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Bosch to assume full control of electric motor manufacturer EM-motive

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Bosch is now assuming full control of EM-motive, one of Europe’s most successful manufacturers of electric motors.

Bosch and Daimler set up EM-motive GmbH as a fifty-fifty joint venture in 2011. Since then, it has manufactured some 450,000 electric motors.

From the establishment of the joint venture, Bosch secured an option to acquire the shares. A complete takeover was thus already an option in the joint venture agreement.

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Denso merges three subsidiaries to form Denso Solution

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Denso Corporation, the world’s second largest mobility supplier, has announced that Denso Sales Japan Corporation, Denso Ten Sales Limited and Denso Ten Service Limited will merge to form a new company called Denso Solution Japan Corporation on April 1, 2019.

With the rapid progress of vehicle electrification and automated driving within the auto industry, Denso has previously announced several organisational changes to increase competitiveness.

The formation of Denso Solution will create new products and services in the automotive aftermarket.

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Boeing autonomous passenger air vehicle completes first flight

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Boeing says it has successfully completed the first test flight of its autonomous passenger air vehicle prototype in Manassas, Virginia.

Boeing NeXt, which leads the company’s urban air mobility efforts, utilized Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to design and develop the electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and will continue testing to advance the safety and reliability of on-demand autonomous air transportation.

The passenger air vehicle prototype completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the flight, which tested the vehicle’s autonomous functions and ground control systems.  [Read more…] about Boeing autonomous passenger air vehicle completes first flight

Velodyne Lidar sensors enable Postmates autonomous delivery rover

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Postmates has included Velodyne Lidar’s intelligent, versatile lidar technology in its innovative self-driving rovers for short-distance deliveries, Postmates Serve.

Equipped with Velodyne’s compact, powerful lidar sensor, Serve combines autonomy and emission-free robotics for movement of goods in cities.

Serve’s architecture includes Velodyne’s VLP-16 Puck sensor, which has been designed into the rover. The VLP-16 Puck is built into the top of the rover for a high-performance surround view, enabling Serve to detect people and objects as it completes local deliveries.

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PepsiCo sends Robby’s delivery robot to college

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PepsiCo has enrolled its “Hello Goodness snackbot” into college. (See video below.) 

What the company calls “the friendliest new freshman” at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, arrived on campus earlier this month. And it’s stocked with snacks and beverages.

Snackbot is described as an “outdoor, self-driving robot” which brings snacks and beverages from Hello Goodness, a curated portfolio of brands from PepsiCo, to hungry college students.  [Read more…] about PepsiCo sends Robby’s delivery robot to college

Aisin and Denso to form electric vehicle driving module joint venture

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Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. and Denso Corporation have formally agreed to form a new company to develop and sell driving modules used for electric vehicles.

The new company is named BluE Nexus and will be established in April* 2019. In August 2018, Aisin and Denso first announced their basic agreement to establish a joint venture.

Electrification requires a driving module package that consists of transaxles, motor-generators, and inverters, which are key components needed for both partially and fully electric vehicles.

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Velodyne Lidar sensors power ThorDrive’s autonomous driving pilot

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ThorDrive, an autonomous vehicle (AV) startup, is introducing commercial vehicle services in the first of many pilots in the USA.

The initial service, in partnership with Hassett ACE Hardware, will support selected residents and fire departments in Palo Alto, California, with plans to expand to additional pilots soon.

The ThorDrive platform is using Velodyne’s lidar sensors to provide rich data content for its AV software.

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PerceptIn launches ‘first-ever’ long-range visual perception device enabling high-speed trains to see 1,000 meters ahead

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PerceptIn, a developer of robotic vision technologies, has unveiled what it describes as a “thousand-meter visual perception module”.

Specially designed for semi-autonomous high-speed trains, the thousand-meter visual perception module can also be tuned to cover a 300-meter range for universal deployment in industrial and commercial autonomous vehicles such as logistics trucks.

PerceptIn created its thousand-meter proprietary visual perception technology to detect obstacles from long distances away, such as transport by highway, rail, ship, or aircraft.  [Read more…] about PerceptIn launches ‘first-ever’ long-range visual perception device enabling high-speed trains to see 1,000 meters ahead

Toyota Research Institute unveils P4 automated driving test vehicle

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Toyota Research Institute (TRI) showed the TRI-P4 automated driving test vehicle at CES last week. The P4 is based on the all-new fifth-generation Lexus LS flagship sedan and will be used in TRI’s two-track Guardian and Chauffeur automated driving system development.

The P4 has Lexus’ new generation of chassis and steering control technology, which provides greater agility and allows for more responsive and smoother manoeuvres during automated driving.

It has two additional cameras to improve situational awareness on the sides and two new imaging sensors―one facing forward and one pointed to the rear―specifically designed for autonomous vehicles. The imaging sensors feature new chip technology with high dynamic range.

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Mercedes Benz Vans presents its ‘Vision Urbanetic’

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At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz Vans presented its Vision Urbanetic, a study that opens up new perspectives on autonomous driving.

It is said to enable the needs-based, sustainable and efficient transport of people and goods – and meet the needs of cities, companies from a wide range of industries, as well as travellers and commuters in innovative ways.

The concept reduces traffic flows, relieves inner-city infrastructures and contributes to a new urban quality of life. At the same time, it offers an outlook on future-oriented technologies for the interaction between human and machine.

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