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Aptiv's self-driving Lyfts took erratic Las Vegas traffic in stride
One of the reasons that automakers are pursuing self-driving cars is that, while they'll initially be too expensive for individuals to buy, ride-hailing services give the technology a chance to mature in a way that's financially viable. Aptiv, a tier-one supplier of autonomous technology, is working hard to make sure its system is in a lot of those vehicles, and at CES this year, it showed off how that system might actually work in conjunction with Lyft.
You can’t buy a self-driving BMW until 2021 (and that’s a good thing)
At this point, if you're an automaker and you're not talking about autonomous cars, you might want to take a long, hard look at your product road map. During a briefing at its Mountain View research campus, BMW talked about how it plans to bring a Level 3 (autonomous driving in very specific circumstances where the driver should be ready to take over control) car to consumers in 2021 and deliver Level 4 and 5 ride-hail vehicles to urban pilot programs the same year. Right now, a lot of that strategy hinges on its partners while the automaker maintains the BMW brand.
Delphi buys nuTonomy to bolster its self-driving car efforts
Delphi is already a significant player in the self-driving car realm, but it's not taking any chances -- it wants whatever edge it can get. To that end, the GM spinoff just bought the autonomous driving startup nuTonomy for an up-front price of $400 million. The move theoretically "accelerates" Delphi's self-driving car plans (it's their pun, not ours) by giving it more than 100 new employees as well as access to nuTonomy's "full-stack" autonomous driving software.
Intel positions itself as the heart of autonomous vehicles
Intel's computer chip manufacturing and marketing is amazing. It's hard to read the company's name without hearing those iconic four tones in your head. But outside of making silicon faster and shoving it in nearly every computer on the planet, the company has had a pretty shoddy record of diversifying its business. Just a cursory look back at history will reveal a trail of missed opportunities.
The Future IRL: Our Jetsons future has arrived
Fictional housekeeping robots and the flying smart cars in The Fifth Element have inspired technologists to keep pushing the bounds of electronics for years, which is how we've gotten video chatting and Bluetooth in our cars. But pop culture has also served up many warnings. Who among you doesn't remember Hal, the calmly murderous computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, without shuddering in horror? If you haven't realized it yet, the technology these fictional stories foretold is being constructed in the real world right now. The reality can be awe inspiring or frightening, but should be carefully watched either way. Engadget's new video series, The Future IRL, will take on the big stories in tech and explore how companies are turning sci-fi concepts into everyday reality. This first episode focuses on self-driving cars, with engineers from Ford and Delphi explaining what challenges still lie ahead. We'll bring you a new episode twice a month so please, enjoy the ride.
AI 'friends' will help you pass the time on autonomous drives
Even more so than last year, CES 2017 was the unofficial auto show for the tech world. Automakers filled the North Hall and the Gold Lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center with self-driving prototypes and concept cars. But instead of talking about the power of Lidar or number-crunching processors, many started focusing on what the hell their passengers will do once they take their hands off the wheel.
Delphi's autonomous system will be available to automakers in 2019
Automotive supplier Delphi has made a of a habit of showing off its self-driving and other research vehicles at CES in recent years, and 2017 is no different. Except now it's ready to commit to a 2019 launch date for its self-driving suite for automakers. I got to take a ride in a specially outfitted Audi on the streets of Las Vegas and walked away impressed.
Recharging your electric car could be as simple as parking
WiTricity, one of the leaders in contactless, wireless charging is working with General Motors. The new partnership will, you guessed it, involve wirelessly charging electric vehicles. WiTricity's prototype Drive 11 park and charge system works at both 7.7 kW and 11 kW systems and could even be installed under a substrate to offer cord-free power for public parking spaces.
Delphi and MobilEye will demo their self-driving tech at CES
We'll finally get a chance to see what MobilEye's been up to since it split up with Tesla at CES 2017 in January. The company and its new partner Delphi will showcase their automated driving system called Centralized Sensing Localization and Planning (CSLP) at the yearly event in Las Vegas. They're calling CSLP the "first turnkey, fully integrated automated driving solution with an industry-leading perception system and computing platform." Their test vehicle will drive 6.3 miles of combined highway and urban roads to tackle various challenges drives face, including navigating tight city streets, looking out for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as merging on the highway.
Tesla ex-partner finds someone else to help with self-driving tech
Now that Tesla has kicked Mobileye's image recognition tech to the curb, what is its former partner going to do? Run into someone else's arms, of course. Mobileye has revealed that it's teaming up with Delphi on a self-driving platform that automakers could quickly integrate into their own cars. It'll use Mobileye's image recognition and sensor processing, while Delphi will supply the autonomous driving algorithms and a controller for camera, lidar and radar. The two will also work together on "sensor fusion" tech as well as a "driving policy" that's better at understanding the quirks of human drivers.
Delphi will test its self-driving taxi service in Singapore
Uber may be talking about it, but automotive technology parts supplier Delphi is doing it. Today the company announced a partnership with Singapore to start a pilot program for an on-demand autonomous taxi service.
This engine saves gas by shutting down most of its cylinders
The V8 Denali I'm about to drive isn't known for its fuel economy. But the huge GMC SUV isn't your usual over-sized grocery-getter. It's outfitted with Tula's engine optimizing Dynamic Skip Fire technology that reduces the amount of cylinders running at any moment to boost energy savings. So while all eight of them are firing when I take off from a stop light, once I'm at cruising speeds, the car settles into firing an average of two cylinders.
Self-driving cars involved minor accidents, but don't blame the tech
Since California began issuing permits for self-driving car tests on public roads last fall, four out of nearly 50 vehicles had minor accidents. According to an Associated Press report, three of the four were Google's Lexus SUVs outfitted with Delphi's autonomous technology. The fourth was a test vehicle owned by Delphi. In half of the fender benders, the cars were in control when the accident occurred, and all of them happened at speeds of under 10 MPH. Most importantly, all four cases resulted in minor damage and no injuries. Due to the state's privacy laws, the report doesn't indicate any further details -- like if they happened while backing out of a parking space, for example.
Verizon's Vehicle Diagnostics by Delphi now monitoring your car for $250
Who'd have thought we'd be happy to see an unassuming black box? Delphi and Verizon managed to whet our interest with their Vehicle Diagnostics kit and service at CES, and our curiosity is renewed now that the monitoring combo is available for drivers. The finished product costs a fairly steep $250 for the Delphi adapter, although it does deliver two years of free service and costs a contract-free $5 per month afterwards. Shelling out brings the promised remote troubleshooting and notifications, including alerts for any performance problems and warnings for any geofencing violations. If you're willing to pair an Android or iOS phone with the kit over Bluetooth, you can also use the smart device in place of your keys -- temporarily, we hope. Vehicle Diagnostics should work with most cars made from 1996 onward, but do some homework before any outlay: at least a few cars miss out on the full diagnostic suite, which might dampen dreams of a connected car utopia.
CES 2013: Auto roundup
Every year at CES, the focus on autos and the tech they're outfitted with grabs a fair share of the attention in Las Vegas. This installment was no different. While several companies trotted out their latest infotainment wares, the self-driving debate nabbed a prime spot as Toyota and Audi both offered show-and-tells on tech that looks to aid drivers rather than do all of the work for them. As we've come to expect, a wealth of infotainment systems were also on display with a couple in particular grabbing our attention. Not to be overlooked, devs received a number of notable invites to create system-specific offerings this time out. For a full rundown of the highlights, read on past the break for a brief synopsis.
Delphi / Verizon's Vehicle Diagnostics hands-on (video)
We first caught wind of Delphi and Verizon's new Vehicle Diagnostics service a couple of days back. Today we got to see the thing in action at the Pepcom event here at CES. The hardware is a small black plastic box that should plug into most cars sold in the US after 1996. Once inserted, it communicates wireless with your Android or iOS handset or tablet. The Delphi rep we spoke with started things off by pointing out that it does more than just the diagnostics implied by its name -- and that's certainly the case. There's a long laundry list of functionality here. He certainly had a lot to talk about. On a base-level, we're talking geo-fences, performance alerts and map tracking -- it can also mimic key functionality, so you can lock / unlock and remotely start up the engine if your vehicle supports such things. As we said, there's a long list of functionality here -- pretty impressive all in all. In fact, the Connected Car Service app takes a bit of getting used to, due to all the features. We'll let the Delphi rep take you through it the app after the break.
Delphi and Verizon launch new connectivity system: track and monitor your vehicle through your smartphone
Delphi has allied itself with Verizon to launch a new Vehicle Diagnostics service. It works through a cloud system that connects your four-wheeler to your smartphone (or internet browser), showing precisely where your car is, as well as options to secure it and check its vitals. Delphi promises the new system will work in most vehicles sold in the US since 1996 and users can pick up alerts for driving and vehicle performance issues, as well as setup geo-fences to monitor if your car goes outside specified zones. Connecting your phone to the car is done through Bluetooth and adds access to key fob commands including remote door control. The compatible smartphone app will arrive on devices running Android 2.2 or later and iOS 5.0 onwards, while the Delphi Web portal works on Internet Explorer 7, with Firefox, Chrome and Safari versions still in the works. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Video: Hands-on with Delphi's dual-view nav system
Dephi's press image for its dual-view nav screen was ridiculously janky, so we sent Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont over to investigate -- and it's pretty awesome. Check it out after the break!
Delphi shows off dual-view nav systems at CES
We're totally enamored of dual-view displays, and Delphi's demoing a dual-view nav system at CES that shows a GPS display to the driver and video to the passenger. Unlike TI's dual-view DLP rig, there are no dorky glasses required for Delphi's system to work -- it uses something called a "parallax barrier" and a special TFT LCD to do its simul-screen trick, and it includes driver's seat weight sensors to shut off the video content if your chauffeur leans over to sneak a peek. That sounds a lot like it just shows one thing to the left side and another to right -- which means sitting behind the driver just became the new bitch seat, no?Update: We've pretty certain this is the Sharp tech GM signed up for back in 2005 -- strange that it's taken two years for GM to add a couple weight sensors and ship it out to Delphi.
Updated Delphi MyFi XM2go receiver rocks the FCC
Details are a little sketch and there's only a shot of the device's battery compartment, but it looks like a new MyFi-branded XM2go receiver is on the way, cause that's what XM's telling the FCC and the FCC don't take kindly to lies. The unit, labeled as Delphi model number SA10113A and XM part number XMTSK01665-01, seems like it shares at least the same basic shape as the previous MyFi radio, but hopefully we'll get a better look at this bad boy soon.
