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Autonomous vehicle development will be stalled by technological and regulatory barriers, says report

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Autonomous vehicles are currently more hype than substance, given the significant technological, financial, and regulatory barriers to their widespread use, according to GlobalData.

In its latest report, Tech, Media, & Telecom Predictions 2022, the data and analytics company predicts that focus will shift onto “lower-level” autonomous vehicles that require greater human supervision, while mergers and acquisition activity will continue to be driven by transport technology such as robotaxis.

Amrit Dhami, thematic analyst at GlobalData, offers her view on these predictions. She says technological barriers will shift focus onto lower-level autonomous vehicles. [Read more…] about Autonomous vehicle development will be stalled by technological and regulatory barriers, says report

Mercedes-Benz partners with Luminar to develop automated driving systems

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Mercedes-Benz and Luminar Technologies has agreed a partnership to accelerate development of future automated driving technologies for passenger cars.

A central component of this is the optimal access to new technologies and global competencies.

The new partnership with Luminar underlines Mercedes-Benz’s policy of continuously expanding its network of top-flight tech partners and suppliers for passenger cars. [Read more…] about Mercedes-Benz partners with Luminar to develop automated driving systems

Autonomous driving software startup Helm.ai raises $26 million in new funding

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Helm.ai, creator of next-generation AI software for autonomous driving, today announced it has raised $26 million in series B funding.

This funding will help Helm.ai better serve its rapidly growing customer base, and accelerate product expansion of its highly scalable approach to autonomous driving software.

Additional funding in this round was from JM Partners, Base Capital Funding, and Freeman Group, with additional participation from Nicolas Berggruen, ACVC Partners, OneWay Ventures, Binnacle Partners, Nadia Asoyan, Vlad Tenev, Mark Leslie, Jeff Rothschild, and Neil King. [Read more…] about Autonomous driving software startup Helm.ai raises $26 million in new funding

Oqton raises over $40 million investment for its digital manufacturing platform

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Oqton, an American-Belgian software company specialising in artificial intelligence-powered solutions for the manufacturing industry, has raised more than $40 million in a Series A financing round, led by Fortino Capital, a leading B2B software investor, by PMV, the regional Flemish investment fund, and by Sandvik, a global engineering group.

The founding team – Samir Hanna and Ben Schrauwen – and several angel investors, including Carl Bass, who is the former CEO Autodesk, Dries Buytaert, of Drupal and Acquia, and Peter Mercelis, of Layerwise, also participated in the round.

The financing will be used to further develop its platform, while expanding its commercial partnerships in multiple domains and verticals, including additive manufacturing, robotic welding, and CNC machining. [Read more…] about Oqton raises over $40 million investment for its digital manufacturing platform

Panasonic to apply industrial technology to solve society’s problems

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Panasonic says it aims to tackle the needs of smart societies – from healthcare to retail and logistics – with industrial technology. (See video below.)

The company says it will use its broad expertise in sensors as well as drives technology, and its technologies in industrial robots to meet the challenge.

Panasonic says its approach is based on “pragmatic solutions that work with people”, and this can be defined within three core pillars: augmented solutions, stand-alone solutions, and complete robotics automation solutions. [Read more…] about Panasonic to apply industrial technology to solve society’s problems

Opinion: Radical rethink of automotive R&D investment required in 2020

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Continued disruption, restructuring and re-shaping of the automotive industry will be required to make increasing levels of R&D affordable whilst simultaneously representing a major growth opportunity in the year ahead, according to engineering consultancy Horiba Mira.

The proliferation of electrification and connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies will continue to be amongst the top automotive trends in 2020 which will continue to push up the already soaring costs of research and development.

Indeed, latest figures show European auto manufacturers spent a record £33.3 billion on R&D – 35 per cent more than the £24.6 billion spent in 2014/15. [Read more…] about Opinion: Radical rethink of automotive R&D investment required in 2020

Manufacturing industry turning to robotics and AI in challenging economic landscape, says Deloitte

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The manufacturing industry is turning to robotics and artificial intelligence as well as a range of other strategies to navigate an increasingly challenging economic landscape, according to a report by Deloitte.

The management consultancy says that, as the risk of a global economic downturn grows, the industrial manufacturing industry faces a challenging landscape in 2020 replete with trade tensions, muted job growth, supply chain volatility and an ongoing skilled talent shortage.

Yet, despite these headwinds, industry leaders are rapidly developing coping strategies – not only to weather the brewing storm, but to thrive in spite of it. [Read more…] about Manufacturing industry turning to robotics and AI in challenging economic landscape, says Deloitte

Toyota boss says autonomous technology is a paradigm shift – like going from building looms to constructing cars

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toyota akio toyoda

Toyota president Akio Toyoda has drawn a parallel between the changes happening in the company now to what happened when Toyota first came into existence.

Toyoda was speaking at a press conference to present the automaker’s financial results. He acknowledged the “many lessons that we learned” through the company’s partnerships with Subaru, BMW and Mazda.

The partnerships were part of the reason for Toyota adopting a new organisational structure. It was also a factor in the company’s decision to establish the Toyota Research Laboratory.  [Read more…] about Toyota boss says autonomous technology is a paradigm shift – like going from building looms to constructing cars