DAV — A Macro Analysis

JSmee

Published in

TGO Network

11 min readFeb 20, 2018

A Market Need

A Smart Future

The DAV project foresees a future where autonomous vehicles (AVs) and their services are ubiquitous to society. It envisions a world where automation is universal, and integrated into all vehicles. By introducing smart vehicles, human error would be mitigated and operating costs vastly reduced with the reduction of human control. All services involving transportation would be disrupted, whether it would be the movement of goods or people. The transportation industry would reduce significant expenses, as automation would cut costs in shipping, land transport and air transport; and these savings would be passed on to customers.

In this future, automation would transition personal transportation to more cost effective options like ride sharing of AVs. Consumers need not own their own vehicles. Rather, in this future it would be more cost effective to rent the services of AVs on a cost per use basis.

A Smart Network

AV networks would allow AV owners to fully monetize the value of their vehicles by renting them to a network of AVs. An unified network would acts as a convenient hub, a marketplace, where the services of AV could be bid on by customers.

In this world that DAV envisions, autonomous vehicles will be a pervasive part of the daily lives of billions. A unified network will exist, which would allow consumers to conveniently locate and utilize the services of AVs as well as monetize their value as owners of AVs.

DAV argues that an environment of disparate and centralized autonomous networks, where private companies choose competition over cooperation, would hinder the progress of AV development and reduce the accessibility of AVs — all at the expense of consumers. To create this future of autonomous vehicles, there is then a need for a network that is unified. There must a hub that connects all devices to one community and is open, inspiring collaboration through mutual development.

Project Solution

DAV’s solution is an open source platform that connects all AVs onto one unified network. This platform will be decentralized, leveraging blockchain to enable transparent identity, secure transactions and monetization of AV services and supporting infrastructure. As an open source platform, SDKs and APIs will be created to foster a community of AV development.

Use Cases:

The DAV network, could in theory, be used by all autonomous vehicles. From ships, cars, trains, planes, buses and drones (aerial and land). A unified hub gives consumers a convenient access point for AV services. Participation in the network allows autonomous vehicles to monetize their services. Owners (hopefully human) of AVs and AV infrastructure could then reap the benefits of their property by renting the services of their property to DAV network.

5 Components of the “DAV Technology Stack”

Identity

Unique AV identity is logged onto an open decentralized ledger which guarantees security and transparency
The validity of identity and past performance can be checked against the open history of the blockchain
Ownership of devices can be hidden such that AV’s are valued purely against past performance
Transparent immutable ledger allows transaction history to be viewed by all
Third party arbitrators will be required to settle disputes between buyers and sellers
Arbitrators will have their own identity and be evaluated by users by past history
Arbitration could potentially be automated in certain cases. RFID technology is incorporated to determine whether a package has arrived. Owner of that RFID infrastructure acts as an autonomous party that can monetize its arbitration service
Open ledger allows insurers to enter and provide service on the foundation of universal data

Discovery

Peer-to-Peer node system based on Ethererum’s node discovery algorithm
Each node represents an AV identity
Allows devices to easily “discover” each other

Communication

Communication can occur on-chain or off-chain
Unified network built on Ethereum allows on-chain communication through smart contracts
Peer-to-peer node system for non-smart contract, non-token communication
Peer-to-peer nodes allows sidechain development such that pre-existing companies can operate their own networks and incorporate them into the open DAV platform

Mission Flow

Communication for services occurs via stages of bidding, service fulfillment, and payment
Off-chain peer-to-peer transactions, but enforced by on-chain smart contracts. Helps with scalability

Payment

Decentralized ledger enables secure and immutable transactions via blockchain
DAV will purchase tokens (“incentive tokens”) to subsidize infrastructure growth

Tokenomics

Distribution:

Hard Cap — 38 Million USD

40% Token Sale
25% Bounties and Partnerships
20% Long-Term Budget
15% Team and Advisors (Vested)

Proceeds of that 40% Token Sale (38 Million USD)

45% R&D (17.1 M)
20% Expansion (7.6 M)
15% Marketing/Business Development (5.7M)
10% General Admin (3.8 M)
10% Legal/Compliance (3.8M)

Total token supply has yet to be released. When asked, the telegram team replied that further details are to be “released soon”.

Token Usage

DAV is a utility token in the purest sense. It is paid for a service and earned by providing a service.

Earn DAV

by renting out an autonomous vehicle, car/drone/etc.
by renting use of infrastructure (rechargers/docking bays)
by providing support services (repair/insurance/arbitration)

Spend DAV

to rent autonomous vehicle services, to transport goods or people/etc

It should be noted that users of token need not be human. In an autonomous future, the smart machines themselves will be able to make purchases/request support service.

DAV Infrastructure

Participation in DAV’s network means access to infrastructure like power rechargers/docking bays/etc. Support services like charging, docking, repair and rescue can be paid for in DAV tokens. This provides an economic incentive to invest in and grow the infrastructure as owners will earn DAV for the support they provide to AVs. The DAV network also opens up an opportunity for third parties to earn DAV tokens by providing services that manage counterparty risk. The open ledger aspect, leveraged from blockchain, also provides the opportunity for insurance providers to offer coverage and arbitrators to settle disputes on the basis of an universal and transparent information of the open ledger. Tokens can also be earned by developing on the open source platform and being paid via bounties.

In addition to funding software developers, the DAV foundation plans to incentivize investors to grow its platform by subsidizing the cost of manufacturers, infrastructure and support services. This will be done via the use of “incentive tokens”, which would be bought by the DAV Foundation at market price (to avoid the flood of “free tokens”) and to foster development.

Advisors

Breaking website convention, DAV advisors are listed ahead of the team. They really emphasize the past experience of their advisors with big name companies/projects such as GM, UPS, SAP, Ethereum, and Bancor.

They also push their ex-NASA astronaut who is an advisor, particularly in their YouTube video. Such tactics seem like a marketing ploy meant to bring flash and stir interest. Regardless, one cannot deny the high quality of people involved, experienced professional who have held high calibre positions across relevant industries.

Notable advisors include Dr. Alan Messer from GM, Samsung and Sony; Astronaut Dr. Scott Horowitz; Software engineer from Google, Nick Johnson; and Eyal Hertzog, co-founder of Bancor.

Dr. Alan Messer: Automotive Advisor

VP of Software and Innovation & CTO of Global Connect Consumer Experience at General Motors
VP Head of Advanced Software Technology at Samsung
Experience with HP and Sony Electronics
Education: PhD, Distributed Operating Systems

Dr. Scott Horowitz: Aerospace Advisor

Former NASA astronaut
President of Doc’s Aerospace LLC
Education: PhD, Aerospace Engineering

Jay Adelson: Internet Infrastructure Advisor

Multi-founder of Equinix, Revision3, and Opsmatic
CEO of Digg, SimpleGeo
Member of several Board of Directors
Education: BSc, Film and Broadcasting, Concentration in Computer Science

Dr. Greg Colvin : Technology Advisor

Core Developer for Ethereum Foundation
Key Engineer for Ethereum Virtual Machine
Education: PhD, Quantitative Psychology

Priyanka Khaitan: IoT Advisor

Head of Emerging Technologies of SAP — Big Data, IoT, Autonomous Agents
Former Global VP — Strategic Projects & Initiatives at SAP
Been with SAP since 2000
Education: Computer Science & Mathematics

Nick Johnson: Blockchain Advisor

Creator and Chief Developer of Ethereum Name Service
Founder of Ether Cards
Software engineer and architect in Ethereum and Google
Education: BSc, Computer Science

Jerome Ferguson: Autonomy Advisor

Director of Advanced Technologies at UPS
Expert with over 31 years in logistics and emerging technologies
Experience with drones, driverless vehicles, and robotics in supply chains
Education: MS, Information Technology Management

Eyal Hertzog: Crypto-economics Advisor

Co-Founder and Product Architect at Bancor
Founder of MetaCafe and Contact Networks
Former head of IT with Israeli Defense Forces in Intelligence Unit 8200

Core Team

Noam Copel — CEO and Founder

Co-Founder of MetaCafe along with advisor Eyal Hertzog
Multi-Founder of several startups
Education: BSc, Computer Science

Tal Ater — CTO and Co-Founder

Noteworthy point is his recent invitation to the W3C — his GitHub reveals he is working on creating standards on automotive projects with the W3C.
W3C The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web.
Former VP of Product Management at Somoto Inc.

John Frazer — CCO

Web, design, and social media marketing experience since 1997
External Relations Lead for Ethereum Foundation
Education: MBA

Joe Lopardo — CMO

Multi-Founder of several crypto startups
Has over a decade in marketing experience with Contently which boasts of clients such as Google, Oracle, Salesforce, and SAP.

The team for DAV form a strong core who are well-versed in blockchain. CEO and Founder, Noam Copel and advisor Eyal Hertzog both founded MetaCafe. Copel is a multi-founder of several startups and is listed as a Security Expert at Blockchain.com — a blockchain explorer. Tal Ater is the CTO and Co-Founder of DAV, and may be the most technically proficient of the team. He was recently invited to work with the W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium led by Sir Tim Berners-Lim) on automotive programming.

Partnerships:

DAV is listed as a member (DAV Foundation) of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUSVI), which is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering autonomous vehicles and robots. Notable members include Amazon, UPS, FEDEX, Intel, Lockheed Martin, and the list goes on.

Bancor partnership will provide token liquidity via their platform. The co-founder of Bancor is an advisor to DAV.

AmaZiX is a “community management” company which is quickly becoming a customer relations/marketing powerhouse in crypto. They can be found managing the telegram of every other new ICOs.

Blockchain IL is an Israeli consultancy for ICOs.

Social Metrics

Facebook — about 1600 likes
Twitter — about 2200 followers
Telegram—about 5600 users
Reddit — about 240 subs
Google Trends ,“DAV Network” — sporadic, peaking big recently
Bitcoin Talk — around 3200 reads
GitHub — very active
YouTube — no interviews yet with personalities

Overall social metrics would indicate a project that currently has low awareness, but seems on the cusp of a breakout. An active GitHub indicates very active development by the DAV team.

Roadmap/Catalysts

DAV has 4 major milestones to showcase proof of concept in the near future. It has ambitious targets for this year which should be monitored closely.

MVP #1 — (Q1 2018)

AV will autonomously bid for delivery services, complete them, and get paid using DAV token

MVP #2 — (Q2 2018)

AV will pay for its own battery replacement

MVP #3 — (Q3 2018)

AV will pay robot to complete its delivery service

MVP #4 — (Q4 2018)

Delivery drone flight using rechargeable stations

Other notable dates include Q4 2018, non-autonomous ride hailing service and Q2 2019, in which a decentralized non-autonomous delivery service would be released. When asked on the Telegram about these events, they were unable to further elaborate on the details. Note that the Telegram is managed by AmaZix, who are third-party community representatives. So it was not a core member who replied.

These exact applications are not described in the current white paper. But it seems they could be further proofs of concept for DAV’s platform. It may be they will first ease non-autonomous transportation onto the platform as it may be a long time before we live in full of autonomous vehicles.

Challenges

DAV necessitates a world where autonomous vehicles are pervasive and regulation/legal framework has been fully developed. It could be some time before we such a world exists.

DAV is attempting to combine a future technology (AVs) with another still in its infancy, blockchain. Though, this could be blessing in disguise as it places DAV at the very forefront of these emerging technologies. Overall, the road to development will likely be one with many challenges, both technological and possibly regulatory.

DAV is an open source project that will rely on others (likely big name companies) to progress AV tech on its open source platform. The AUSVI connection does provide a pre-existing framework for the DAV foundation to communicate with companies like Amazon and UPS who may likely be using AVs on a mass scale in the future.

DAV must foster these relationships. It must ensure its open source platform is the definitive space to develop AVs and bring incompanies who could otherwise opt to create private networks.

IOTA is an infrastructure for all smart devices. It has a broader scope than DAV, which is focused chiefly on autonomous vehicles, so IOTA has the potential to offer a network that is more inclusive than DAV. Entire “smart cities” could be run on IOTA. The question will be if IOTA chooses to focus its resources on AVs specifically.

IOTA is already exploring its own applications for AVs, with considerations for developing infrastructure for AVs like smart charging stations. In terms of corporate partnerships, IOTA is ahead as they have collaborations with the multi-billion automotive manufacturer BOSCH who recently announced they will be trialing IOTA in Autonomous cars.

Can DAV find its own corporate partner? It certainly has a comms-line straight to many huge companies through its AUSVI membership. Commercial entities like UPS, Amazon or Fedex could benefit greatly by integrating with the open ecosystem of development that DAV seeks to build, as could industrial/manufacturing entities like General Electric or Lockheed Martin.

Will DAV be able to fund and fully grow the infrastructure required for a universal AV network? It is only raising $38 million from its crowdsale. The cost of building/incentivizing infrastructure growth could increase exponentially and the attrition of a long development schedule could mean financial hardship for the foundation. If DAV does not receive private/government funding or a corporate partnership, it may depend on the speculative value of its tokens to fund its development.

Project Projection

DAV is an extremely ambitious project with grand goals. Its disruptive potential is astronomical, as it intends to create the autonomous vehicle hub of the future. However, the road to autonomous vehicles could be far away and so the project is certainly a long-term play. What DAV has is a team with exceptional skills and with tons of relevant industry experience. So while the future DAV seeks to serve it not yet here, it does have the personnel and vision to help create this future. Development will be costly and arduous, so it may be essential for DAV to form close partnerships with large corporate entities to survive the journey ahead. Overall, sentiment for this project could be described as “earnestly optimistic”.

Website — Whitepaper — Telegram — Medium

This is not financial advice. It is merely the perspective of an individual.

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