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Lyft’s autonomous vehicle partner Magna is done with self-driving tech
Two years after teaming up with Lyft to collaborate on self-driving technology, Magna said that partnership's coming to an end. The auto parts maker plans to focus on assisted driving products, instead of fully autonomous tech.
Bosch is finally making LiDAR sensors for autonomous cars
Bosch says it's developed production-ready LiDAR sensors for use in vehicles. It's hoping to keep costs down by making them at scale. That way, it might be able to offer them at a lower price and bolster more widespread adoption of autonomous driving systems.
Toyota will offer rides in self-driving cars at the Tokyo Olympics
Toyota has revealed details of an upcoming public test for its level-4 automated vehicle and "Chauffeur" self-driving tech, and sports fans headed to Tokyo next year for the Olympic Games will have the chance to try it out. The automaker is offering rides in the car between July and September in the busy waterfront district of Odaiba.
Ford is bringing its self-driving cars to Austin, Texas
Ford has announced it will bring its self-driving cars to Austin. The Texas state capital joins Miami and Washington, DC as initial launch markets for the company's autonomous vehicle service. It's also testing the cars in Detroit, Palo Alto and Pittsburgh.
Apple hires former Tesla and Microsoft senior designer
Apple has hired Andrew Kim, formerly of Tesla and Microsoft, to bolster its design team. Kim captured the attention of many in 2011 with a custom iOS device stand and again in 2012 when, as a fan, he shared his vision for an overhaul of Microsoft's branding and design language. He then joined Microsoft and helped design the Windows 10 UI along with HoloLens and Xbox One S, he writes on his LinkedIn profile, before moving to Tesla.
Uber puts self-driving cars back on the road in scaled-down test
Eight months after one of Uber's self-driving cars fatally struck a pedestrian, the company is getting ready to resume testing of its autonomous vehicles on public roads. However, according to internal sources, there are concerns about the program's safety, with some employees claiming corners are being cut in a bid to reach milestones and keep up with competitors.
LG drafts in its TV chief to save its mobile business
LG is shaking things up with a leadership change to its troubled mobile unit and the launch of two new divisions, dedicated to robotics and autonomous vehicles respectively. The company's smartphone arm has suffered seven consecutive quarters of operating losses. Hoping for a revival, LG is handing the keys to the division to its home entertainment boss, Brian Kwon, who takes charge starting next month.
Daimler and Bosch pick San Jose for autonomous taxi trial
Mercedes' parent company Daimler and automotive supplier Bosch announced back in 2017 their plans to get autonomous vehicles on the road "by the beginning of the next decade." Now, the partnership is getting ready to roll out testing, and has earmarked San Jose for a pilot trial in the second half of 2019.
GM's self-driving car reportedly has trouble recognizing pedestrians
It seems that General Motors' self-driving car unit, Cruise, is running into major difficulties, and will likely not be able to hit its late 2019 launch target. Sources close to the project have told Reuters that engineers have been hitting unexpected technical challenges, like being able to detect objects if objects are in motion. For example, vehicles would hesitate or stop when passing a row of parked bicycles, would mistakenly see "phantom bicycles" that caused jerky stops, and would even fail to recognize pedestrians. "Nothing is on schedule," one GM source told Reuters, as Cruise has already missed mileage targets and milestones.
Audi: Autonomous cars alone won’t solve traffic jams
It's easy to think that once cars start driving themselves most of our traffic woes will be eliminated. Robocars are supposed to be better drivers and better driving should mean less gridlock. Unfortunately, that drop in bumper-to-bumper hell won't be as big as we all hoped, according to Audi's research.
Tesla is quietly making its own AI chip for self-driving cars
In a recent earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the automaker has been 'stealth' developing a custom-built AI chip for at least two years.
Roborace is still pursuing its driverless race-car dream
Clearly, Roborace doesn't believe in bad luck. Last week, on Friday the 13th, the company chose to run its self-driving Robocar in front of a feverish crowd at England's Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was only the second time the team had demonstrated its futuristic vehicle publicly, following an unassisted lap in Paris roughly 13 months ago. There was no room for error. The absence of a human cockpit gives the car an unusually low profile. Its delicate curves were drafted by Daniel Simon, a concept-vehicle designer who has contributed to science-fiction blockbusters including Tron: Legacy, Prometheus and Oblivion. The robot racer's shape resembles a Formula 1 car, the Batmobile and a heat-seeking missile mashed together. The machine moved slowly, though, up the famous hill-climb course. Well, slowly compared with the other vehicles that had tackled the Goodwood track that day. Roborace had capped the car at 125 KMH (roughly 78 MPH) to ensure it completed the route safely. In the world of motorsport, that's pretty slow. The robot's racing line, too, was conservative. It stuck to the center of the road, leaving plenty of tarmac on either side as it both entered and exited each corner. Ayrton Senna da Silva, it was not. Still, the drive was a milestone for the British startup. Thousands hugged the track-side hay bales and watched as the car zipped toward the finish line. In a little under two minutes, it had completed the course and returned to its dormant state. The Roborace team could breathe a sigh of relief.
Comma.ai's driver assist system is a robot chauffeur for the rest of us
Autonomous vehicle technology is just starting to go mainstream, which means, for the most part, it's still only available to those who can afford a Tesla with Autopilot or a Cadillac with SuperCruise. Both of those cars start at around 60 to 70 grand by the way. So where's the digital chauffeur for the rest of us? Enter Comma.ai.
Daimler and Bosch will use NVIDIA to power self-driving taxis
Putting self-driving cars on the streets requires a lot of computing power. Most test cars on the road have PC towers in their trunk that take up space, suck up power and produce a lot of heat. With that in mind Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz) and Bosch have announced they will be using the NVIDIA Drive Pegasus self-driving AI platform.
Recommended Reading: Self-driving cars still have a lot to learn
Self-driving cars are headed toward an AI roadblock Russell Brandom, The Verge It's no secret that the auto industry is racing towards production of fully autonomous vehicles. A number of companies say they can achieve the feat in the next year or so; however, critics say it may be a while longer before you're able to completely relax during your commute. The Verge explains why AI experts argue self-driving cars could be years or maybe decades away from being able reliably avoid accidents.
Kroger teams with startup Nuro for driverless grocery delivery
Today, Kroger announced it is partnering with self-driving vehicle startup Nuro in order to deliver groceries directly to customers' homes, according to Reuters. It's not clear where the test program will take place. Nuro is still obtaining regulatory approval for the project to take place.
California will allow autonomous cars to pick up passengers
California is launching two pilot programs that will allow autonomous vehicles to pick up passengers in the state, the San Francisco Examiner reports. One will let companies pick up passengers with their self-driving cars as long as a safety driver is behind the wheel. The other will allow for passenger pickup without a driver in the autonomous vehicle -- though the company will be required to have humans monitoring the cars remotely. "I am pleased to launch these pilot programs as part of the evolution of the passenger transportation system in California," California Public Utilities Commissioner Liane Randolph said in a statement. "Our state is home to world-class innovative companies and I look forward to these services being offered with the high level of safety that we expect from our passenger service providers."
Waymo will add 62,000 Chrysler hybrid minivans to its fleet
We heard in January that Waymo was expanding its agreement with Chrylser for 'thousands' of additional hybrid minivans, which would start being delivered in late 2018. Apparently, that was an understatement. Today, news emerged that the automaker will supply the autonomous car company with 62,000 its family vehicles.
Apple now has more than 50 autonomous cars on the road
Apple has more than doubled the number of its self-driving cars, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has confirmed. Since obtaining a permit to test autonomous vehicles, Apple's fleet size has steadily risen -- from a scant three test cars, to 27 in January, and now, 55 intelligent machines. Should the program remain on course, consumers could be chilling out in the driver's seat by 2019.
Uber crash reportedly caused by software that ignored objects in road
Uber has reportedly discovered that the fatal crash involving one of its prototype self-driving cars was probably caused by software faultily set up to ignore objects in the road, sources told The Information. The autonomous programming detects items around the vehicle and operators fine-tune its sensitivity to make sure it only reacts to true threats (solid objects instead of bags, for example). Unfortunately, the car's software was supposedly set too far in the other direction, and didn't stop in time to avoid hitting bicyclist Elaine Herzberg.
