autonomousvehicles
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Sony plans to test its prototype Vision-S electric car on public roads
Its big CES surprise may evolve beyond the prototype stage after all.
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.
A dispatch from inside Sony's prototype electric car
It's a miracle Sony was able to keep its electric car concept under wraps ahead of CES. In an age of leaks (and given that over ten different companies collaborated with Sony), it's an impressive feat. And the Vision-S prototype, up close, is more put-together than you might expect. I got to sit inside Sony's sales pitch for the automotive industry. The message seemed to be: "We can do cool stuff. Work with us."
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.
Stanford upgrades its driverless DeLorean for better drifting
There are few experiences more pure in this life than getting a borrowed car sideways in your local Nordstrom's parking lot. Now, digital denizens are afforded the same benefit as humans thanks to a multi-year effort by a Stanford-based research team. They've taught a DeLorean to powerslide like a pro through more than a kilometer of test track.
MIT researchers teach autonomous cars how to deal with selfish drivers
Self-driving cars are already making their way onto the roads, but there are challenges in having computers share space with human drivers. AIs tend to assume that all humans act the same and behave in predictable and rational ways -- but anyone who's driven in busy traffic knows that's not the case.
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.
Outsight's 3D camera for autonomous cars can identify clothing and ice
Outsight, a new company co-founded by former Withings CEO Cedric Hutchings, has unveiled a self-driving car camera with new types of sensing powers. The company's 3D Semantic Camera uses low-power shortwave infrared (SWIR) lasers that can scan hundreds, rather than tens of meters ahead like LiDAR. Combined with the company's algorithms, that allows it to not only "see" the full environment in real time, but pick out materials like ice, cloth and skin.
Intel's ultra-efficient AI chips can power prosthetics and self-driving cars
Even though the whole 5G smartphone thing didn't work out, Intel is still working on hard on its Loihi "neuromorphic" deep-learning chips, modeled after the human brain. Now, it has unveiled a new system, code-named Pohoiki Beach, made up of 64 Loihi chips and 8 million so-called neurons. It's capable of crunching AI algorithms up to 1,000 faster and 10,000 times more efficiently than regular CPUs for use with autonomous driving, electronic robot skin, prosthetic limbs and more.
Luminar's cheap LiDAR could be a big boost for autonomous vehicles
LiDAR (laser pulse-based radar) is an essential component of autonomous driving, as it's what vehicles use to detect obstacles like other cars or pedestrians in order to navigate around them. But LiDAR systems aren't cheap. Now, autonomous vehicle sensor and software company Luminar has announced a new platform which will be a lower-priced alternative to current LiDAR systems.
Toyota forms a joint venture to make its own self-driving car chips
Toyota is getting into the semiconductor business, partnering with auto supplier Denso to form a new company focused on chip manufacture.
Hitting the Books: Autonomous cars will do more than drive you around
Welcome, dear readers, to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Waymo will build its self-driving vehicle fleet in Detroit
Waymo will build its autonomous vehicles in Detroit. CEO John Krafcik wrote Tuesday in a Medium post that the company will repurpose an existing facility in Motor City with the goal of being operational by mid-2019. Back in January, the company announced it had chosen southeast Michigan as the location of its new facility for the mass production of L4 autonomous vehicles, the first of its kind in the world.
Las Vegas taps Elon Musk's Boring Company for transport project
Your next visit to Las Vegas might include a peek at the possible future of transportation. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has recommended choosing Elon Musk's The Boring Company to develop an underground tunnel loop that would use autonomous electric vehicles to shuttle people around the city's Convention Center (aka the LVCC). A proposed expansion (below) would include a much larger loop that would cover much of the Strip, McCarran International Airport and Las Vegas Stadium.
Kia AI tailors vehicle interiors to passengers’ emotions
Kia is preparing for a future with autonomous cars and at CES it will be showing off its Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving System, or R.E.A.D. The company says its AI-based system can adapt vehicle interiors to a passenger's emotional state by using sensors to monitor their facial expressions, heart rate and electrodermal activity. Based on its readings, the R.E.A.D. System personalizes the cabin interior, taking into account all five senses. Part of the system also includes music-response vibration seats, which match seat vibrations to the frequencies of whatever music is being played in the cabin. The seats can also provide massages and haptic alerts connected to the vehicle's driver-assist system.
Toyota's latest self-driving test car is smarter than ever
We got a look at Toyota's first self-driving research vehicle way back during CES 2013, and now the company will introduce the updated P4 platform at CES 2019. It upgrades on the second and third generation cars with the introduction of Lexus' latest flagship sedan, the LS 500h, but it doesn't stop there. The computer managing its technology has not only become more powerful than ever before, but it's also smaller so it tucks directly against the rear seat, and it only requires power from the hybrid battery, using a 12v battery of its own just as an emergency backup.
Kroger adds driverless vehicles to its grocery delivery fleet
Earlier this year, Kroger teamed up with the self-driving startup Nuro for a grocery delivery service, and in August the company began piloting an autonomous delivery service in Arizona. At the time, the deliveries were made by a self-driving Toyota Prius fleet with safety drivers on board. But now, Kroger is adding Nuro's R1 vehicle to its fleet and the move introduces a driverless component to the company's autonomous delivery service.
Baidu taps Unity's game engine to test its self-driving cars
Unity, the same company whose 3D gaming engine brought you Cuphead and Hearthstone is now helping Chinese internet giant Baidu develop the next generation of autonomous vehicles, the two companies announced on Tuesday.
Patent describes how Lyft’s self-driving cars might communicate
Safety is a major concern when it comes to autonomous vehicles, for both the people they're transporting as well as those who are nearby. And it's not yet clear how or even if self-driving cars will communicate with the people around them. But Lyft has just been granted a patent that gives us a look at how it might be planning to address this issue. The patent describes a system that would first detect the location of individuals around the autonomous vehicle and then choose an appropriate message that could be displayed to them via screens and signs on the car itself.
