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Volvo will (kinda) let drivers ditch car keys for phones
From 2017, Volvo will offer its customers the option to ditch keys and buy a car that's only unlocked with your smartphone. The firm is piloting the technology for the rest of this year with car-sharing outlet Sunfleet, based in Sweden. Subsequently, a limited number of retail vehicles will be given the Tesla-like ability to have smartphone-only access as well as remote start. Since access to the ride will be entirely app-based, users will be able to swap digital keys with other people or simply add a rental car to their device's list of trusted cars.
The UK wants Google to test its self-driving cars in London
Google's self-driving cars have already racked up more than a million miles, however all of them have taken place in the US. What about other parts of the world, such as those where people drive on the left? According to Sky News, some London officials have been trying to persuade the company to test in Britain for precisely these purposes. The last meeting took place "a few weeks ago," according to Isabel Dedring, London's deputy mayor for transport, following "at least half a dozen" talks over the last three years. Clearly, they haven't been able to work something out.
Driverless pods to hit the streets of Greenwich
As you stroll past the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and that place where Thor fought in The Dark World, you'll soon see driverless pods gliding next to you. That's the plan, anyway. The GATEway project, which has already been experimenting with a self-driving shuttle around the O2, will soon be taking some unusual vehicles onto south London's streets. They'll be repurposed Ultra Pods -- electric four-wheelers that already operate at Heathrow Airport. Until now they've been locked to tracks, but project organiser TRL wants to upgrade them so they can navigate Greenwich independently. Furthermore, the new trial will be used to record exactly how the public reacts to self-driving vehicles.
The US wants self-driving cars, and fast
Just a day after a technology-heavy State of the Union comes news that the White House isn't done pushing us into the future. Reuters believes that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will head to Detroit tomorrow to talk about the administration's efforts to accelerate the development of self-driving cars. It's said that Google, which has been spearheading the project to build an autonomous vehicle, will also be in attendance at the event. The newswire mentions Mark Rosekind, head of the nation's traffic safety bureau, who has asked for a "nimble, flexible" approach to writing new traffic regulations. Details are still thin on the ground, but it looks as if Obama's "spirit of innovation" is alive and well. [Image Credit: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty]
Google wants automakers to help its self-driving car project
Google's self-driving cars are getting smarter and safer, but the company still wants some help from traditional automakers. Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress, John Krafcik, the head of Google's autonomous car project and a former Hyundai CEO, said: "We are going to need a lot of help, and In the next stages of our project, we're going to be partnering more and more for sure." In a room rammed with car executives, he later added: "We hope to work with many of you guys."
Kia plans to deliver semi-autonomous driving features by 2020
Autonomous driving is all the rage these days, but luxury automakers have generated most of the buzz so far. At CES 2016, though, Kia is showing off an update on what it has in store future of driving, and it's doing so with its Soul EV. The company has already outfitted one of the compact SUVs with its next-gen ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) tech, a vehicle that has already been approved for on-road testing by the state of Nevada just last month. Kia is calling this effort Drive Wise, and it's serious about bringing the fully-autonomous systems to market.
Google's self-driving cars are more cautious around kids
If you've got spawn traipsing through the streets of Mountain View in search of sweets tonight, you needn't fear Google's self-driving cars... much. While there's something a little unsettling about an autonomous car -- even a cute one -- coming at you on Halloween, Google says they're at least programmed to act differently around children. In the days leading up to this most creepy of holidays, the company's self-driving car team had parents trot their tots in front of parked vehicles to give their sensors and software more experience detecting "children in all their unique shapes and sizes, even when they're in odd costumes". Good idea -- your author used to dart in the street for really no reason at all, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Google's cars are already "jittery" in their cautiousness, but a little extra practice couldn't hurt, especially when they're still not great with people on bikes.
Mitsubishi's using AI to save distracted drivers from themselves
There's no doubt that self-driving vehicles will play a huge part in our automotive future, but until they do, ensuring that human drivers stay safe on the road remains the top priority for car companies. Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric, one of the Mitsubishi Group's many subsidiaries, reckons more can be done to keep a driver's focus on the road, so it's developed a new technology that can detect when someone is distracted or feeling tired.
Stanford turns a DeLorean into a drifting, driverless car
This isn't from some weird movie franchise mashup entitled Back to the Future IV: Stanford Drift. No, Stanford's Revs Center simply decided to experiment on an old DeLorean, giving it the ability to fly drift all on its own. The car, which the team decided to called MARTY (Multiple Actuator Research Test bed for Yaw control) as an homage to B2F, was heavily modified and modernized. DeLoreans are old cars, and they found that it had severe limitations: for instance, it was understeering, so they had to equip it with a power steering motor and rack.
Recommended Reading: Rick Moranis on the 'Ghostbusters' reboot and more
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Rick Moranis Isn't Retired (He Just Doesn't Know How to Change His Wikipedia Page) by Ryan Parker The Hollywood Reporter When the new version of Ghostbusters arrives in theaters next year, a lot of the stars from the 1980s movies will make appearances in the film. Rick Moranis isn't one of them. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Moranis explains that "it just makes no sense" to him and dishes on what he's been doing for the last two decades, including his iOS 9.1 woes.
ICYMI: Crowdfunded rocket, swimming robotic bees and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819313{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819313, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819313{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819313").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Harvard researchers taught a swarm of robotic bees to swim, propelling themselves through the water with their tiny little wings. A new Kickstarter project aims to crowdfund a rocket to the moon, if it can get funding up to one million dollars. And the German Autobahn 8 played host to a self-driving big rig truck as part of a test drive by automaker Daimler.
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.
Riding in Mercedes' luxurious, self-driving car of the future
A four-wheeled vision of gleaming silver glides toward me, shining brightly under the warm California sun. The vehicle looks otherworldly against the empty backdrop of the former naval base in Alameda, a site perhaps more famous for Mythbusters stunts than automobile demonstrations. This, however, is no ordinary automobile. The curvature of metal heading in my direction is more reminiscent of zeppelins and supersonic spacecraft; the stuff of childhood dreams and science fiction. This is the Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion, a concept car representing the future of autonomous vehicles. And I'm about to go for a ride in it.
Elon Musk: Self-driving cars are the future
Self-driving cars are no longer fiction, but right now they're far from ubiquitous. That could change, however, if Elon Musk has his way. In a conversation with NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, the Tesla co-founder was bullish about the future of self-driving cars, saying that it's only a matter of time before the autonomous vehicle is commonplace. "You can't have a person driving a two-ton death machine," said Musk, imagining a world where manual driving would be outlawed as it could be considered too dangerous.
Google's cutesy cars are a 'serious threat' to the auto industry, says GM
There's no doubt about it: for a company that makes most of its money from web ads, Google knows how to make an adorable self-driving car. The search giant's automotive prowess isn't going unnoticed by the industry's more established players, either. Mark Reuss, GM's executive VP of global product development, told recently told Bloomberg that he could see Google becoming a "serious competitive threat" in the motoring realm.
Researchers testing frugal autonomous car system, aim for $150 price tag (video)
Google certainly has pockets deep enough to trick out self-driving cars with any kind of pricey gear, but researchers at the University of Oxford have begun testing a solution that aims to keep things affordable. Currently, the system leverages an array of low-profile stereo cameras and lasers that rings up at about £5,000 (approximately $7,750), but the next goal is to knock the price down to £500, and eventually to a cool £100 (roughly $150). "Really, we do need to solve the engineering challenges of not relying on expensive sensors, but relying on cheap sensors," Professor Paul Newman told the Telegraph. "But doing some really smart things with those cheap sensor feeds." Rather than a vehicle that acts as a chauffeur at all times, Newman's vision for the modified Nissan Leaf, dubbed RobotCar, is for it to take control on select occasions. While drivers go about their commute, the system composes a 3D map of the car's environs and commits it to memory. When the auto identifies a familiar setting and feels confident about its ability to take the reigns, it could let the driver know it's ready to assume control. Right now, the automobile's been tested on private roads, but the team behind it is working with the UK's Department of Transportation to roll it onto public streets. Head past the jump for a glimpse of RobotCar in action.
ZMP RoboCar ditches driver, creates own map (video)
How does a self-driving car know where it's going? By using a map, of course -- preferably a self-generated one. In yet another video exemplifying breakneck golf-cart-like speeds, the ZMP RoboCar shows us that it doesn't need a driver to know where it's going. At least, not the second time it goes there. After a few minutes with a fleshy friend behind the wheel, the autonomous automobile can safely steer itself around curves, roundabouts, and fountains. It may not be able to keep pace with Google's tire-squealing, automated Prius, but at least we know it can see where it's going.
