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Tesla Ramps Up Quest For Driverless Cars With Acquisition Of DeepScale

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Autonomous Vehicles

Published on October 2nd, 2019 |

by Steve Hanley

Tesla Ramps Up Quest For Driverless Cars With Acquisition Of DeepScale

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October 2nd, 2019 by Steve Hanley

Don’t think of self-driving cars as autonomous. Think of them as horizontal elevators. No one thinks it’s strange to get on a modern elevator, press a button, and be whisked to the floor of your choosing. Only if you are 85 years old and remember the days of elevator operators do you think self service elevators are at all unusual.

Credit: DeepScale

Autonomous cars can reduce congestion in world cities, eliminate most motor vehicle injuries and deaths, and free us up to play Tetris on our touchscreens as over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go. They also may prove to be hugely profitable for the companies that operate them.

No company on Earth has a more single-minded emphasis on self-driving cars than Tesla. You might think it has the best and brightest minds in the world of robotic transportation on its payroll, but apparently there are other companies out there who have people with equal or greater skill. Tesla has just acquired one of them, a company known as DeepScale.

According to CNBC, DeepScale was founded by Forrest Iandola, who obtained a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley, “where he worked on deep neural nets that could work on mobile devices with relatively small amounts of memory.” DeepScale’s technology is designed to help automakers use low wattage processors — the kinds that are now standard in most cars — to power very accurate computer vision. These processors work with sensors, mapping, planning, and control systems to allow cars to make sense of what’s going on around them.

On his LinkedIn page, Iandola announced he has joined Tesla as a senior staff machine learning scientist. “I joined the Tesla #Autopilot team this week. I am looking forward to working with some of the brightest minds in #deeplearning and #autonomousdriving,” he said.

CNBC points out that Tesla has suffered a brain drain of sorts in its self-driving unit recently. In May, Stuart Bowers, who headed the company’s self-driving program, departed for greener pastures after Elon Musk critiqued him and his group for not getting the results Musk wanted fast enough. Subsequently, according to The Information, 11 other members of the team — about 10% of the total — left Tesla as well after telling Musk they could not meet the timelines he demanded of them.

Sources tell CNBC that Tesla has acquired DeepScale in its entirety, although no details about how much Tesla paid for the tech startup have been revealed. Reportedly it had raised nearly $20 million in funding from prominent venture capital groups.

Tesla has not been shy about acquiring companies it thinks will help it achieve its mission of converting the world’s transportation system to electric vehicles. Previously it bought Grohmann Engineering, one of Germany’s most highly regarded engineering companies. More recently it acquired Maxwell Technologies, a company with vast experience with supercapacitors.

Elon Musk is relentless at pushing his people to achieve impossibly difficult results in unbelievably short periods of time. With DeepScale now in the fold, expect dramatic progress toward full self-driving cars to occur quickly — or else!

About the Author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. His motto is, “Life is not measured by how many breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away!” You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.

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Smart mobility firm selects Game of Thrones actor as strategic partner

September 12, 2019

Image credit: Stock

Advanced mobility solutions firm Fisker Inc is partnering with Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to bring the most sustainable, affordable and premium mobility to market.
Coster-Waldau is pioneering his work as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador for climate change and larger social issues, where he travels all over the world to actively participate in many projects.
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The actor will serve as a key partner and sustainability advisor to company Chairman and CEO, Henrik Fisker, in helping to create a future where advanced, affordable, electric mobility serves as a model for the future of transportation.

The CEO and the actor connected over a tweet and their passion for sustainability.
The two are working together to ensure Fisker can fulfil as many of the United Nation’s sustainability goals as possible.
The news comes at a time the mobility solutions firm is about to complete its affordable, all-electric production-intent SUV prototype.
The EV will be unveiled by the end of this year, will have approximately a 275-300 mile electric range, incorporate recycled plastic from ocean debris, vegan leather, a solar roof in its top model spec and will recycle waste generated during tire manufacturing – which typically gets sent to landfills – for various interior applications.
To break the barrier to EV ownership – the high costs associated with EVs, Fisker is working on a direct-to-consumer smart platform, which may not include sales of its vehicles.
Coster-Waldau, commented: “Mass vehicle electrification around the world will make an immense impact on the fight to combat climate change. And although we’ve progressed, there’s still a long way to go. Henrik Fisker’s vision to help spark wider adoption of electric vehicles is unique – combining the most sustainable materials and manufacturing with his globally renowned design touch to bring emotionally appealing vehicles to the mass market. I’m delighted to embark on a journey to deliver more beautiful vehicles for a more beautiful world.”

Topics:
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