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Uber's former self-driving lead is working with a secretive startup
Uber's former self-driving research lead Anthony Levandowski isn't giving up on his best-known technology just because of his forced exit over alleged trade secret theft. TechCrunch has discovered that Levandowski is involved with Kache.ai, a currently secretive startup devoted to autonomous tech for the "commercial trucking industry," or the same field Levandowski has been working in for years. The firm has taken steps to hide its connections, but they're hard to avoid. California lists the business as operating at a property owned by Levandowski's father and stepmother, while TC's own sources have attached Levandowski to the company.
Uber is out to prove its self-driving cars are safe
Uber put its autonomous vehicle testing on hold following a fatal accident involving one of its cars in Tempe, Arizona. But the company now plans to resume testing in Pittsburgh and maybe San Francisco in August, according to The Information. Additionally, Uber told its employees that it will put into place 16 safety recommendations that were proposed by an internal team. The company said in a statement last month that it had been working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board as it reviewed its safety practices and it also hired former NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart to advise its safety efforts.
nuTonomy can test autonomous vehicles city-wide in Boston
Autonomous cars will now be allowed on all public Boston roads. The city has played host to nuTonomy for some time now, allowing the company to test its self-driving Renault Zoes at the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in January of last year, later expanding its testing zone to the Seaport District. And for the past few months, nuTonomy and Lyft have teamed up on a pilot program, transporting passengers in the autonomous vehicles within the Seaport area. Now, Boston will allow nuTonomy to test its vehicles city-wide.
Ohio test uses drones to monitor highway traffic
Highway traffic monitoring is frequently... less than efficient. Fixed cameras can't catch problems beyond their immediate location, while aircraft are both costly and inevitably have to fly back to a distant base to refuel. These systems may soon get a robotic upgrade, though. Ohio State University is leading a pilot program that will use drones for roadway and traffic monitoring along a 35-mile highway stretch (the Smart Mobility Corridor) between Dublin and East Liberty. The dry run will see drones feed tracking data to the Ohio Department of Transportation's Traffic Management Center to complement data from existing systems. If there's a traffic-disrupting crash or a washed-out road, this might help spot it sooner.
Uber, Waymo and others to study the 'human impact' of self-driving cars
A group of companies have just formed a new organization that will study the impact self-driving cars could have on humans, like the millions that stand to lose their jobs to autonomous vehicles in the future. The Partnership for Transportation Innovation and Opportunity (PTIO) is being formed as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit and includes Ford, Toyota, Daimler, Waymo, Uber, Lyft, FedEx and the American Trucking Association among its members. The Verge reports that in its first six months, PTIO wants to start developing a "well-rounded and data-based understanding of the impact and implications of autonomous vehicles on the future of work," collect expertise, goals and concerns from interested parties and "foster awareness of existing and near-term career opportunities for workers during the transition to a new autonomous vehicle-enabled economy."
Tesla will start enabling full self-driving features in August
Tesla has been promising true self-driving features in its cars for the better part of two years, but there has been precious little to show for it. Now, though, you might get what you paid for. Elon Musk has revealed that Autopilot version 9 should arrive in August, and Tesla will "begin to enable" the full autonomous driving features with that release. The company has "rightly focused entirely on safety" with previous versions, Musk said, but now it's time to spread its wings.
GM settles with motorcyclist over accident with self-driving Bolt
Earlier this year, Oscar Nilsson sued GM over an accident involving one of the company's self-driving Chevy Bolts. In December, according to Nilsson, the Bolt began changing lanes but then suddenly swerved back into Nilsson's lane, knocking him and his motorcycle over and causing injuries to his neck and shoulder. Now Nilsson and GM have reached a settlement. "The parties anticipate finalizing all details and filing a joint stipulation for dismissal with prejudice within thirty (30) days, or before June 29, 2018," says a court filing announcing the agreement.
SoftBank pours $2.25 billion into GM's self-driving car division
SoftBank hasn't been shy about its interest in smart cars, and it's taking that fascination to a new level. The company's Vision Fund is investing $2.25 billion in GM's self-driving vehicle unit Cruise. The cash influx will start with $900 million the moment the transaction closes, and will finish with $1.35 billion once the completely driverless Cruise AV car is ready to launch. The move will give the Vision Fund a 19.6 percent stake in Cruise -- not enough to take control, but it could easily prove influential.
NYT: Apple teams up with VW for self-driving shuttle vans
Apple's Project Titan efforts to develop self-driving car technology apparently have found a partner in Volkswagen, according to a report by the New York Times. While the paper said the tech company has pursued deals with BMW and Mercedes, it will apparently turn VW T6 Transporter vans into self-driving shuttles for employees moving between its Silicon Valley offices. We've seen some test SUVs out and about before, but Apple has had bigger plans for the project and a reported 2019 target date, so getting more vehicles on the road will be important. Now the Times says the project is behind schedule, and there's no mention of angles like electric propulsion or spherical tires. As for the competition, Waymo has continued to expand with new partners and plans to roll out an autonomous service in the near future, while Uber has suspended its efforts in Arizona after a fatal crash and Elon Musk is busy arguing with reporters over what is or isn't news. And now it's time to find out what Apple can do.
Uber shuts down self-driving operations in Arizona
After one of Uber's autonomous cars in Arizona collided with and killed a pedestrian back in March, the state's governor temporarily suspended the program pending investigation. But now the company is shutting down operations in Arizona entirely. An internal email obtained by Ars Technica, Uber executive Eric Meyhofer gave the news to its self-driving division, noting that the company hoped to start its autonomous testing in Pittsburgh this summer.
MIT teaches self-driving cars to change lanes like real drivers
Autonomous vehicles really don't know how to switch lanes as well as people do. They tend to rely on either relatively static data models that are difficult to study in the thick of traffic, or are basic enough that the car might only change lanes when it's absolutely necessary -- that is, hardly at all. MIT's CSAIL has a better way. The school has developed an algorithm that changes lanes more like humans do while respecting road safety.
Waymo tells law enforcement what to do in case of emergency
In a decade or so, law enforcement could already be used to dealing with incidents and accidents involving self-driving vehicles. For now, Waymo wants to make sure cops, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders know how to handle their driverless vehicles, so the company put together a 41-page law enforcement interaction protocol. According to IEEE Spectrum, the Alphabet-owned company has submitted the protocol to the California DMV as part of its application to test fully driverless vehicles -- ones with no human tester behind the wheel -- on its roads. And to summarize the booklet's contents (PDF), Waymo wants authorities to prioritize calling the company, immobilizing the vehicle and protecting its autonomous tech in case of emergencies.
Didi Chuxing receives permit to test self-driving cars in California
You might not hail a ride from China's Didi Chuxing unless you visit Mexico, but there's still a real chance you'll see its vehicles on the road. California's Department of Motor Vehicles has issued an autonomous vehicle testing permit to Didi's American research wing, clearing it to operate self-driving cars as long as there's a safety driver. The move comes slightly over a year after Didi opened its US research lab, suggesting the company isn't wasting much time putting its technology on the road.
Roborace's self-driving car isn't faster than a human (yet)
Ever since Roborace unveiled plans for driverless track cars, there's been a lingering question: can its technology outpace a human? The answer is a solid "no..." for now. The company used the recent Formula E race in Rome to pit its DevBot prototype car against pro drifter Ryan Tuerck, and the fleshy driver was clearly the frontrunner with a roughly 26-second lead -- you can see him claiming victory in the video below. That's still in the ballpark of what you'd expect from humans, but they wouldn't be lining up sponsorships after that kind of performance.
Uber CEO discusses self-driving cars and food delivery by drone
On the second day Uber Elevate Summit 2018, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took the stage for an interview covering everything from a recent fatal crash involving one of its self-driving cars, to his relationship with Google and Waymo, to drone deliveries.
Ohio approves self-driving car tests on public roads
Expect to see driverless cars roaming around the Buckeye State in the near future. Ohio Governor John Kasich has issued an executive order permitting self-driving car tests on public roads, adding to a small but growing list of autonomous-friendly states that includes Arizona, California and Michigan. There are conditions, of course, although they're not extremely strict at first glance.
Waymo shows how its self-driving cars navigate snow
Ask people in chillier climates if they're looking forward to self-driving cars and they'll probably just laugh. The technology has an easy time in ever-pleasant locales like California, but snow is a nightmare that obscures lanes, cars and entire roads. Waymo knows how to tackle that problem, though. In a presentation at the Google I/O keynote, the company visualized how its vehicles safely navigate a winter wonderland.
Drive.ai to launch first autonomous ride-hailing service in Texas
Texas is no stranger to self-driving car tests, but actual service? Not yet, although it's just around the corner. AI startup Drive.ai is launching the state's first autonomous ride-hailing service in Frisco this July in a pilot program with support from both the city and the Hall Group. This isn't a city-wide service. Instead, the company's vans will drive on public roads between Hall Park offices and The Star to help workers get to dining and shopping that's too far to walk, but a waste to drive.
MIT's self-driving car can navigate unmapped country roads
There's a good reason why companies often test self-driving cars in big cities: they'd be lost most anywhere else. They typically need well-labeled 3D maps to identify curbs, lanes and signs, which isn't much use on a backwoods road where those features might not even exist. MIT CSAIL may have a solution, though. Its researchers (with some help from Toyota) have developed a new framework, MapLite, that can find its way without any 3D maps.
Toyota will test risky self-driving scenarios at a Michigan track
It's not enough to test self-driving cars in realistic conditions -- if they're going to avoid crashes, they need to handle nightmare scenarios. Toyota is about to address that. It's building a closed test facility at Michigan Technical Resource Park (below) that will pit autonomous cars against "edge case" scenarios that will challenge the technology's limits. It's planning to subject vehicles to clogged urban landscapes, slick roads and even a four-lane highway with fast entrance and exit ramps.
