commission

Challengers in Esmera robotics competition in line to receive €200k each

In the context of the European robotics project Esmera, 12 experiments have now started to solve industry challenges by developing new robotics solutions.

The Esmera consortium has chosen the best twelve experiments from 32 proposals that were handed in during the first Open Call in 2018.

The solution design by the experiments will be carried out in two competitive phases.

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Groupe PSA carries out autonomous driving tests in L3Pilot project

Since the start of April, Group PSA’s vehicles equipped with level 3 autonomous driving functions have been operating on open roads in France as part of the European L3Pilot project.

Six to eight vehicles will undergo intensive driving tests to validate autonomous functions on dual carriageways.

The project is strengthening Groupe PSA’s expertise in the development of autonomous vehicles, thanks to a global ecosystem of partners, including European carmakers, research centres and roads authorities.

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Stop praying to the gods of the free market and roll out the red carpet to robots, urges Labour

The UK Labour Party is urging the government to turn away from “the gods of the free market” and instead roll out the red carpet to our new robot overlords.

Or at least that’s what could be inferred from an opinion piece written by the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, who made it clear that he favours mechatronics over abstract notions of free markets.

“A robot driving a lorry may sound daunting, just as a horseless carriage did in 1890. But a driverless car doesn’t get tired, or drink alcohol, or have blind spots,” writes Watson in praise of the machines.

Watson calls for a royal commission into the issue of robotics and automation in the UK, claiming that the chancellor, George Osborne, is leaving to fate to decide whether technological change becomes “out ally not our foe”.

Full story at The Guardian.