self-driving cars
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San Francisco asks California regulators to halt or slow the rollout of driverless taxis
San Francisco city officials have sent letters to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) asking them to slow or halt robotaxi expansion.
Beijing approves driverless taxi permits for Baidu and Pony.ai
Both companies are authorized to operate in a limited area.
UK regulators will allow drivers to watch TV in autonomous cars
With self-driving vehicles possibly arriving on UK roads later this year, the government is starting to put rules in place.
California allows companies to charge for autonomous car rides
One of the most common potential scenarios involving autonomous cars is using them as driverless taxis; both Uber and Lyft have made self-driving cars a big part of their future strategies. The possibility of hopping into a ride without a driver just got a little closer, at least in California — as spotted by The Verge, California approved two new autonomous driving programs last week that let companies charge fares for autonomous rides. The two new programs are the “Drivered Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Program” and the “Driverless Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Program,” both of which allow approved participants to offer “passenger service, shared rides, and accept monetary compensation for rides in autonomous vehicles.”
MIT helps self-driving cars ‘see’ through snow and fog
Self-driving technology has come a long way, but it can still be tripped up by bad weather. A team from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) may have a solution. They've developed a way to help autonomous vehicles "see" by mapping what's beneath the road using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
Apple hires the engineer who led the design of Tesla's car interiors
Nobody really knows -- except those inside the company -- what Apple has planned for self-driving cars, but it appears to be making moves to ensure it has the right people to be a major player. Apple has lured over another big name from its potential rival, with Steve MacManus, the former Vice President of Engineering at Tesla, joining the company.
Google researchers trained AI with your Mannequin Challenge videos
Way back in 2016, thousands of people participated in the Mannequin Challenge. As you might remember, it was an internet phenomenon in which people held random poses while someone with a camera walked around them. Those videos were shared on YouTube and many earned millions of views. Now, a team from Google AI is using the videos to train neural networks. The goal is to help AI better predict depth in videos where the camera is moving.
GM is doubling the staff for its self-driving car business
General Motors is ramping up its autonomous vehicle business. According to Reuters, the company is planning to hire 1,000 people over the next nine months to work on Cruise, a GM subsidiary that develops self-driving car technology. The hiring spree would double the amount of staff currently under the Cruise umbrella and would mark a major investment in autonomous efforts.
US DOT forms council to support emerging transportation tech
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has announced a council aimed at supporting transportation projects including hyperloops and self-driving cars. The Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council (NETT) hopes to make sure the Department of Transportation's complex structure of various administrations doesn't impede companies from deploying such tech.
Waymo will sell its lidar sensors to companies outside of self-driving cars
Alphabet subsidiary Waymo announced today that it is going to let companies use its powerful sensor technology for purposes other than self-driving vehicles. It will start by selling one of its lidars: a 3D perimeter sensor that can measure distance by sending out pulses of laser light called the Laser Bear Honeycomb. The sensor, which will only be available to select partners of Waymo, is typically used on the bumpers of autonomous vehicles.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 18: We Both Go Down Together
Managing Editor Dana Wollman and Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O'Brien to talk about the biggest tech stories of the week. First Dana and Devindra debate the value of Amazon's delivery drones and Google's... I mean Alphabet's new self-driving car company, Waymo. Plus they discuss the privacy freakout surrounding Evernote. Then all three will dig into the never ending security failures of Yahoo. Now that the company has admitted that over 1.5 billion user accounts were compromised -- and didn't say a word about it for over 2 years -- will Verizon still go through with its planned buy out? The panel certainly hopes not.
How Google's robotic cars deal with human stupidity
Like the Terminator T-800, Google's self-driving cars don't feel pity, remorse or fear. But they also never lose their patience or get distracted by smartphones, and Google has revealed data collected by its vehicles showing just how bad we human drivers can get. It said the goal with the Medium article was to improve road safety by reminding us that "driver error causes 94 percent of crashes." Program director Chris Urmson said that "our safety drivers routinely see people weaving in and out of their lanes; we've spotted people reading books, and even one playing a trumpet."
Dreaming of an Apple Car and the inevitable future of 'driving'
Apple changed the way we listen to music and use phones -- so do you really think all of the reports of a so-called Apple Car are really just about it building a car? Even creating an electric vehicle of its own to compete with Tesla doesn't seem bold enough. It is, after all, a company that doesn't typically enter a brand-new market without some idea of how to transform it (and perhaps crush the competition in the process). So what could these rumors be pointing to? There are several possibilities, including building vehicles to test Apple's CarPlay platform, as well as preparing for a world where we won't even need to drive (or own) cars. But, more importantly, they could all lead us toward an entirely new transportation model. Where we're going, we won't need cars... At least, as we know them.
Meet the Lutz pod, the UK's first driverless 'car'
We're all pretty familiar with Google's self-driving car, right? The smiley-faced automobile has been stealing headlines since its first reveal, but now the UK government wants a turn in the spotlight. A couple of months ago, we heard about a series of driverless car trials it was funding to push Britain's R&D image. That's now been backed up with an official review which concluded that automated vehicles are safe enough to be tested on public roads, provided a safety driver is present and they comply with normal traffic laws.
UK to let driverless cars loose on roads by January
Anxious to start... not driving in the UK? Though late to the party, the government has announced that driverless cars will hit the streets in three UK cities starting in January 2015. The Department of Transport also launched a £10 million ($17 million) fund to spur research and reach the deadline. Once the three cities are selected for trials, two different types of self-driving vehicles will be tested: fully autonomous cars with no driver, and self-driving models that can relinquish control to a human pilot. All of that will be laid out in new road laws now being formulated to accommodate such vehicles.
California's new self-driving car regulations prohibit falling asleep at the wheel
California is fine with car makers test-driving autonomous vehicles on its roadways, but the DMV now has some rules on exactly how. Under new regulations, drivers (or riders as the case may be) will need to be official testers on a manufacturer's payroll and go through a special training program to get a yearlong permit. They'll also have to remain attentive behind the wheel -- so no napping on the way to work yet -- and notify the DMV if they're in an accident or have to override the car's manual controls for any reason. When it comes to cars, it's not a free-for-all. Manufacturers will need to apply for a permit for each individual vehicle, and cars are required to have at least five million dollars worth of liability insurance.
Google reportedly working on its own car, considering autonomous taxi service
It's no secret that Google has been slowly but surely finding its way into the automotive industry, as it's already been working with manufacturers to build self-driving cars for quite some time. However, according to Amir Efrati, a former star reporter for the Wall Street Journal, the software giant is looking to drive a few extra miles down that road by designing and building cars of its own. The company has been in talks with component suppliers like Continental AG and Magna International in the hopes that it could put together an entire car under Google's command. The idea, Efrati says, is to put more pressure on car brands to develop autonomous driving tech, regardless of if Google is directly involved or not. So what would Google do with such a vehicle built under its direct supervision and brand? One idea on the drawing board is a "robo-taxi" service, which is exactly how it sounds: a self-driving car would come and pick you up and drop you off at your destination; at first, a human would need to be behind the wheel just in case, but that could easily change as the tech progresses and becomes more reliable. Steer toward the source link for a few more details about the thought process behind Google's efforts.
Google's self-driving cars take TED attendees for a wild ride
Google gave folks a brief glimpse at its super secret self-driving cars last fall, but nothing like what it's just showed off at the TED conference that's happening this week in Long Beach, California. The company is not only actually letting attendees inside the autonomous car for a first-hand demonstration, but it's intentionally stepped things up to an "aggressive" level to show just how capable the car really is -- we're talking squealing tires and really tight cornering (all on a closed course, naturally). Head on past the break for a view from both inside and outside of the car courtesy of Search Engine Land.
