autonomous car
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An autonomous Cruise vehicle left police confused when they tried to pull it over
The future is a weird place.
California makes zero-emission autonomous vehicles mandatory by 2030
Starting in 2030, California will require all light-duty autonomous vehicles that operate in the state to emit zero emissions.
Waymo had to rescue an autonomous van that was confused by safety cones
Programming a computer to understand and navigate roads designed for human drivers is hard.
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 and Baidu both keen on investing in self-driving tech
Auto manufacturer Ford and Chinese search company Baidu are hard at work resarching self-driving technology, but are obviously looking for ways to make it simpler to get things done. The two companies have just announced a joint investment of $150 million in Velodyne, a firm that creates LIDAR sensors.
A closer look at the crazy car tech of CES 2015
Over the past few years, the world of connected automobiles has exploded. Self-driving cars, heads-up displays and in-car infotainment systems have become mainstays of CES and this year was no exception. Join us as we take a visual tour of Mercedes' futuristic F 015 road-ready lounge, Audi's indestructible rear-seat Android tablets and everything in between. This is the wild world of automotive tech at CES 2015. For more automotive technology and beyond, check out our 2015 CES Field Guide.
Riding in Audi's 150MPH self-driving RS 7, the anti-Google car
Until last week, the sum of my autonomous driving experience was sitting behind the wheel while a car parked itself, and the sum of my track experience involved squeezing my lanky frame into a comically small go-kart. Audi changed that recently, giving me the opportunity to sit in its self-driving RS 7 Concept while it traversed the Ascari racetrack in southern Spain. It's the same car that recently broke the autonomous speed record in Germany, hitting 240KPH (149MPH) at the Hockenheimring. Rather than aiming to improve on its record, Audi is at Ascari to test its "piloted driving" system against the circuit's more-challenging corners. It's also there to see how people react to being driven, at speed, around the track.
University of Michigan will open fake city to test self-driving cars this fall
The University of Michigan will open the doors to its unique Mobility Transformation Facility this fall to test automated and wirelessly connected vehicles. The 32-acre research center will give researchers at the school access to roadways, a four-lane highway, city streets with road signs and street lights, roundabouts and all manner of road surfaces. For a dash of fun, pop-up pedestrians and mechanized bikes add a bit of motion to the mix to simulate any of a million worst-case scenarios. Street lights, for example, could be programmed to turn completely off and bicycles could unexpectedly roll out from between parked cars.
Google's self-driving cars will return to roots, tour California
Thanks to a new law passed in California, Google's driverless cars might soon be stuck in its traffic with all the other hapless commuters. Although they won't hit the highway yet, like they can in Nevada, the bipartisan bill will allow bureaucrats to craft safety and performance standards -- letting the robotic rigs roll (with licensed minders) in the near future. Joining Hawaii, Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma with similar legislation, the state hopes to reduce carnage on the roads caused by human error, and is backed by Google, the California Highway Patrol and various civic, auto and tech clubs. Of course, given that it was birthed in Google's Mountain View X lab, it's only natural that the autonomous EV should be allowed to roam free on its home turf.
Google asks car makers 'Ullo John, wanna self-driving motor?'
Larry Page's tenure as Googler-in-chief has heralded the death of many ambitious experiments, but even he refuses to kill the self-driving car. His project head, Anthony Levandowski, has now asked the car makers of Detroit to sign up with Mountain View for hardware testing, saying that if driverless cars are not ready by the next decade, then it's "shame on us as engineers." There's still some way to go before the tech is road-worthy, but Google is already working with insurers to work out how your car is going to handle making that call to Geico when things go wrong.
Autonomous Audi TTS scales Pikes Peak in 27-minute climb
They said they'd do it, and by golly, it's been done -- a specially-equipped Audi TTS drove the entire 12.42 miles and 156 precarious turns of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb without a driver at the wheel. (Google, eat your heart out.) While the vehicle technically performed the feat about a month ago in September, Audi decided to wait until this last week to proclaim it to the world, following a helicopter accident during filming that sent pilot Jim Dirker to the hospital. Thankfully, he survived to fly another day, and at least some of the footage pulled through as well; you'll find a brief clip after the break of the shiny white Quattro autonomously speeding up that hill.
Self-driving taxi picks you up at the press of a button (video)
Who needs safety drivers? Not Germany's Freie University, that's for sure, which has just demonstrated a self-driving taxi to rival Google's efforts without a soul at the wheel. This laser, radar and sensor-equipped VW Passat, dubbed "Made in Germany," has a companion iPad app from Appirion to do all the hard work, too -- you just start the program, punch in coordinates and wait for the car to extract itself from a nearby parking lot and pick you up from school. Ladies and gents, the future is now. Watch it right after the break. [Thanks, Tim]
Marines field autonomous support vehicles based on winning robot design (video)
Since their third-place finish in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, TORC Technology's had quite a climb -- the company founded by Virginia Tech graduates has since provided IED-scouting Humvee kits to the US Military, and a vehicle for the blind uses the drive-by-wire platform that they designed. Now, the Marines are testing a TORC kit called the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS), which autonomously navigate off-road terrain. Designed to accompany ground troops, the four prototypes only move at 5 MPH, but carry up to 1800 pounds, and can automatically follow troops (or other GUSS) at a distance while shouldering their loads. A one pound transmitter -- the WaySight -- can show the GUSS where to go, or optionally enable direct control for soldiers who prefer things the old-fashioned way. Personally, we love the smell of autonomy in the morning, don't you? See it in action after the break.
NC State's computer vision software promises improved self-driving vehicles
Well, NC State researchers sure seem to be keeping themselves busy these days, with them not only recently developing some improved smart sensors, but some computer vision software that could one day lead to self-driving vehicles. The big advantage with their software is that it's basically able to watch the road and recognize real world driving conditions a few steps in advance -- lane changes, stop signs, etc. -- while also watching out for other cars and pedestrians. Of course, at the moment, that "road" is actually the hallways of NC State, and the vehicle is a toy Jeep, but you get the idea. The researchers are also quick to point out that while the software could eventually lead to truly autonomous vehicles, they first see it being used in the event of an emergency, with the car able to slowly and safely pull itself over and then dial 911. Head on past for a quick overview, local news style.
Stanford builds robotic Audi for racing, robotic Volkswagen for parking
You can make a robotic car, and you can make a robotic car -- and it looks like Stanford is leading the charge on the no compromises approach with its new driverless Audi TTS. That, of course, is only the latest in a long line of robotic cars from the folks at Stanford, and it looks like it's also by far their most ambitious, as it's going above and beyond the usual DARPA challenges in the hope of breaking a few records and winning a few races. In fact, the car apparently already holds the "unofficial" speed record for an automous car at 130 miles per hour and, in the long term, Stanford hopes that it'll be able to complete the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which stretches some twenty kilometers and includes no less than 156 turns. To balance all that adreneline, the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory at Stanford has also developed a new VW Passat "valet system" that may not win any races, but can sure do some mean parallel parking. Videos of both after the break, more details a few hands-off impressions courtesy of BotJunkie at the links below. Read - BotJunkie, "Stanford's New Robotic Audi TTS Knows How To Drift, Will Tackle Pikes Peak Next Year" Read - BotJunkie, "VAIL Demonstrates Autonomous Valet Parking System"
University of Essex developing autonomous model car
DARPA's Grand Challenge certainly snags a majority of the spotlight when talking about autonomous vehicles, but researchers at the University of Essex are looking to tackle the idea on a (literally) smaller scale. Seeking to craft a "driverless model car," the project will reportedly utilize a standard remote control model vehicle, which will be flanked by a PC, camcorder, and a bevy of sensors. Supposedly, the software that will be riding on board will allow the vehicle to be "entirely autonomous" by recognizing obstacles, making tactical decisions, and driving itself around a test track. The team responsible for the prototype hopes that this small-scale, low-cost endeavor will "pave the way" for autopilot cars of the future, and considering the problems we mere humans are already having with newfangled technology, that day can't come soon enough.[Via Slashdot]
