Category: Automotive

On-demand shuttle startup Via enters South American market

Via, the on-demand shuttle startup backed by Daimler, has expanded into South America. The company launched a service in Goiânia, Brazil with HP Transportes Coletivos, one of the country’s largest public transportation operators. Via says the service, called CityBus 2.0, is the first on-demand shuttle system operated by a public transit operator to launch in Latin… Continue reading On-demand shuttle startup Via enters South American market

On-demand logistics startup Lalamove raises $300M for Asia growth and becomes a unicorn

Lalamove, a Hong Kong-based on-demand logistics startup, has closed a $300 million Series D round as it seeks expansion across Asia. In doing so, the company has officially entered the unicorn club. Founded in 2013 by Stanford graduate Shing Chow, Lalamove provides logistics and delivery services in a similar style to ride-hailing apps like Uber… Continue reading On-demand logistics startup Lalamove raises $300M for Asia growth and becomes a unicorn

NEW RANGE ROVER EVOQUE RECREATES ICONIC ROAD SIGNS TO SHOWCASE ALL-TERRAIN CAPABILITY AND SMART TECH

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Tesla replaces general counsel Dane Butswinkas after two months

Tesla general counsel leaves after 2 months on the job
11 Hours Ago | 01:12

Tesla is replacing its general counsel, Dane Butswinkas, the company said Wednesday. Jonathan Chang, Tesla's current vice president of legal, will take over Butswinkas' position, effective Wednesday.

It is yet another executive departure for Tesla, which has seen a great deal of turnover in its ranks over the last several years. Most recently, CFO Deepak Ahuja said he will be leaving the company, after serving his second stint with the electric car maker.

This is likely more evidence that Tesla is not a company for everyone and that Elon Musk is a tough boss, said Gene Munster, managing partner at Loup Ventures.

“He's in a one in a billion type of person,” Munster said. “And this is yet further evidence. And I think that is the biggest challenge that the company has — retaining top talent.”

Chang, who is 40 years old, has been with Tesla for eight years. He most recently oversaw legal issues relating to securities, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, compliance, and sales in the U.S. and Europe, Tesla said. He has been involved in Tesla's efforts to overturn state laws prohibiting the direct sale of cars to customers across the United States. He will report directly to CEO Musk.

Tesla shares were down nearly 1 percent midmorning Thursday.

“I'm grateful for the opportunity over the past seven months to have worked with both Elon and Tesla, first as outside counsel and most recently as General Counsel at Tesla. I am returning to my home in Washington, DC and to my trial practice at Williams & Connolly,” Butswinkas said. “I look forward to continuing my work with Tesla in an outside counsel role. I have observed and have tremendous confidence in Jonathan's leadership skills and in the Tesla team. When I joined the company, I said it would be hard to identify a more timely or essential mission than Tesla's—that's as true today as it was then.”

Butswinkas left after just two months on the job. A person familiar with the matter said he was not a good cultural fit with Tesla and wanted to return to his family and law practice in Washington, D.C.

AEye Extends Patent Portfolio, Creating Industry’s Most Comprehensive Library of Solid-State Lidar Intellectual Property

Patented technology gives iDAR system the ability to create superior perception data, radically improving safety, reliability, and efficiency of autonomous vehicles.
“The difference is our fundamental system architecture, which allows us to produce mobility solutions with industry leading range, resolution and update rate performance, while at the same time delivering ADAS solutions that are optimized for size, weight, power, and price.”

Pleasanton, CA – February 20, 2019 – Artificial perception pioneer AEye today announced a significant expansion of its global patent portfolio, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to innovative solutions that promote safe and reliable vehicle autonomy. In addition to three patents previously announced, AEye has been awarded eight additional patents covering core components of AEye’s iDAR™ (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) perception system, including its solid-state MEMs-based agile LiDAR, fused HD camera, and software definable AI technology.

Six of the new patents relate to iDAR’s unique ability to enable software-defined frames and dynamic scan patterns. iDAR eliminates the constraints of the typical static point cloud by introducing dynamic scan modes designed to improve information acuity and minimize latency. With iDAR, scan modes can be combined and their data aggregated, enabling an AEye iDAR-powered device to be configured according to situational demands, such as when a vehicle moving at speed encounters congestion. This results in improved perception and time-to-reaction, while significantly reducing resource overhead.

Two of AEye’s recent patents focus on how the iDAR platform monitors and manages the laser energy of its agile LiDAR. iDAR deploys adaptive energy control on a pulse-by-pulse basis, allowing the system to automatically adjust the energy, tuning and shaping of each laser pulse. This advanced architecture allows for both the dynamic adjustment of scan patterns and the ability to adapt the laser energy for each pulse — enabling complete interference mitigation, eye safety and retro mitigation.

“AEye set out to create the optimal architecture for artificial perception, reinventing the core technologies that enable it,” said Aravind Ratnam, vice president of Products at AEye. “These patents represent AEye innovations that allow us to intelligently process data at its source, while using the minimal laser power to actively interrogate each frame. By optimizing and adjusting pulse power and direction in real-time, we are able simultaneously focus on regions of interest, filter irrelevant data, and eliminate interference and spoofing, while delivering the highest levels of eye safety and retro mitigation.”

AEye’s iDAR Brings Intelligence to LiDAR
Conventional LiDAR systems are designed to provide basic search capabilities — passively capturing limited data and treating it all equally without distinguishing critical threats or objects in the scene. In contrast, AEye’s iDAR performs multi-modal intelligent search which can then acquire, pre-classify and track multiple objects quickly. Putting this intelligence in the sensor at the edge of the network produces better quality perception data that is more quickly, efficiently and accurately processed into actionable information. In addition, iDAR is a software-definable artificial perception system designed to be interoperable with existing LiDAR sensors and can be customized and extended as needed.

“The difference is our fundamental system architecture, which allows us to produce mobility solutions with industry leading range, resolution and update rate performance, while at the same time delivering ADAS solutions that are optimized for size, weight, power, and price,” said Joel Benscoter, head of Customer Success for AEye. “We can do this while ensuring both products will be under ASIL-B functional safety certification, to ensure they meet the automotive industry’s stringent safety standards. Nobody else can do this.”

AEye recently announced the AE110 for the mobility applications and the AE200 for ADAS solutions. The features enabled by the technologies covered in these patents will be available in both product lines.

About AEye
AEye is an artificial perception pioneer and creator of iDAR™, a perception system that acts as the eyes and visual cortex of autonomous vehicles. Since its demonstration of its solid-state LiDAR scanner in 2013, AEye has pioneered breakthroughs in intelligent sensing. The company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and backed by world-renowned investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Taiwania Capital, Intel Capital and Airbus Ventures.

Media Contact:

AEye, Inc.
Jennifer Deitsch
[email protected]

925-400-4366

AEye Extends Patent Portfolio, Creating Industry’s Most Comprehensive Library of Solid-State Lidar Intellectual Property — The Future of Autonomous Vehicles: Part I – Think Like a Robot, Perceive Like a HumanAEye’s iDAR Shatters Both Range and Scan Rate Performance Records for Automotive Grade LiDARAEye Introduces Advanced Mobility Product for the Autonomous Vehicle MarketAEye Introduces Next Generation of Artificial Perception: New Dynamic Vixels™AEye Granted Foundational Patents For Core Solid-State MEMs-Based Agile LiDAR And Embedded AI TechnologyLG Electronics and AEye Announce Strategic Partnership to Address Sensing and Perception Needs of ADAS MarketGartner Names AEye Cool Vendor in AI for Computer VisionAEye’s $40M Series B Includes Numerous Automotive Leaders Including Subaru, Hella, LG, and SKElon Musk Is Right: LiDAR Is a Crutch (Sort of.)AEye Announces Industry Leading Family of Perception Sensors for ADAS Solutions

The options open to dealers after termination

Losing a franchise is a major blow for any dealer. You will ave likely invested many years, let alone a lot of money, in the brand and suddenly you can’t use it any more. Or can you? First, though, why would you want to? You cannot obtain supplies of new cars from the manufacturer any… Continue reading The options open to dealers after termination