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Amazon’s Zoox unveils autonomous robotaxi

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Amazon-owned autonomous mobility company Zoox has unveiled its fully functional, electric, autonomous vehicle that is designed for dense, urban environments.

Zoox claims it is the first in the industry to showcase a driving, purpose-built robotaxi capable of operating up to 75 miles per hour.

Since its inception in 2014, Zoox has combined artificial intelligence, robotics, vehicle design, and sustainable energy to bring its vision of reinventing personal transportation to life, arguing that this will make the future “safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable for everyone”. [Read more…] about Amazon’s Zoox unveils autonomous robotaxi

BMW shows off autonomous version of classic Mini

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BMW is showing off an autonomous version of the classic Mini. The new concept car is part of the German automotive giant’s “Vision Next” project, which encapsulates a company-wide philosophy that aims to integrate the latest technologies into a new generation of vehicles.

These technologies include internet connectivity, autonomous or highly automated driving functions, shared availability, and electric propulsion. 

Called the Mini Vision Urbanaut, BMW says the car represents an “all-new interpretation of a vision of space”. In other words, the interior is radically different from conventional modern cars. [Read more…] about BMW shows off autonomous version of classic Mini

The Self-Driving Future

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As we put more and more emphasis on AI and automation, in the near future we can expect to see the growth in self-driving cars to incline exponentially.

While there is a lot of skepticism as well as the general questioning of this growing trend of being a healthy one for society as a whole, self-driving automated vehicles do have a variety of advantages that they can offer to the world.

Unfortunately, not many people realize this and choose to overlook these benefits in favor of a more dour and depressing outlook on the future. However, these benefits do exist and they can help us in many ways. [Read more…] about The Self-Driving Future

Motional expands nuScenes datasets for autonomous driving

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Motional, a startup developing driverless vehicle technology, has expanded nuScenes, the dataset that teaches autonomous vehicles how to safely engage with ever-changing road environments – nuScenes now includes nuScenes-lidarseg and nuImages.

nuScenes, created in March 2019, was the first publicly available dataset of its kind, and pioneered an industry-wide culture of safety-focused data-sharing and collaboration.

It launched as a collection of 1,000 urban “street-scenes” in Boston and Singapore. The scenes, composed of millions of photos and data-points collected from the vehicles’ full sensor suites, were then meticulously hand-annotated, and used to inform and advance machine learning models to build the safest possible self-driving vehicles. [Read more…] about Motional expands nuScenes datasets for autonomous driving

Delivery vehicles moving to electric ecosystem

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The unlikely convergence of a global pandemic and electric vehicle technology is driving delivery fleets to adopt electric vehicles at ever increasing rates.

The coronavirus pandemic has reportedly caused a huge spike in package delivery. According to CNBC.com, UPS for instance, delivered up to 21.1 million packages a day in the second quarter of 2020, a nearly 23 percent jump in average daily US volume from a year earlier.

Electric Vehicle Outlook 2020, published by BloombergNEF, states that there are over 500,000 e-buses and almost 400,000 electric delivery vans and trucks on the road globally. [Read more…] about Delivery vehicles moving to electric ecosystem

Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics celebrate one year of successful collaboration

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September 2020 marks one year of Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics partnering as a team after the US-based automated driving technology company became part of Daimler Trucks’ Autonomous Technology Group.

One year together, collaboratively pursuing a common goal of bringing series-produced highly automated trucks (SAE Level 4) to the roads within the decade; including on-road deployment of a Level 4 test fleet, initiation of redesign of truck chassis, adoption of a hub-to-hub model, formalized rigorous testing protocols, formal truck safety driver certification process, and extended software capabilities.

Now, the Autonomous Technology Group will extend its testing to New Mexico by building up a new testing center in Albuquerque. Expanding to a new location will support testing and provide data for more use cases of next generation vehicles on public roads starting this fall. [Read more…] about Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics celebrate one year of successful collaboration

Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia partner to build ‘smartphones on wheels’

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Automotive giant Mercedes-Benz and chipmaker Nvidia have agreed a significant, wide-ranging and long-term partnership designed to build what they are describing as “smartphones on wheels”. (See video below.)

Nvidia, which already has a leading position in the automotive market, says it is building the chips and supercomputers that the new Mercs will require.

And Mercedes-Benz says it is busy building the operating system the newly designed cars will run. [Read more…] about Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia partner to build ‘smartphones on wheels’

AImotive becomes ‘most-funded’ automated driving software supplier in Europe

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AImotive claims it has become “the most-funded automated driving software supplier in Europe” after its latest investment round.

AImotive, an automated driving technology company, says the new funding round has raised $20 million, and comes despite amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

The round was led by Lead Ventures, a Budapest based scale-up investor. [Read more…] about AImotive becomes ‘most-funded’ automated driving software supplier in Europe

JTEKT subsidiary Koyo acquires Canadian assets of KSR International

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Acquisition ‘strengthens JTEKT’s global ECU development capabilities’, says company

Koyo Canada, a subsidiary of automotive technology company JTEKT, has acquired the assets of a Halifax, Nova Scotia research and development facility previously owned by KSR International, a Canadian company.

The acquisition strengthens JTEKT global engine control unit (ECU) development for vehicle steering and driveline products, and will set the foundation for further expansion of its global electrification capabilities and plans.

The new KCI Halifax R&D facility allows JTEKT to more efficiently respond to the expanding demands of autonomous driving support, steer-by-wire and high voltage systems. [Read more…] about JTEKT subsidiary Koyo acquires Canadian assets of KSR International

Kia unveils digital dashboard with monitor to ‘eliminate blind spots’

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Kia has revealed details of its “Blind-Spot View Monitor” technology included with the all-new Kia Sorento sports utility vehicle.

This “second pair of eyes” for drivers is designed to enhance safety for Sorento occupants and other road users by eliminating a driver’s left- and right-side blind spots.

The Sorento is the first Kia vehicle in Europe to offer this advanced driving assistance feature, one of a range of functions enabled by the car’s new fully-digital “Supervision” 12.3-inch instrument cluster. [Read more…] about Kia unveils digital dashboard with monitor to ‘eliminate blind spots’