Conference:  Defcon 31

Authors: Dennis Giese

2023-08-01

Exactly 5 years ago we were presenting ways to hack and root vacuum robots. Since then, many things have changed. Back then we were looking into ways to use the robots' "dumb" sensors to spy on the user (e.g. by using the ultrasonic sensor). But all our predictions were exceeded by the reality: today's robots bring multiple cameras and microphones with them. AI is used to detect objects and rooms. But can it be trusted? Where will pictures of your cat end up? In this talk we will look at the security and privacy of current devices. We will show that their flaws pose a huge privacy risk and that certification of devices cannot be trusted. Not to worry, though - we will also show you how to protect yourself (and your data) from your robot friends. You will learn on how you can get root access to current flagship models of 4 different vendors. Come with us on a journey of having fun hacking interesting devices while preventing them from breaching your privacy. We will also discuss the risks of used devices, for both old and new users. Finally, we will talk about the challenges of documenting vacuum robots and developing custom software for them. While our Primary goal is to disconnect the robots from the cloud, it is also for users to repair their devices - pwning to own in a wholesome way.

Conference:  Transform X 2022

Authors: Austin Russell, Alexandr Wang

2022-10-19

Austin Russell, CEO and Founder of Luminar, will join Alexandr Wang, CEO and Founder of Scale for a fireside chat. The two will discuss the parallel missions of their respective companies with the purpose of training better models on high-quality, labeled data collected from the best 3D sensors available for autonomous systems.Wang will ask Russell about his journey from Stanford dropout to his company’s 2020 NASDAQ IPO, product development, and how he thinks about building the machine learning infrastructure to train better models on 3D point cloud data. Russell will explain why he believes high-quality 3D sensors are essential for safe autonomy, and why simple 2D imagery doesn’t suffice.Russell was a 2013 Thiel Fellow, which allowed him to drop out of his undergraduate studies and focus on Luminar full-time. He also became the world’s youngest billionaire as a result of his company’s IPO.trans

Conference:  Transform X 2021

Authors: Austin Russell

2021-10-07

Austin Russell, CEO of Luminar Technologies, sits down with Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, to discuss the future impact of LIDAR sensors on the autonomous vehicle industry. Austin shares what he saw that was lacking in existing AV sensors that led him to create Luminar Technologies and dives into the core requirements that they set out to fulfill with their own LIDAR sensors. He explores the optimal way to balance the capabilities of different sensor technologies. Together Austin and Alexandr go on to discuss the bottlenecks inherent in learning from data at the scale required to build safe autonomous vehicles, how sensor manufacturers and OEM companies should be partnering together, and the business models and market opportunities that show the most promise in the future. What does the choice of sensor technologies mean for downstream perception, prediction, and planning algorithms? What do we need from today's hardware or software to enable L4/L5 urban self-driving autonomy? What is the most critical strategic decision that CEOs of companies in this space should be thinking about? Join this discussion to hear how LIDAR sensors for autonomous vehicles are moving from small-scale experimentation to large-scale production and what impact they might have in the industry and for vehicle-owners everywhere.