer.

The StreetDrone Summer Party has become legendary in the tech industry in the UK. In this little corner of Oxford, you’ll find autonomous vehicles running nonchalantly up and down the road outside the StreetDrone HQ, showing off their very-much-here technology, while inside the courtyard is a treasure trove of workshops, coding spaces, simulation rigs and, of course, the office bar.

Around the office space, you’ll notice an intriguing blend of motorsport paraphernalia, carbon fibre tubs leaning casually against the wall and empty podium champagne bottles standing next to proud championship winners trophies.

But this isn’t quite a racing team – at least not in the traditional sense.

Mike Potts and Mark Preston are the co-founders of StreetDrone. Both have an appetite for adventure and entrepreneurship, starting their lifelong friendship after meeting in Australia as teenagers.

The first time we ever worked together was actually on a paper round when we were in our early teens

Mark Preston

Cycling the streets of Canterbury in Melbourne, the two dreamed of interesting ways to use technology, especially early stage home computers, to have a real impact on the world – from learning how to create 3D graphics on a BBC Micro to building a rudimental solar heating rig for Mark’s parents pool.

DIVERGENCE_

Mike returned to the UK in 1985, and after dropping out at his first attempt at university – in his own often-repeated words, “I would say I’m a failed, wannabe engineer at heart” – his second attempt, at Oxford Brookes University, became the catalyst for his fledgling business career to take off.

At the start of his final year of study he went to Lloyds Bank on Oxford high street, convincing the business manager to loan him £1000, which bought a “very second-hand” van, allowing him to do deliveries and assemblies of flat-pack furniture for the Futon Company, among others. This was a turning point for Mike, proving to himself he could make something from nothing and generate a good profit at the same time, all while completing his university degree.

Meanwhile in Australia, Mark attended the prestigious Monash University and, frustrated at its largely theoretical teachings, decided to additionally gain practical experience in the proven motorsport training ground of Formula Fords with Borland Racing Developments. Designing and manufacturing the successful Spectrum FF1600 machine, Mark also enjoyed spells with General Motors Holden, working with pioneering crash analysis simulations.

But it was his work with Tom Walkinshaw Racing’s Holden Special Vehicles outfit that led him to the UK and into Formula 1. When the organisation bought the Arrows Formula 1 Team, Mark followed to the UK in 1996.

STARS ALLIGNING_

Mike used his skills and experience gained from his delivery business to stand out when he applied for a role with Coca-Cola in 1998, earning the job and the company van that allowed him to regularly see best friend Mark in Oxford, sowing the seeds for StreetDrone’s future.

However, both had industries to transform and companies to lead before reaching autonomous vehicles.

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESSES_

Winning on Track

When Arrows folded in 2002, Mark moved to McLaren and linked up with the famous Adrian Newey, overseeing stress analysis, composite design, materials, and vehicle laboratories.

Then came a greater challenge, joining forces with Aguri Suzuki to create an F1 team in just 100 days, working as the Founder and Technical Director of the new team: the Super Aguri Honda F1 Team. This is now a story infamous among the employees of StreetDrone, told in hushed tones around the campfire. 

While short-lived in F1, it was a partnership that was revived in 2013 when Mark headed up one of the first-ever Formula E Teams, Team Aguri, as one of only 10 founding Team Principals, in leading a motorsport revolution as it embraced e-mobility. 

Mark would leave an incredible impact in Formula E, becoming the most successful Team Principal in the series as it evolved into DS-Techeetah, winning 3 Drivers’ and 2 Teams’ World Championships. 

Speaking to Mark now, he’s incredibly humble about his achievements on-track and is clearly striving for the next level in performance, always. Optimisation is the game and Mark is pretty good at winning.

Transforming the World of Data

Mike would begin working with pioneering technologies, joining the fledgling Expedia in 2000 as just the seventh employee on the books in the UK. 

Heavyweights Microsoft pushed Expedia forward, helping Mike put himself front and centre in the world of e-commerce, not only in the UK, but across Expedia’s fledgling European operations. 

It was the perfect grounding for Mike to launch his second business, and in 2006, Elisa Interactive Group was formed, focussing on data analytics and the optimisation of ecommerce sites across the UK, Spain and Portugal.

After seven years, and clients ranging from Zara to Sky.com, Elisa Interactive was acquired by multinational media agency Havas and Mike became the Chief Data Officer of Havas’s operations in the UK.

CONVERGENCE_

Improving the Lives of People in Cities

Both feeling they needed new challenges, there was the burning desire to be at the vanguard of pioneering technology, and a global event helped them focus on their next move. 

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption, which covered much of Europe in ash clouds and grounded flights, led to Mike spending five days in Oxford with Mark, during which time they dreamed big. 

All day they would analyse global technology companies, before unwinding in the local pub in the evening, laying the groundwork for what would later become their move into the autonomous technology sector. 

In 2015, rising to the challenge of future transportation and mobility in Oxfordshire, Mike and Mark co-founded the MobOx Foundation. They teamed up with Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, and the Oxfordshire County Council, providing the perfect opportunity for their shared knowledge of data, motorsport, automotive, and business to dovetail. This proved pivotal in the founding of StreetDrone one year later.

StreetDrone is Born

From there, the pair never looked back. In 2016, it was the turn of Oxbotica, an autonomous vehicle software company, who requested that Mike, Mark, and future StreetDrone Technical Director Ian Murphy proposed an autonomous-ready vehicle solution: a robotised Renault Twizy concept was built to be used as an autonomous software test platform for the road by Oxbotica.

While Oxbotica decided to not go with the Oxford based solution, other potential clients saw the genius in using the Twizy. The duo pushed forward, utilising their thick contacts book, they quickly sold their first vehicle to the successful Cambridge startup Wayve.

Mike’s extensive background in marketing, commercial, and entrepreneurship, combined with Mark’s engineering expertise and experience in building high-performance teams, provides a world-class leadership team. With dozens of potential customers and the makings of a growing business, the partners set up shop in 2017 with an office in Oxford to develop their technologies from the ground up.

GROWING_

Feet on the Ground, Shoot for the Stars

Fast forward six years and this growing team (now over 35 people) in Oxford is working to change the world using its autonomous solutions. From grassroots motorsport to the future of autonomous vehicles, Mike and Mark share an insatiable appetite for creating new technologies with real applications – and now it’s paying off.

Speak to Mike about the company he has built and it’s clear – he wants StreetDrone to be the best place in the world to work. 

Just look around at the community from industry that gathers at their Summer Party every year. As the team moves from success to success (with over 30 autonomous vehicles in the wild and recently completing the first autonomous deliveries at Nissan’s car plant in Sunderland), the founders manage to revel in that sweet-spot of startups: growing at a fast pace and retaining a sense of fun, empathy, and excitement for adventure.

From a paper round in Australia, to scaling both digital and four-wheeled worlds of data and motorsport, to transforming the communities of Oxfordshire and now deploying real near-term autonomy, Mike and Mark have built something remarkable together.

https://github.com/streetdrone-home/SD-TwizyModel/blob/master/streetdrone_model/sd_docs/imgs/sd.png

An open letter to Scott Morrison: we need a green new deal. Now

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Reposted after the original letter published Jan 11, 2020, on Medium

Mark Preston has travelled through the world of the Australian automotive industry to Formula 1 and on to Formula E and autonomous vehicles, constantly considering the future of his favourite subject — cars. The race team he leads — DS TECHEETAH Formula E Team — are the current title holders in Formula E and his StreetDrone business presented autonomous vehicles at the CES Technology world fair this week in Las Vegas.

Dear Prime Minister,

I’m an Aussie who grew up only dreaming about V8’s and going fast, but on my recent visit home from the UK for Christmas, I was shocked by the extent of global climate change as I drove to Sydney and back for New Years celebration by the harbour. My shock was matched by the surprise that while the country burns, our government backs yet more coal mining and gives no thought to the manifest alternatives our country has at its fingertips.

As we drove along the Hume Highway stopping at my childhood tourist stops like the Big Koala, Big Merino, Ned Kelly and the Dog on the Tuckerbox, we were blown away by the sheer amount of smoke that was hanging in the 40-degree heat that soaked the countryside. A red/pink sun beat down on the dry land below as we tried to take photos to do justice of this apocalypse.

I hadn’t realised until I did a Google searched for “are these fires as big as previous”, did I find an article on the Guardian Australia website answering those exact questions. I didn’t appreciate while working out of the country that Australia was going to open the world’s biggest coal mine while its own countryside was burning. I do accept that expanding economies like India have the right to also grow, however, we could develop technology around energy supply in parallel, using the earnings from those resources.

A green new deal has been proposed recently, but yet time after time people and government focus on short term gains ignoring the longer term.

Why are we not embracing the competitive advantage that our country enjoys with vast amounts of natural resource and thinking about the endless possibilities that this provides for the future generations?

I moved from gas-guzzling F1 to the new Formula electric (Formula E) race series because it offers a pathway to change how we move & travel as a society. Of course, electric vehicles are only zero emissions at the point of use and can rely on electricity grids powered by carbon. Greening the grid is therefore as important a part of the solution as electric mobility.

But there is hope, especially here in Australia as solar energy is something we have in abundance, as well as many brilliant young engineers who could power our national endeavour to take a global leadership position in clean energy. Our ‘over-supply’ of solar energy has the potential to be converted to hydrogen or ammonia to power new transport solutions and we have at our fingertips the potential to move up the supply chain and be a leading supplier of energy without being the world’s coal mine.

My own story convinces me this ambition is possible. I was born in the Ford town of Geelong and quickly fell in love with the automotive industry. I moved to the UK and joined McLaren Formula 1, and in time, set up my own F1 team, but always had a weather eye on a sustainable future and so I supported the spin-out of an electric motor company from Oxford University and in time, I built my own Formula E team. Today Formula E is in its 6th season, enjoys the commitment of ten carmakers and has changed the world both in racing, but is also having a transformative impact on the development of new personal mobility solutions too.

It is not important to revive the automotive industry in Australia. We have advantages in this country and can focus on these strengths; natural resources must be our focus and amongst these agriculture and energy! But we must also look at autonomous driving systems. I am focusing on the potential future of the mobility business which will be dominated by the concepts of connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles, and so should you.

History has shown time and time again that long term thinking provides huge gains economically and socially in the future. In his seminal book on the competitiveness of nations, Michael Porter wrote: “A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade” and with the current environmental backdrop, we have two compelling reasons to innovate our way out of a crisis.

This occurs when competition is opened up, with governments opening and supporting innovation in industries that play to the strengths of the country with goals like becoming the world leader in off-highway autonomy, long haul hydrogen vehicles, mining trucks and agriculture and solar power delivering sustainable energy carriers using hydrogen and ammonia concepts.

Australia, wake up to the coming changes in global climate change and embrace the competitive advantages that this fine land has given us and let’s get a grand green new tech deal done!

Megacities and EV’s

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I recently looked into what it would take to own a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt/Ampera in a city.  I live in the centre of Oxford in the UK and have a membership of a car sharing organisation (Commonwheels) which has a number of cars just nearby.  I have done a lot of research into EV’s as part of my involvement in Oxford YASA Motors spinout of Oxford University and an ongoing involvement in composites through Formtech which are quite relevant to weight saving in this sector.

Many of the market predictions on EV uptake reference Megacities and the likihood of a change in usage habits driving growth in the market.  However, it is quite difficult for me to own an EV.

I test drove the Nissan Leaf and much to my surprise, it was, just like a normal car!  I think I was mostly surprised that I should be surprised.  It had plenty of power off the line, had good build quality, did everything a normal car does and had plenty of extra electronic gadgets that go with EV such as SatNav with predicted ranges and other handy tools for managing range aniexty.

The big problem is charging an EV at home when you have a terrace house in the inner city!  There are currently no schemes for on street charging in Megacities.  Plenty of solutions for people with big houses, garages and off street parking, but not what I would call the areas that may drive EV growth.

As always, new innovations come from solving problems and this looks like the next peice of the puzzle that needs to be solved before I could look at EV in the centre of a city.