Self-operating shuttle bus crashes after Las Vegas launch (All Things Self Driving)

guest · Jan 7, 2020

AutoX and Fiat Chrysler are teaming up on a robotaxi for China
January 7, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/07/autox-and-fiat-chrysler-are-teaming-up-on-a-robotaxi-for-china/

Autonomous vehicle startup AutoX, which is backed by Alibaba, said Tuesday that it is partnering with Fiat Chrysler to roll out a fleet of robotaxis for China and other countries in Asia.
Passengers will be able to call a robotaxi using a WeChat mini-program and other popular apps in China.

The partnership is an important step for AutoX, which is developing a full self-driving stack. While AutoX has been operating robotaxi pilots in California and China, its real aim is to license its technology to companies that want to operate robotaxi fleets of their own.

“Achieving completely driverless operation needs a very reliable vehicle platform with full redundancy of the vehicle’s drive-by-wire system,” said Xiao. “This level of redundancy is still new and rare in the auto industry. The Chrysler Pacifica platform has proven trustworthy for driverless deployment.”
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guest · Jan 8, 2020

Ehang's pilotless air taxi aces first flight demo in the US
January 8, 2020
https://newatlas.com/aircraft/ehang-216-autonomous-air-taxi-first-flight-demo-us/

Ehang's Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) – a multi-rotor drone capable of carrying people – made its first US appearance at CES 2016, and now with CES 2020 in full swing the company has demonstrated the first flight in the US of its two-seater autonomous air taxi. Though the trial flight didn't take place at CES.

In November 2019, a pair of two-passenger AAVs simultaneously flew over Guangzhou in China, and just last month, the launch of commercial operations moved a step closer with news that Ehang had partnered with Heli Chuangxin Real Estate Co. Ltd to build an urban air mobility demonstration project in the port city.
Now the two passenger Ehang 216 autonomous air taxi has taken to the skies in North Carolina ahead of the 2020 North Carolina Transportation Summit at the Raleigh Convention Center this week. Though the 216 was unmanned, it wasn't carrying any passengers.
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But the test flight at the State Highway Patrol Facility/Aviation Hangar in Raleigh represents the first time that the air taxi has been granted flight approval by the Federal Aviation Administration. The next step will be to secure FAA approval to fly with passengers aboard.
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Ehang: EHang Conducts First-Ever U.S. Trial Flight of Pilotless Air Taxi at North Carolina Transportation Summit

ronjor · Jan 8, 2020

New US autonomous vehicle plan lets industry regulate itself

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer January 8, 2020
The Trump administration has unveiled its most recent round of guidelines for autonomous vehicle makers that still rely on the industry to police itself despite calls for specific regulations
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ronjor · Jan 8, 2020

US safety agency opens probe into fatal Tesla Model 3 crash in Indiana

Published Wed, Jan 8 2020
The crash is the 14th involving Tesla that NHTSA’s special crash investigation program has taken up in which it suspects the company’s so-called Autopilot or other advanced driver assistance system was in use.
It is the third Tesla crash NHTSA has said it was investigating in recent weeks.
Autopilot had been engaged in at least three Tesla vehicles that were involved in fatal U.S. crashes since 2016.
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guest · Jan 9, 2020

Man Cited for Flossing Teeth While Autopilot Drove Tesla 84 MPH
January 9, 2020
https://futurism.com/the-byte/man-flossing-teeth-autopilot-drove-tesla-84-mph

Police have caught yet another driver abusing Tesla’s Autopilot system — but this time, it was in the name of dental hygiene.

On Wednesday, Sergeant Kerry Schmidt of Ontario Provincial Police tweeted that an officer had charged a 58-year-old man with careless driving. The explanation? He was flossing his teeth using both hands while his Autopilot-enabled Model S was driving 135 kilometers per hour (84 mile per hour).
“Autopilot enables your car to steer, accelerate, and brake automatically within its lane,” Tesla writes. “Current Autopilot features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

However, that hasn’t stopped countless Tesla owners from letting Autopilot take over while they sleep, “drive” drunk, and even have sex.
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ronjor · Jan 11, 2020

Robotaxis will be available as soon as 2022, self-driving tech supplier Mobileye CEO says

Tyler Clifford@_TylerTheTyler_ Jan 10 2020
“Robotaxi is not that far away. We are targeting early 2022,” Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua told CNBC.
Self-driving cars will start with fleet operators before general use due to regulatory and cost constraints “that you cannot put on a consumer,” he said in a “Mad Money” interview.
“If more cars will be autonomous, more lives would be saved. A computer will do a better job than a human, eventually,” he said.
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guest · Jan 12, 2020

mood said: ↑

Tesla plans to launch driverless taxi service in 2020
April 22, 2019
https://venturebeat.com/2019/04/22/tesla-plans-to-launch-driverless-taxi-service-in-2020/
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Tesla prepares for robotaxi network with talking car
January 12, 2020
https://mspoweruser.com/tesla-prepares-for-robotaxi-network-with-talking-car/

We wrote yesterday that Elon Musk said Tesla will soon deliver on its promise of feature-complete Full Self-Driving cars for its Tesla feel of Model 3 vehicles.

Today Elon Musk went one step further by showing off a video of a Telsa Model 3 talking to pedestrians, urging them to get into the car.
The video shows the vehicle saying “Don’t just stand there staring, hop in,” in what appears to be a clear reference to the robot taxi network.

Elon Musk has promised 1 million robot taxis on the road in 2020, with each of these taxis earning the owner up to $30,000 each year in gross profit. While we are still early in the year, to reach their goal Tesla would have to advance rather rapidly in FSD over the next 12 months.
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guest · Jan 16, 2020

Airbus releases photos of automatic take-offs
January 16, 2020
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/16/airbus-releases-photos-of-automatic-take-offs.html

Airbus looks to have taken pilotless commercial jet flight one step closer after revealing that one of its test aircraft has taken off automatically.

The European planemaker said that in tests conducted at Toulouse-Blagnac airport on December 18, an A350-1000 with two pilots sitting ready to take over, conducted eight takeoffs on auto-pilot.

“We moved the throttle levers to the take-off setting and we monitored the aircraft. It started to move and accelerate automatically maintaining the runway center line, at the exact rotation speed as entered in the system. The nose of the aircraft began to lift up automatically to take the expected take-off pitch value and a few seconds later we were airborne,” said Airbus Test Pilot Captain Yann Beaufils.
The company says the next step is automatic vision-based landing and taxi sequences taking place by mid-2020.
March to automation
Airbus says that auto pilot takeoff is an important milestone for its Autonomous Taxi, Take-Off & Landing (ATTOL) project — one of several that Airbus is conducting on aviation autonomy.
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guest · Jan 17, 2020

Lyft’s autonomous vehicle partner Magna is done with self-driving tech
The auto parts maker plans to focus on assisted driving
January 16, 2020
https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/16/lyft-self-driving-tech-partnership-ending-magna/

Two years after teaming up with Lyft to collaborate on self-driving technology, Magna said that partnership's coming to an end. The auto parts maker plans to focus on assisted driving products, instead of fully autonomous tech.
They'll keep working together on other autonomy-related software and hardware. Lyft has also collaborated with Waymo on autonomous cars.

Ultimately, Magna doesn't think there's big enough potential in autonomous vehicles in the medium term. It sees more opportunities for growth in the assisted driving market (up to Level 3 autonomy) over the next five years.
CEO Don Walker told reporters that the industry is getting "more realistic" about how long it'll take before autonomous driving really takes off.
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ronjor · Jan 17, 2020

U.S. to review petition seeking formal defect probe into 500,000 Tesla vehicles

David Shepardson January 17, 2020
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Friday it will review a petition asking the agency to formally investigate 500,000 Tesla Inc models over sudden unintended acceleration reports.
The petition covers 2012 through 2019 model year Tesla Model S, 2016 through 2019 Tesla Model X, and 2018 through 2019 Tesla Model 3 vehicles, the agency said. The petition cites “127 consumer complaints to NHTSA involving 123 unique vehicles. The reports include 110 crashes and 52 injuries,” the agency added. Tesla did not immediately comment Friday.
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guest · Jan 17, 2020

Cruise calls for a new way to determine commercial readiness of self-driving cars
January 17, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/17/c...ne-commercial-readiness-of-self-driving-cars/

Cruise co-founder and CTO Kyle Vogt said Friday that disengagement reports released annually by California regulators are not a proxy for the commercial readiness or safety of self-driving cars.

Vogt, in a lengthy post on Medium, called for a new metric to determine whether an autonomous vehicle is ready for commercial deployment. The post suggests that the autonomous vehicle company, which had a valuation of $19 billion as of May, is already developing more comprehensive metrics.
The other issue is that disengagements don’t provide an “apples to apples” comparison of technology, as these test vehicles operate in a variety of environments and conditions.
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guest · Jan 20, 2020

ronjor said: ↑

U.S. to review petition seeking formal defect probe into 500,000 Tesla vehicles
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Tesla calls claims of unintended acceleration in NHTSA petition “completely false”
January 20, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/20/t...eleration-in-nhtsa-petition-completely-false/

Tesla pushed back Monday against claims that its electric vehicles may suddenly accelerate on their own, calling a petition filed with federal safety regulators “completely false.”
Tesla also questions the validity of the petition, noting that it was submitted by a Tesla short-seller.

The petition, which was first reported by CNBC, was filed by Brian Sparks, an independent investor who is currently shorting Tesla’s stock.
At the time, Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment. Now, in a blog post, the company said that it routinely reviews customer complaints of unintended acceleration with NHTSA.

“In every case we reviewed with them, the data proved the vehicle functioned properly,” Tesla wrote in a blog post on its website.
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Tesla: There is no “unintended acceleration” in Tesla vehicles

This petition is completely false and was brought by a Tesla short-seller. We investigate every single incident where the driver alleges to us that their vehicle accelerated contrary to their input, and in every case where we had the vehicle's data, we confirmed that the car operated as designed.
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guest · Jan 21, 2020

UK begins testing unsupervised autonomous transport pods
Researchers will study the public's reaction to the technology
January 21, 2020
https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/21/uk-begins-testing-unsupervised-autonomous-transport-pods/

Shoppers at a UK mall have the opportunity to try out autonomous transport pods this week which -- in a UK first -- operate entirely without supervision.
The driverless pods are being tested at the Cribbs Causeway mall in Gloucestershire, and run between 10AM and 4PM every day for a week, transporting passengers around the premises and along shared pedestrian spaces.

The project, called CAPRI, is being run by a consortium of businesses and academic institutions that hope to introduce this kind of transport system as standard to UK roads.

"However, for this idea to fully develop, it is vital the public are on board and have the chance to experience a mobility service that can potentially transform the way they travel."
The pods use sensors, radar and vision processing to navigate areas crowded with pedestrians, push-chairs and bikes [...] with the view to rolling out a trial on open public roads later this year.
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This is not the first time this type of autonomous vehicle has been tested on UK soil.
CAPRI, however, marks the first completely unmanned initiative, bringing us closer to a truly autonomous public transit system.
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guest · Jan 21, 2020

Scrappy company leapfrogs the pack with functioning robot taxis
Will this upstart company pass the bar in safety?
January 21, 2020
https://www.zdnet.com/article/scrappy-company-leapfrogs-the-pack-to-robot-taxis/

A company founded by a Princeton educator known affectionately as Professor X is rolling out the first fully-autonomous robotaxi for the Asian market. Currently, only Waymo has an L4 autonomous taxi service up and running in its Phoenix testbed.
AutoX is a rare company that bootstrapped through its early years, making it an outlier in an ecosystem dominated by the likes of Uber, Intel, and Google.

Recently, AutoX announced a partnership with Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) to start rolling out the first "Hardware Ready" robotaxi for the Asia market, which will make it the first robotaxi in Asia to go beyond testing with humans as backup drivers and is capable of supporting a completely driverless taxi service in Asia's notoriously hectic driving conditions.
Beginning in early 2020, AutoX will deploy a fleet of the robotaxis on public streets in China. Passengers will hail the taxis using WeChat and other popular apps.
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guest · Jan 22, 2020

Cruise unveils Origin, an electric driverless vehicle designed for sharing
January 22, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/21/c...tric-driverless-vehicle-designed-for-sharing/

Cruise unveiled Tuesday evening a “production ready” driverless vehicle called Origin, the product of a multi-year collaboration with parent company GM and investor Honda that is designed for a ride-sharing service.

The shuttle-like vehicle — branded with Cruise’s trademark orange and black colors — has no steering wheel or pedals and is designed to travel at highway speeds.
Splashy looks aside, the Origin is meant to show Cruise’s muscle and intent to deploy an autonomous ride-sharing service at scale. What and when and how that will happen are the important questions left unanswered.
However, don’t expect the Origin to be on public roads anytime soon.

The driverless vehicle doesn’t meet U.S. federal regulations known as FMVSS, which specify design, construction, performance and durability requirements for motor vehicles.
For now, the Origin will be used on private, closed environments such as GM facilities in Michigan or even Honda’s campus outside of the U.S, Ammann said in an interview after the presentation.
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The Verge: Exclusive look at Cruise’s first driverless car without a steering wheel or pedals

guest · Jan 23, 2020

Waymo expands autonomous truck testing to Texas and New Mexico
January 23, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/01/23/waymo-expands-autonomous-truck-testing-to-texas-and-new-mexico/

Waymo, the Google parent company Alphabet subsidiary whose autonomous vehicles have driven more than 20 million miles, is expanding its geographic footprint into Texas and New Mexico.
In a tweet this morning, Waymo announced it will begin testing self-driving trucks on “promising” commercial routes in the states as it pursues new transportation solutions, primarily along Interstates 10, 20 and 45 and through metropolitan areas like El Paso, Dallas, and Houston.

There’s a strong demand for driverless semis. It’s an industry predicted to reach 6,700 units globally, totaling $54.23 billion this year, and one that stands to save the logistics and shipping industry $70 billion annually while boosting productivity by 30%.

This week, we’ll start driving our Chrysler Pacificas and long-haul trucks in Texas and New Mexico. [...]
— Waymo (@Waymo) January 23, 2020
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ronjor · Jan 23, 2020

Uber is bringing its self-driving cars to Washington, DC

By Andrew J. Hawkins@andyjayhawk Jan 23, 2020
The vehicles will not be operating in autonomous mode at first
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guest · Jan 24, 2020

Senator asks Tesla to rebrand its Autopilot feature because it can confuse drivers
The first recommendation is a re-branding of the Autopilot feature to clarify that it is not fully autonomous
January 24, 2020
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/24/sen...t-feature-because-it-can-confuse-drivers.html

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) wants Tesla to rebrand and add safeguards to its cars’ Autopilot feature.

Markey, a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, released his recommendations to the company on Friday following his review of the feature.

“Autopilot is a flawed system, but I believe its dangers can be overcome,” he said in a statement.
Markey said his two recommendations come after media reports that show Tesla drivers abusing the Autopilot system.

He demanded then to know what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was doing to compel Tesla to stop Autopilot “cheats,” referring to individuals who workaround the safety features already in Tesla cars.
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guest · Jan 24, 2020

Suburbs already have driverless taxis, but San Francisco is still playing catch-up
January 24, 2020
https://mashable.com/article/autonomous-cars-trucks-cities-waymo-zoox/

San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood is notoriously tricky for any driver.
Nevertheless, that's what Zoox, a self-driving startup, is attempting. But instead of going to the sunny, wide boulevards of Arizona or Silicon Valley, it's focusing on navigating through the windy roads of a dense, packed urban area.

For Zoox director of computer vision Sarah Tariq, the chaos of testing in a place like San Francisco is the point.

"We want to test in the hardest places," she said after our ride in a modified Toyota Highlander.
If the Zoox cars can't handle pedestrians literally blocking the entire intersection at the famous crooked Lombard Street, they're not ready for other "easy" driving scenarios.
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guest · Jan 25, 2020

Aurora is finally ready to show the world what it’s been up to
The secretive self-driving car company unveiled its plans for 2020
January 24, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/24/...ouncement-2020-plan-waymo-ford-general-motors

Aurora, the self-driving car company founded by former Waymo engineer Chris Urmson [...] In fact, in the three years since Aurora launched, the public has heard very little about how Aurora plans to compete against Waymo, Ford, and General Motors.
After months of announcements — the company acquired a LIDAR sensor maker, hired a VP of hardware, and took an investment from Amazon — that finally appears to be changing.

Notably, these developments won’t mean Aurora will spend a lot more time test-driving cars. “We’re going to drive about half as many miles this year,” Sterling said at the event, adding that the company is focused on testing the vehicles in simulated environments. That strategy allows Aurora to test the car in unique situations that rarely come up in the real world [...]

To that end, Aurora has developed a proprietary system for executing these types of test drives, ultimately increasing simulating driving experiences by a factor of 100, as reported by Automotive News.
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guest · Jan 28, 2020

Andrew Yang misuses Tesla Model X's Autopilot function, taking hands off the wheel
In a new campaign ad, the Democratic presidential candidate takes both his hands off the wheel
January 28, 2020
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/andrew-yang-tesla-model-x-autopilot/

Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang has been big on what automation will do, and has already done, to the American economy, but he may have been a little too enthusiastic about the technology in his new campaign ad.

In the new advertisement, embedded above, Yang is seen driving a Tesla Model X with Autopilot engaged. At the 20-second mark in the 30-second-long spot, Yang is seen driving the electric SUV with both hands off the wheel while on the road.
Today, there are no self-driving cars on sale. Next year, there will be no self-driving cars on sale. Still, numerous Tesla owners opt to let the system work on its own, leading to numerous crashes.

Yang's ad highlights the growing concern of automation displacing jobs, and uses the apparently self-driving car to underscore that automation is here.
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guest · Jan 28, 2020

Cadillac adds automated lane change to Super Cruise
January 28, 2020
https://www.autonews.com/future-product/cadillac-adds-automated-lane-change-super-cruise

Cadillac is adding automated lane changing to its Super Cruise driver-assist system when it expands the technology to three more nameplates later this year.
It will be available on the 2021 CT4, CT5 and Escalade. Cadillac plans to reveal the redesigned 2021 Escalade in Los Angeles next week.

The feature allows Super Cruise to change lanes on highways within its network when requested by the driver, as long as certain conditions are met.

"This is our most extensive update we've made to Super Cruise since its debut," Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise chief engineer, said in a statement Tuesday.
"We have made a number of improvements to make Super Cruise more intuitive, better performing and more accessible for our customers. In addition to the automated lane change functionality, we've made improvements to the user interface and hands-free driving dynamics."
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guest · Jan 29, 2020

Aurora can now give the public rides in its self-driving cars
January 29, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/29/aurora-can-now-give-the-public-rides-in-its-self-driving-cars/

Aurora has been given permission by California regulators to transport passengers in its self-driving vehicles, TechCrunch has learned.

The California Public Utilities Commission granted Aurora a permit, which was posted on its website Wednesday, to participate in the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot. Aurora confirmed the approval.

“This permit lets us give rides powered by the Aurora Driver and shows that we’re committed to being good partners to California and the Commission,” an Aurora spokesperson said when asked about the permit.
Aurora’s permit, which lasts until January 2023, requires the company to provide reports to CPUC with information on total passenger miles traveled and safety protocols.
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ronjor · Jan 29, 2020

Waymo's self-driving vans will carry UPS packages in Phoenix

Jon Fingas, @jonfingas 29 Jan 2020
They aren't delivering to customers, but it's a start.
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guest · Jan 29, 2020

mood said: ↑

Cruise unveils Origin, an electric driverless vehicle designed for sharing
January 22, 2020

The Verge: Exclusive look at Cruise’s first driverless car without a steering wheel or pedals
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Cruise’s autonomous Origin hints at a “McDonald’s of mobility”
Being affordable, inoffensive, and homogeneous could be a plus for the startup
January 29, 2020
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/01/cruises-autonomous-origin-hints-at-a-mcdonalds-of-mobility/

So when Cruise unveiled its Origin robotaxi at a flashy San Francisco event last week, it was in effect a reboot of the company's plans under new CEO Dan Ammann, who came over from GM at the end of 2018.
Though it's hard to fault Cruise for erring on the side of caution, the resulting confusion and snark about Origin only highlighted how hard it has become to communicate about the autonomous vehicle space.

But even as Cruise seemed to flub its latest big communication effort, it actually provided the answer to a critical question that other AV companies have yet to address: how its robotaxi service is going to compete in an increasingly crowded mobility market.
Put simply, it seems that the Origin will be the foundation of a business positioned to become the McDonald's of mobility.

[...] McDonald's has always prioritized a consistent experience no matter where in the world you are.
This seems to be how Cruise CEO Dan Ammann envisions his company's robotaxi service thriving in an increasingly crowded mobility marketplace.
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Self-operating shuttle bus crashes after Las Vegas launch (All Things Self Driving)

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