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

guest · Sep 26, 2020

EV maker Xpeng, its CEO invest in air taxi startup
September 26, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-ceo-invest-in-air-taxi-startup-idUSKCN26H020

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Xpeng Inc said on Saturday that along with its CEO, He Xiaopeng, it has invested in air taxi startup Xpeng Heitech, as the global auto industry explores future mobility.

Air taxis are vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft that use electric motors instead of jet engines. Designed to avoid the need for long runways, they have rotating wings and, in some cases, rotors in place of propellers.
Xpeng, which listed in New York last month, did not disclose financial details of the investment but added it will not impact its core business.
Click to expand...

guest · Sep 28, 2020

No easy answers in Uber driver's case
September 28, 2020
https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/no-easy-answers-uber-drivers-case

Rafaela Vasquez was watching "The Voice" instead of watching the road. That much is clear.

Exactly what punishment, if any, she should receive in a fatal collision between an Uber self-driving test vehicle and a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., remains vexing, according to experts.
The answer could have profound implications for the way companies develop driver-assist systems and self-driving vehicles, as well as for interpretations of who or what is considered a vehicle operator.

"So many things went wrong here, and the technology is what complicates it," said Gail Gottehrer, an attorney who specializes in law surrounding emerging technologies. "If this goes forward, it will make precedent."
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 1, 2020

Thatcham Research and Euro NCAP today announced results of their automated driving system tests
October 1, 2020
https://thenextweb.com/shift/2020/1...ng-autopilot-mercedes-benz-gle-tesla-model-3/

With advancing technology, many new cars come equipped with automated features that appear to give them some degree of autonomous capability. The problem is, all these systems are slightly different and that has caused confusion and danger, and in some cases led to fatalities.

Vehicle safety testing house and ratings firms, Thatcham Research and Euro NCAP, have been monitoring these new advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and today release their first ever ratings of the tech.
The automated safety feature test
The vehicle assistance criteria refers to how well the speed, steering, and adaptive cruise control features work in collaboration to control the vehicle’s direction and velocity.
Click to expand...

Let’s address the elephant in the room though, the Tesla Model 3.
Tesla fans will no doubt be loath to see Tesla not even make the top five.

When it comes to drive engagement, the Tesla scores, well, terribly. It scores just 34 points, compared to the nearest vehicle, the Renault Clio, which scores 69 points.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 2, 2020

Einride raises $10 million to bolster autonomous trucking growth during the pandemic
October 1, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/01/...tonomous-trucking-growth-during-the-pandemic/

Sweden’s Einride was on a roll before COVID-19 threatened to slow development of its electric and autonomous trucking platform. With its customers and partners impacted in very different ways, the company is taking steps to bolster its momentum and today announced it has raised an additional $10 million in venture capital funding.

Founded in 2016, Einride has developed an Autonomous Electric Transport system that includes both the platform for managing fleets and its self-driving “pods,” or trucks without cabs.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 4, 2020

Software Update Will Allow Tesla Autopilot To Drive Through Green Lights Without Confirmation
October 4, 2020
https://www.benzinga.com/tech/20/10...ive-through-green-lights-without-confirmation

A Tesla owner was able to get an early install of the new software, which claims the car will proceed through a green light on its own in the right circumstances. If the car is unsure of the road ahead due to a turn or bend, it will still require the driver to intervene.

"As you approach a green traffic light, in some situations where there is a straight path through the intersection, the Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control feature may no longer require explicit driver confirmation," according to the new notes.
If stopped at a red light that turns green, owners will still need to tell the car it's safe to go before it proceeds. The notes remind drivers that the car can't yet make turns, but as the system is upgraded, the abilities will improve and become more natural.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 8, 2020

Einride’s driverless, cabless electric trucks hit the mass market
October 8, 2020
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/einrides-driverless-cabless-electric-trucks-hit-mass-market

Fresh off a $10 million raise, Swedish trucking technology startup Einride has put its autonomous electric trucks on the global market. Until now, the vehicles, known as “Pods,” had been deployed only in pilot projects.

CEO Robert Falck declined to tell FreightWaves how much the Pods would cost, saying only that the vehicles will require a $10,000 deposit to preorder. They can be reserved by customers in the U.S. and abroad.
Additionally, operation of the Pods requires a monthly subscription fee to Einride’s freight mobility platform, a system that helps fleets track manage the transition to electrification and autonomy.
Click to expand...

Einride’s approach to autonomy does feature remote operators, who can take control of the vehicle when the driving conditions require human intervention, such as backing up in a complex environment or making a difficult left turn.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 8, 2020

Waymo Restarts Robotaxi Service Without Human Safety Drivers
October 8, 2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...obotaxi-service-without-human-safety-drivers/

Seven months after the coronavirus halted Waymo’s autonomous ride service in Phoenix, the Alphabet GOOGL +1.8% Inc. unit is relaunching public operations there and going fully driverless, dispatching robot minivans with no backup human safety driver to pick up people using the Waymo One app.

Rides will be provided in a 50-square-mile area around Chandler, Arizona, where the company has been testing vehicles for the past few years, CEO John Krafcik told reporters.

“We're going to start with 100% rider-only rides so every Waymo One experience will be a fully driverless, rider-only operation,” Krafcik said.
Vehicles in the program will be cleaned frequently by Waymo’s dealer partner AutoNation AN +2.2% and are equipped with disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer and an upgraded air-purification system, Krafcik said.
Click to expand...

Waymo: Waymo is opening its fully driverless service to the general public in Phoenix

guest · Oct 12, 2020

Caterpillar bets on self-driving machines impervious to pandemics
October 12, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...achines-impervious-to-pandemics-idUSKBN26X1ET

Question: How can a company like Caterpillar CAT.N try to counter a slump in sales of bulldozers and trucks during a pandemic that has made every human a potential disease vector?
Answer: Cut out human operators, perhaps?

Caterpillar’s autonomous driving technology, which can be bolted on to existing machines, is helping the U.S. heavy equipment maker mitigate the heavy impact of the coronavirus crisis on sales of its traditional workhorses.
With both small and large customers looking to protect their operations from future disruptions, demand has surged for machines that don’t require human operators on board.

Nonetheless, autonomous technology is helping Caterpillar win equipment deals from customers that were previously not buying a lot of its machines.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 13, 2020

Tesla to release ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ to some customers next week
October 12, 2020
https://electrek.co/2020/10/12/tesla-release-full-self-driving-beta-customers-next-week/

Tesla is going to release its ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ to some customers who are “expert and careful drivers” next week, says CEO Elon Musk.

Over the last few months, Elon Musk has been talking about Tesla working on “a significant foundational rewrite in the Tesla Autopilot.”
He has been teasing the new core change to Autopilot, which should be able to interpret its environment in 4D instead of 2D after the update, and should result in a rapid improvement in performance and new features being released quicker.
Click to expand...

Now the CEO took to Twitter to announce that the limited “private beta” release would happen next week and instead of referring to it as the launch of the Autopilot rewrite, he started referring to it as “limited FSD beta”:

“Limited FSD beta releasing on Tuesday next week, as promised. This will, at first, be limited to a small number of people who are expert & careful drivers.”
The CEO didn’t elaborate further on the upcoming software update, which is not expected to be released to the broader fleet until December.
Click to expand...

This update will be really important because Tesla will use it to start refining its full self-driving system and build a case to eventually remove the driver monitoring requirement.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 14, 2020

Toronto will test Olli driverless shuttles to boost its transit system
October 14, 2020
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/toronto-olli-driverless-shuttles-trial-151816143.html

Self-driving shuttles in North America aren’t limited to the US. The city of Toronto has struck a deal with Local Motors to use the latest version of its Olli driverless shuttles as part of an automated transportation trial in spring 2021. The six- to 12-month test run will gauge how well the autonomous vehicles will bolster Toronto’s mass transit system by connecting the West Rouge neighborhood with its local Go train station.

The shuttles could eventually fill gaps in Toronto’s sprawling public transportation network, making for a more equitable system that doesn’t punish you for living too far from a bus or train stop.
Click to expand...

Toronto: City of Toronto signs agreement to deliver Automated Shuttle Trial planned for Spring 2021

The City of Toronto has signed an agreement with Local Motors by LM Industries to deliver the City’s planned Automated Shuttle Trial, set to begin operating next Spring.

The agreement demonstrates the commitment from the City, TTC and Metrolinx to learn more about the future role of automated shuttles in public transit delivery. The service will connect the West Rouge neighbourhood and Rouge Hill GO station, and will be coordinated with GO Transit schedules.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 15, 2020

Innoviz sees lower lidar costs accelerating autonomous driving
October 15, 2020
https://europe.autonews.com/suppliers/innoviz-sees-lower-lidar-costs-accelerating-autonomous-driving

Israeli lidar maker Innoviz Technologies said price reductions for the laser-based sensors will be key to enabling automakers to reach the next level of autonomous driving on a large scale.

Innoviz has developed a lidar that costs 70 percent less than the InnovizOne product it is supplying for BMW and Magna International's self-driving car program, which is expected to launch by the end of 2021.
Samples of InnovizTwo will be available in the third quarter of 2021, CEO Omer Keilaf said. The product's software will enable automakers to collect roadway data from customers and can be upgraded for the next level of autonomous driving.
Click to expand...

Innoviz, which has raised $252 million, competes with companies such as Velodyne and Luminar.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 15, 2020

GM Cruise plans to test autonomous vehicles without drivers this year in San Francisco
October 15, 2020
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/15/gm-...g-unmanned-autonomous-vehicles-this-year.html

Cruise, a majority-owned subsidiary of General Motors, plans to begin testing unmanned autonomous vehicles by the end of this year in San Francisco.

The company said Thursday it has received a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to remove the human backup drivers from its self-driving cars.

“Before the end of the year, we’ll be sending cars out onto the streets of SF — without gasoline and without anyone at the wheel,” Cruise CEO Dan Ammann wrote in a Medium post.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 15, 2020

Watch Einride’s autonomous truck take on the ‘Top Gear’ track
The redesigned Pod is the first AV of its kind to record a time on the circuit
October 15, 2020
https://www.engadget.com/einride-autonomous-truck-pod-top-gear-test-track-184019529.html

Einride recently revealed its revamped autonomous delivery truck, which is more aerodynamic than the previous version. To give a glimpse of the Pod in action, the Einride team put the AV through its paces on the Top Gear track in Surrey, England.
It’s the first time an electric heavy transport AV has set a time on the circuit.

Meanwhile, Einride says the Pod will be the first vehicle of its type to complete a run on the Goodwood circuit at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Click to expand...

ronjor · Oct 20, 2020

Ford unveils new self-driving test vehicle for 2022 launch

Michael Wayland@MikeWayland Oct 20 2020
Ford plans to launch its self-driving business in 2022 with vehicles based on the Ford Escape Hybrid crossover.
The vehicles are the automaker’s fourth-generation self-driving test vehicles in partnership with Argo AI.
The next-generation vehicles include “launch-intent” technologies that are needed to support commercialization
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 21, 2020

mood said: ↑

Tesla to release ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ to some customers next week
October 12, 2020
https://electrek.co/2020/10/12/tesla-release-full-self-driving-beta-customers-next-week/
Click to expand...

Elon Musk confirm Tesla Full Self-Driving beta rolling out now
October 21, 2020
https://mspoweruser.com/tesla-test-full-self-driving-roll-out/

We wrote a week ago that Tesla was expected to start rolling out Full Self-Driving for selected Tesla users soon, and today Elon Musk confirmed that the feature was indeed rolling out right now.

FSD beta rollout happening tonight. Will be extremely slow & cautious, as it should.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2020
Last week Musk said the feature would be rolling out to owners who are “expert and careful drivers” and today he confirmed the rollout will be “extremely slow and cautious.”
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 21, 2020

Cruise, GM to seek U.S. okay for self-driving vehicle without pedal, steering wheel
October 21, 2020
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autonomous-cruise-nhtsa-idUSKBN2762SP

Self-driving car maker Cruise said on Wednesday it and majority shareholder General Motors Co would seek U.S. regulatory approval in coming months to deploy a limited number of Cruise Origin vehicles without steering wheels or pedals.

At the same time, it will withdraw an exemption petition filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in January 2018 seeking approval to deploy a limited number of similar autonomous vehicles based on the Chevrolet Bolt platform.
NHTSA, which spent 15 months reviewing the GM petition before seeking public comment, said Wednesday it “will review the new petition when it is received.”
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 22, 2020

First Look at Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta and it looks just insane
October 22, 2020
https://electrek.co/2020/10/22/tesla-full-self-driving-beta-first-look-insane/

We get our first look at Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta software update, as some owners who are testing it are sharing videos, and it looks just insane.

After months of working on a complete core rewrite of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Package, Tesla has now started its Full Self-Driving Beta rollout.
Tesla is very clear in the release notes of the Full Self-Driving Beta update that it can be dangerous if not monitored properly:

Full Self-Driving is in early limited access Beta and must be used with additional caution. It may do the wrong thing at the worst time, so you must always keep your hands on the wheel and pay extra attention to the road. Do not become complacent.
Some owners are starting to share images of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta software at work, and it shows that Tesla updated the driving visualizations with a lot more information. [...]
Click to expand...

The Verge: Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ beta is here, and it looks scary as hell

‘Using untrained consumers to validate beta-level software on public roads is dangerous’
Frankly, this looks terrifying — not because it seems erratic or malfunctioning, but because of the way it will inevitably be misused.
Click to expand...

ronjor · Oct 22, 2020

UK plans for self-driving cars threaten safety: insurance group

By Nick Carey October 22, 2020
LONDON (Reuters) - British government plans that could allow self-driving cars on motorways as soon as 2021 would put lives at risk because the available automated technology falls well short of human driving capabilities, UK insurance group Thatcham Research said on Friday.
Click to expand...

ronjor · Oct 22, 2020

Self-driving shuttle debuts in high-traffic Virginia spot

by Matthew Barakat October 22, 2020
The future of transportation arrived in northern Virginia, looking like a big blue toaster on wheels that seats six and drives itself through the region's notorious traffic.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 22, 2020

Tesla's release of new 'self-driving' software closely watched by U.S. regulator
October 22, 2020
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-t...losely-watched-by-u-s-regulator-idUKKBN27724V

The U.S. auto safety regulator said on Thursday it was closely watching Tesla Inc's TSLA.O release of a software version intended to allow its cars to drive themselves, saying it stood ready to protect the public against safety risks.

During a Tesla earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Executive Elon Musk said the latest upgrade was planned to be widely released by the end of this year, with the system becoming more robust as it collected more data.

“NHTSA has been briefed on Tesla’s new feature, which represents an expansion of its existing driver assistance system. The agency will monitor the new technology closely and will not hesitate to take action to protect (the) public against unreasonable risks to safety,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 23, 2020

After coronavirus shutdown, self-driving cars on Lyft will pick up passengers again
October 22, 2020
https://mashable.com/article/lyft-motional-self-driving-cars-return/?europe=true

You can order a self-driving car on Lyft again.

The company paused its autonomous taxi program, which only operates in Las Vegas, in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Starting Thursday, the fleet will be picking up passengers again. Before the shutdown, robotaxis on Lyft had completed more than 100,000 autonomous trips.
The sensor- and camera-loaded BMWs have a new logo and branding. That’s because earlier this year, Aptiv and Hyundai Motor Group launched an autonomous driving joint venture called Motional.
Click to expand...

Ford's Argo AI program, which does not offer rides to the public, also restarted testing this week.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 23, 2020

Project Endeavour set to begin public trials of autonomous vehicles in UK
October 23, 2020
https://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/news/project-endeavour-public-trials-av/

Project Endeavour, a government-backed autonomous vehicle (AV) project in the UK, has unveiled plans to start public trials of its autonomous vehicle fleet in Oxford this week.

The autonomous car fleet will feature six Ford Mondeo vehicles, and will be equipped with Oxbotica’s Level 4 autonomous driving software.
As part of trials, the cars will complete a nine-mile round trip from Oxford Parkway station to Oxford’s main train station.
Click to expand...

Launched last September, Project Endeavour is partly funded by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
The project is part of the government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility Fund, supporting the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 26, 2020

MIT CSAIL’s Roboat II is an autonomous platform large enough to carry human passengers
October 26, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/26/...tform-large-enough-to-carry-human-passengers/

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) say they’ve created an autonomous river vessel — Roboat II — that’s capable of carrying passengers across fast-moving bodies of water.

As MIT’s Rob Matheson explained in a recent blog post, the Roboats — rectangular hulls packing sensors, thrusters, microcontrollers, cameras, and other hardware — emerged from the ongoing project. The goal is to create robot fleets that can ferry people and goods through Amsterdam’s 160+ canals and self-assemble into bridges to help reduce pedestrian congestion.
Click to expand...

MIT: Autonomous boats could be your next ride

Five years in the making, MIT’s autonomous floating vessels get a size upgrade and learn a new way to communicate aboard the waters
Click to expand...

ronjor · Oct 27, 2020

Daimler Trucks teams with Alphabet's Waymo on self-driving technology

By Malia Spencer – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal 27 Oct 2020
Daimler Trucks is teaming with Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by tech giant Alphabet, to build an almost entirely self-driving version of Daimler’s Freightliner Cascadia.
Click to expand...

guest · Oct 27, 2020

Hyundai-Aptiv JV partners with on-demand shuttle provider Via
October 27, 2020
https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/hyundai-aptiv-jv-partners-demand-shuttle-provider

Motional, the Hyundai-Aptiv autonomous-driving joint venture, and app-based passenger shuttle provider Via Transportation Inc. are partnering to provide public, on-demand shared robotaxi rides in the first half of next year.

The partnership combines Motional's driverless-vehicle expertise with Via's booking, routing, assignment, customer-experience and fleet-management expertise to deliver a shared robotaxi ride by mid-2021.
Motional and Via on Tuesday said their partnership will serve as a blueprint "to inform how driverless vehicles can be integrated into mass transit networks and optimized for pooled rides."
Click to expand...

Motional CEO Karl Iagnemma told the Shift podcast in June that the JV's "fundamental focus is on making autonomous mobility a global reality."

"This partnership comes at an especially significant moment, as COVID reshapes our views on transportation and consumers demand more, flexible and varied options," Iagnemma said in Tuesday's statement.
Click to expand...

Motional: Motional and Via Partner to Launch a Platform for Public, On-Demand Shared Robotaxi Rides

The partnership’s first service is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2021
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

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

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

ronjor Global Moderator

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

ronjor Global Moderator

ronjor Global Moderator

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

ronjor Global Moderator

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

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

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

ronjor Global Moderator

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

ronjor Global Moderator

ronjor Global Moderator

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

ronjor Global Moderator

guest Guest

Useful Searches