self-drivingcar
Latest
Alibaba is the latest Chinese internet giant to test self-driving cars
China's Alibaba Group has been testing its own autonomous vehicle technology, the South China Morning Post reports, and is looking to hire an additional 50 self-driving vehicle experts. Alibaba's rivals Baidu and Tencent have also been working on autonomous technology and last month, Baidu received the go-ahead from the Chinese government to begin testing its technology on Beijing roads. Tencent reportedly sent one of its autonomous vehicles for a ride on a Beijing highway earlier this month.
Ford's self-driving car network will launch 'at scale' in 2021
Ford hasn't been shy about its plans for a self-driving car network in 2021, including its hopes of fielding a purpose-built vehicle that year. However, there have been questions about the size -- will this be like the services we've seen so far, where one city gets a limited taste of the autonomous future? Thankfully, no. Ford's Jim Farley told the Financial Times in an interview that the automaker's self-driving car network will be running "at scale" in 2021. It launched its recent Miami pilot precisely so that it "can scale [by] then," the executive said, not to merely get the ball rolling.
Apple patent taps VR to ease motion sickness in self-driving cars
The US Patent and Trademark Office has published an Apple patent application that details a pretty neat VR system. Spotted by Patently Apple, it's meant to be used in vehicles -- including self-driving vehicles -- and Apple pitches it as a way to mitigate motion sickness. But the company also describes a lot of other interesting applications, many of which could be used to turn a standard ride in an autonomous car into a business meeting, a concert or an exciting, zombie-filled adventure.
Uber trucking exec Lior Ron is leaving the company
The fallout from Uber's fatal self-driving car collision may extend to its leadership. A CNBC source has claimed that Lior Ron, the co-creator of Otto and thus the co-founder of Uber's trucking unit, has left the company. While it's not certain why he would have left, the exit would come just days after the Arizona crash that took the life of a cyclist. We've asked Uber for comment, but it declined to comment to CNBC beyond saying it remained "fully invested in and excited about" the Uber Freight business Ron has overseen since joining the transportation tech giant.
NVIDIA reportedly suspends its self-driving tests on public roads
NVIDIA will suspend all of its public road self-driving tests following Uber's fatal accident, a company spokesperson has told Recode. The company supplies chips for Uber's self-driving vehicles and it says that it needs to find out more about last week's crash. "The accident was tragic," a spokesperson said in a statement. "It's a reminder of how difficult [self-driving car] technology is and that it needs to be approached with extreme caution and the best safety technologies."
Arizona governor suspends Uber's self-driving car tests
As the investigation into last week's fatal crash where an autonomous Uber SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, AZ, the state's governor has suspended Uber's permission to test its cars there. While the company had already halted testing nationwide after the test, this is a turnaround after Gov. Doug Ducey (R) had welcomed self-driving testing from many companies with open arms in a relationship that stretches back a few years. Just a few weeks ago Ducey updated his autonomous vehicle executive order to allow testing without a safety driver. In this crash, there was a test driver behind the wheel, but neither they nor the car reacted in time to avoid a woman who crossed in front of the car. In a letter to Uber, the Wall Street Journal reports Ducey said "my expectation is that public safety is also the top priority for all who operate this technology in the state of Arizona..The incident that took place on March 18 is an unquestionable failure to comply with this expectation." In a statement to Engadget, an Uber spokesperson said "We proactively suspended self-driving operations in all cities immediately following the tragic incident last week. We continue to help investigators in any way we can, and we'll keep a dialogue open with the Governor's office going forward."
Jaguar Land Rover tests autonomous parking on public roads
Plenty of cars will help you park, but the biggest challenge is frequently finding a spot in the first place -- it's no fun to circle the parking lot for 10 minutes. Fully autonomous cars can ultimately take care of this, but Jaguar Land Rover is demonstrating a feature that would help in the meantime. It recently expanded its public semi-autonomous testing in the UK to include a "self-driving valet" where vehicles both find open spaces and park themselves. The company pitches it as eliminating some of the drudgery of driving, letting you take the wheel when you'd genuinely enjoy it.
Tempe Police release in-car video from fatal self-driving Uber crash
The Tempe Police department has released video (warning: this video may be disturbing to some) taken by the interior and exterior cameras of the Uber SUV that struck and killed a woman, Elaine Herzberg, on Sunday night. The video shows the immediate moments before the crash, and the police said that the Vehicular Crimes Unit is actively investigating.
Toyota halts autonomous car testing on public roads
Uber's fatal pedestrian collision is producing a ripple effect in the self-driving car industry. Toyota has temporarily halted public tests of its Chauffeur autonomous system due to the potential "emotional effect" on its human drivers. It's not certain how long the pause will last or whether this is prompting a review of Toyota's technology.
Uber may offer its self-driving technology to Toyota
Lyft and Waymo might not be the only ridesharing companies developing self-driving technology with hopes of making it available to others. Nikkei has claimed that Uber is in talks to slip its autonomous vehicle system into a Toyota minivan, marking one of its first reported attempts to sell its tech to someone else. The Japanese paper said that Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi recently met with Toyota leaders (including its American AI development lead, Gill Pratt) at his company's research center in Pittsburgh. It's not clear how far along the progress would be or what exactly was discussed at the meeting.
GM is spending $100 million on production-ready autonomous cars
If GM is going to release a fully autonomous car in 2019, it has to be ready to build more than just a handful of test vehicles... and it's willing to spend a fair sum to make sure that happens. The automaker has announced that it will build production versions of its Cruise AV at its Orion and Brownstown plants in Michigan, and will spend over $100 million to upgrade both plants for self-driving car manufacturing. Orion will assemble the cars, while Brownstown will assemble the sensor-laden roof modules.
Lyft team-up will build self-driving car systems on a large scale
If Lyft is going to translate self-driving car experiments into production vehicles offering rides, it's going to need some help -- and it's on the way. The company has formed a partnership with Magna that will see the two jointly fund and develop autonomous car systems both for Lyft and the broader automotive industry. Lyft will lead the development, while Magna will take charge of manufacturing as well as contribute its know-how in vehicle systems, driver assistance and safety. The two hope to make the technology available to the industry on a large scale in the "next few years."
Lyft will test its autonomous cars in a former military base
In July 2017, Lyft announced that it's joining the autonomous vehicle race and even opened a dedicated research facility in Palo Alto. Now, it's already preparing to put its technology to the test: the ride-hailing firm plans to test its self-driving cars at Gomentum Station in California. It's a 5,000-acre autonomous vehicle proving grounds, which used to be the Concord Naval Weapons Station military base. Testing vehicles at the proving grounds will bring Lyft closer to unleashing its vehicles on public roads -- something it has to do before it can officially release a self-driving fleet.
Audi gives Airbus' flying taxi concept a stylish makeover
Did you think Airbus' Pop.Up flying taxi concept was a little drab? So did Audi. It teamed up with Airbus and Italdesign to unveil Pop.Up Next, a reworked version of the two-seat autonomous vehicle concept. The new version is more stylish than the mostly functional original, and borrows more than a few cues from Audi's current design language. However, it should also be more practical -- it's supposed to be "significantly" lighter than the original, which is rather important for a hybrid passenger drone.
Arizona no longer requires safety drivers in autonomous vehicles
Arizona will now allow self-driving cars to operate in the state without a safety driver behind the wheel. Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order this week making it legal for these vehicles to operate on their own as long as they abide by all federal and state safety standards. "As technology advances, our policies and priorities must adapt to remain competitive in today's economy," Governor Ducey said in a statement. "This executive order embraces new technologies by creating an environment that supports autonomous vehicle innovation and maintains a focus on public safety."
Toyota is forming a $2.8-billion company for self-driving research
Toyota's autonomous vehicle dreams are too big to contain, so it's establishing a new company to speed up its technology's development. The automaker has teamed up with fellow Japanese entities Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. and Denso Corporation to form the Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development or TRI-AD. While they're still figuring out how things will work in their joint venture, they have a clear goal in mind: to develop a "fully-integrated, production-quality software for automated driving."
Waymo's 360-degree demo ride shows what self-driving cars 'see'
One of the big steps necessary to roll out self-driving cars is getting the public to trust them, and Waymo's latest attempt to achieve that is with a new 360-degree experience. Viewable on a computer, your phone or a VR headset, it feeds a simulation of mixed video and sensor data (LiDAR, radar and cameras) from one of the company's Pacifica Hybrid minivans to give you a feeling of what it "sees" while driving along.
Ford will test self-driving car service on Miami streets
Ford is venturing well beyond its home turf of Michigan to test its fledgling self-driving delivery service. The automaker has revealed a pilot program that will see its autonomous vehicles roaming the streets of downtown Miami and Miami Beach. The initial test will separate the delivery and self-driving products, and will gauge what works for both customers and companies. How do you pick up your delivery from a self-driving car, for example, and how far are people willing to walk to get their grub? Domino's is active right now, while Postmates should be available in March.
Hyundai's self-driving fuel cell cars complete a record highway trip
Future self-driving cars don't have to be pure electric vehicles, and Hyundai is determined to prove it. The automaker just had a five-strong fleet of Level 4 autonomous hydrogen fuel cars drive themselves 118 miles from Seoul to the Winter Olympics' home venue of Pyeongchang. That's the longest any self-driving vehicle has traveled at highway speeds (around 62-68MPH), the company claimed. Previously, they had to putt around at slower speeds, and frequently on limited road sections.
Mercedes and Bosch will test self-driving taxis in a few months
Mercedes (or rather, its parent Daimler) and Bosch aren't far off from making their self-driving taxis a practical reality... in a manner of speaking. Bosch chief Volkmar Denner has informed Automobilwoche that the two companies will put test vehicles on the road within a few months. He didn't supply other details, but the mention provided a more definitive timetable for their ambitions. Until now, the two had only promised to have fully autonomous vehicles ready by the start of the next decade.
