DriverlessCars
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Google's self-driving cars hit the rainy streets of Washington state
Google is expanding its self-driving car test to the rainy and hilly city of Kirkland, Washington. In fact, citizens of the Seattle suburb have probably already noticed one of the company's Lexus RX450h SUV driving around over the past few weeks mapping the roads. The rest of the fleet of autonomous vehicles will be hitting the road next month.
Helicopter and six-wheeler make a mean, crewless recon team
Why send humans into dangerous territory when you can send unmanned helicopters and six-wheelers instead? In an impressive mashup of autonomous transportation, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky have shown the two vehicles working together without on-board operators. During the demonstration, a modified Black Hawk helicopter picks up a chunky Land Tamer with a large cage, before flying 12 miles and releasing it at a designated drop-zone. The ground vehicle then navigates the leafy terrain for six miles, with a remote driver occasionally chipping in to explore particularly hazardous sites.
Formula E is planning the first racing series for driverless cars
It was only last year that Formula E made its debut as the first racing series exclusively for electric cars. Now, after just two seasons of championships, its organizers are already preparing for another first: a driverless racing series. The series, dubbed Roborace, will begin with the 2016-2017 season, with each one-hour event taking place directly before all the "regular" Formula E races, and on the same circuits, to boot.
See London through the eyes of a self-driving car
When a driverless car glides down the street, avoiding pedestrians and stopping at traffic lights, what exactly does it see? Is the machine's perspective of the world so different to you and me? To give us an inside look, ScanLAB Projects strapped a laser scanner to a Honda CR-V and cruised through the streets of London. Although the car was being driven by a human, the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) equipment performed similarly to how it would in a driverless car. Like radar or sonar, this involves firing a laser in every direction and then measuring the time it takes to reflect back off nearby objects. These timings are then collected, analyzed and collected again to give the car a real-time picture of its surroundings. ScanLAB Projects is a London design company that uses the technology for art and visualisation purposes; they've already scanned museums, an underground railway line and the arctic circle. Its latest video -- produced for the New York Times Magazine -- combines the LIDAR recordings from the drive for a beautiful, eery look at the city.
UK's first driverless 'pod' readies itself for public trials
Britain wants to be at the forefront of driverless car technology, so it's funding a handful of research projects that will look at different vehicle designs and how people react to them. One of those initiatives, led by Transport Systems Catapult and the RDM Group, is inching closer towards public trials today with the unveiling of a new "Lutz Pathfinder" pod. We first saw the vehicle back in February, covered with Union Jack decals, but that was actually just a prototype. The new two-seater pod unveiled this morning is far closer to completion -- it just needs to visit Oxford University's Mobile Robotics Group, where it'll be fitted with an autonomous control system. Researchers will then do a number of calibration tests on a private test track, before it's finally sent out for public testing in Milton Keynes.
UK sets the rules of the road for driverless car tests
A bunch of driverless cars are now being trialled in the UK, so it makes sense to give researchers a special kind of road-testing rulebook. After all, Britain's existing laws were never written with autonomous vehicles in mind. To support the new wave of research, the Department for Transport (DfT) has published a Code of Practice which sets out some basic ground rules for testing driverless cars on public roads. These include having a backup driver that can retake control at any moment -- similar to how Google's driverless cars operate in the US. Supervisors should also hold an appropriate UK driving licence and be familiar with new systems that might cause problems and require intervention.
This simulator wants to solve a big problem with self-driving cars: you
Self-driving cars are edging ever closer to becoming smart, reliable motors people can actually buy from their local dealerships. Google's crafted its first cheery prototype and Audi's driverless RS7 will happily whip around a test track at 150MPH. But while autonomous-vehicle technology is maturing, engineers and researchers still have plenty of challenges ahead. Many of them revolve around human interaction -- when driverless cars finally enter the public domain, they're likely to come with standard controls, including pedals and a steering wheel. Despite their ability to cruise around independently, these vehicles will require a manual override just in case the driver needs to retake control. But how exactly will that human-machine changeover play out inside the vehicle?
Mercedes will talk self-driving cars and debut a new concept at CES
If you haven't started thinking about next year's CES yet, Daimler AG has beat you to the punch. Not only will Mercedes Benz CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche be delivering a keynote about autonomous vehicle tech and its greater impacts, but he's going to debut a new concept vehicle too, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Considering the the topic of his speech and the fact that Mercedes has been showing off a semi-truck with a pretty impressive auto-pilot system for the past year or so, it isn't much of a stretch to guess this new ride will be at least semi-autonomous. Don't want to miss his address? Set a calendar reminder for 8 p.m. Pacific, January 5th, 2015 at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Or, you know, you could always come back here where we'll be covering the show from the ground. It's up to you!
MIT and Stanford will teach Ford's automated cars how to dodge obstacles
It's not enough for Ford to build automated test cars; it also has to teach those cars how to handle the road. To that end, the automaker is partnering with MIT and Stanford on research projects that will help automated (and eventually, autonomous) vehicles avoid obstacles. MIT is investigating ways to predict the movements of both pedestrians and other drivers, letting a smart car find a clear path around any hazards. Stanford, meanwhile, is developing sensor technology that could peek around big rigs and other objects that block the view ahead. It may be a long while before either project bears fruit, but the work could lead to Ford cars that deal with many emergencies by themselves.
Ford's Fusion Hybrid research car will explore our driverless future
Ford is convinced that autonomous cars are the future, and it's putting its money where its mouth is by unveiling a Fusion Hybrid variant built solely for researching driverless-car technology. The experimental machine boosts existing driver-assistance tech with four LIDAR sensors that create a 3D map of the vehicle's surroundings; while the data will only improve driver awareness in the short term, it should eventually help the car navigate on its own. Ford isn't planning a production version, so don't look for a robotic Fusion at your local dealership anytime soon. However, the project should be invaluable for translating autonomous-driving concepts into practical realities.
Nissan Leaf prototype becomes first autonomous car to hit Japanese highways (video)
Autonomous autos are somewhat old hat for commuters in California and Nevada, but Japan's only just seen one hit its public roads. After earning a license plate in September, Nissan's driverless (and electric) Leaf hit the pavement of the country's Sagami Expressway, becoming the very first self-driving car to complete a public road test on a highway in the Land of the Rising Sun. The firm's Autonomous Drive tech, which handles everything from detecting road conditions to merging into traffic, piloted the car onto the interstate, passed slowpokes and exited the freeway. Sure, this is a notable milestone for Nissan, but the company's goal to sell autos with the technology by 2020 is still a long way off.
California Governor Brown signs bill clearing use of driverless cars on public roads (video)
Google just chalked up one of the more important victories for driverless cars. California Governor Jerry Brown has signed bill SB1298 into law, formalizing the legal permissions and safety standards needed to let automated vehicles cruise on state-owned roads. While the bill lets anyone move forward with their plans, it's clear from the ceremony that local technology darling Google is the primary impetus for the measure: Brown visited Google's Mountain View headquarters to put ink to paper, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin oversaw the signing with his Google Glass eyewear on full display. If you're dying to see driverless vehicles become mainstays of the Golden State, the official act making that possible is already available to watch after the break.
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.
Nevada lets Google's driverless car hit the open road, requires it to bring a driver
Driving through Las Vegas can be distracting -- bright lights, sun-powered death rays and international Consumer Electronics Shows have a tendency to catch a geek's eye -- good thing, then, that Nevada's deemed Google fit to test its autonomous automobile on public streets. The state's Department of Transportation was tasked with penning a set of safety standards for self-driving cars last June, and is now letting the cars run amok on city streets, with a few restrictions. Mountain View's three test vehicles, for instance, will need to haul a carpool of at least two passengers before driving down the strip, one person to take the wheel in case of an emergency, and another to monitor a computer screen that details the car's planned route. Test vehicles will also don red license plates and an infinity symbol to mark them as self-driving prototypes. Nevada DMV Director Bruce Breslow says those plates will be green once the vehicles are ready for market, something he hopes to see in three to five years.
Eric Schmidt yaks it up at MWC, talks about the future like it's 1955
If you've been looking for an excuse to start using Chrome, Eric Schmidt is here to remind you, "it's free." Well, free, fast, secure and of course, on Android. After a quick demo of new Android Chrome app, Schmidt took the stage at Mobile World Congress to dream up a future of holographic projectors, driverless cars and a (Android powered) smartphone in every pocket. In short, Google's head honcho has technological expectations that make Back to the Future part II look modest. See the optimistic spiel for yourself up top, or hit the source link below to watch it on YouTube.
Nevada is getting serious about driverless cars
We were admittedly cynical last summer, when Nevada's state legislature passed a law regulating the safety of driverless cars. But maybe we shouldn't have been, because it looks like they're actually serious about it. The state has now begun fleshing out its campaign with new regulations for testing these robocars, which, of course, are still very much in their infancy. According to the Associated Press, drivers looking to test a driverless vehicle will have to first purchase a bond worth between $1 million and $3 million, depending on the specifics of their project. The data from each test, moreover, will have to be shared with state officials, and all automated vehicles must have some sort of black box-like device to securely store this information, in the event of a crash. Most interesting, however, is how humans fit into all of this. Under the state's regulations, a passenger is still considered an "operator" of the vehicle, even if he or she isn't driving. They'll be exempt from Nevada's ban on driving while texting, but they won't be able to rely on their robocar as a designated driver -- which is fine, because it's not like anyone drinks in Vegas anyway.
