Where Innovation Meets Imagination
Continental, a company which provides a range of automotive solutions such as tyres and advanced driver assistance systems, has been showing off its new autonomous minibus.
The company calls the vehicle Cube, short for Continental Urban Mobility Experience, and describes it as a “robo-taxi”.
This particular trial of the driverless minibus took place in Frankfurt, Germany. [Read more…] about Continental sends out autonomous minibus for a driverless drive
The global market for agricultural robots is forecast to exceed $5 billion by 2024, according to a report.
The Global Agriculture Robots Market Report, published by Variant Market Research, predicts the global market will reach $5,214 million by 2024 from $968 million in 2016 – growing at an annual rate of 23.4 per cent from 2016 to 2024.
By geography, Asia Pacific and rest of the world are expected to grow at 24.7 per cent and 24.1 per cent respectively, during the forecast period. [Read more…] about Global agriculture robots market driven by ‘high population growth and food shortages’
Roborace has been showing off its driverless electric racing car in New York, in the US, after organising similar exhibitions in other countries.
Roborace organises what is believed to be the world’s first driverless electric car racing series, using vehicles based on Nvidia’s Drive PX2 artificial intelligence platform.
The car incorporates technologies such as lidar, radar, cameras, ultrasonic sensors, optical speed sensors, GNSS positioning, and others, according to Engineering.com. [Read more…] about Roborace shows off its driverless electric racing car in the US
The New Jersey Institute of Technology has been looking into the future to see how roads and highways will change over the next few years, and found a significant proportion of roadways in a poor state.
Across the United States, says the NJIT, there are more than 4 million miles of public roadways, and 28 percent are listed as being in “poor condition”.
Throughout those roadways, 61,000 bridges are considered “structurally deficient”.
On top of the needs for rebuilding US roadways, 42 percent of America’s major urban highways remain congested, which costs an estimated $101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually. [Read more…] about What will America’s roads and highways look like in the future?
Fifth generation mobile telecommunication networks – or 5G – are being created in many places around the world, including the US, China and Europe.
Currently, the majority of mobile device users access either 3G or 4G networks, which both have significantly lower data rates than 5G.
The table below has some basic numbers for how fast each network is – in megabits per second – and dates of when they were operational, or in the case of 5G when it will be. [Read more…] about 5G telecommunications networks being constructed in many places around the world
US President Donald Trump is set to announce “within the next few months” new regulations that will eliminate the barriers to autonomous cars on the roads, according to a report on Reuters.
The current transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, acknowledged that automakers have been calling for rule changes which will give them more freedom to test and develop autonomous cars.
Chao says: “The pressure is mounting for the federal government to do something. We don’t want rules that impede future technological advances.” [Read more…] about US government set to change driverless vehicle regulations under pressure from automakers
The sheer speed with which driverless cars have gone from a fanciful notion to soon-to-be real-world, mainstream standard technology might be bewildering to some and slightly worrying to others.
But for proponents and supporters of the technology – of which there are many, both inside the industry as well as in society at large – the driverless car was always clearly on the horizon, and it’s imminent arrival is not a moment too soon.
Colorado has become the latest state to pass a law which allows the development of autonomous cars as long as the developers observe existing laws of the road. [Read more…] about Driverless cars set to take to the roads much faster than anticipated as Colorado passes first law regulating the technology
Bosch – one of the world’s largest industrial companies, producing a wide variety of engineered products, from automotive components to home appliances – has reported increased sales for the year 2016.
In a press conference last week to launch the German giant’s annual report, Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner listed the key figures:
Sales in all business segments and geographical regions had increased, added Denner.
As positive as the figures may seem, Denner said the company was nonetheless undergoing “profound transformation”, partly brought about by a range of new technologies which are changing the global industrial landscape, and because diesel engines may be phased out. [Read more…] about Bosch reports increased sales of €73 billion. Wins massive new sensor contract from Apple
Two of the largest car technology companies in the world have formed a partnership which is very likely to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles.
Bosch and Daimler – parent company of Mercedes – claim they can launch fully driverless, or “Level 5”, cars as early as 2020.
Global engineering organisation SAE International’s levels 2-5 range from partial to full automation. The full list of can be viewed here.
Rianne Ojeh, a spokesperson for Bosch, told Independent.co.uk: “The aim is to launch a production-ready and reliable driving system for fully-automated and driverless driving. For two years the systems will be used exclusively in Mercedes-Benz vehicles. After that the products can be supplied to third parties.” [Read more…] about Bosch and Mercedes partner on driverless car technology
Newly appointed US transport secretary Elaine Chao is being asked to go out and “do better” than the previous administration and “explain in plain language” her recipe for success.
In particular, Chao is being asked to give the testing and regulation of autonomous cars a national framework rather than allow the technology to be introduced in a haphazard way, with each state making its own rules as it goes along.
This is the suggestion of many experts from the world of business and academia, including one particularly outspoken expert Timothy Carone, an associate teaching professor in the Department of IT, Analytics, and Operations in the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. [Read more…] about Transport secretary Elaine Chao needs to update DoT policy, says automation expert
