Autonomous – Page 2527 – I wish I had more to offer

Automotive and Mobility Industry Leaders Publish First-of-its-Kind Framework for Safe Automated Driving Systems

“Safety First for Automated Driving” (SaFAD) white paper emphasizes the importance of safety by design for automated vehicles Emphasizing safety by design, 11 industry leaders across the automotive and automated driving technology spectrum today published “Safety First for Automated Driving,” (SaFAD), a non-binding organized framework for the development, testing and validation of safe automated passenger… Continue reading Automotive and Mobility Industry Leaders Publish First-of-its-Kind Framework for Safe Automated Driving Systems

iDAR Sees Only What Matters

AEye’s iDAR™ (Intelligent Detection and Ranging) is the world’s most intelligent artificial perception system for autonomous vehicles.

Only iDAR brings intelligence to the sensor layer. By fusing 1550 nanometer, solid-state agile LiDAR with a low-light HD camera, CV algorithms, and embedded AI – at the sensor – iDAR filters out the most important aspects of a given scene. With iDAR, the vehicle’s perception system can target only the salient 5% of data it needs to safely navigate.

Watch how.

Fixed grid scan pattern with High Density Elevation coloring where blue indicates the highest elevation and red indicates the lowest.
Moving grid scan pattern with iDAR edge detection enabled, also with High Density Elevation coloring.
Moving grid scan pattern with iDAR edge detection enabled. The scene is colored by point type, where the “passive” points (part of the fixed background scan) are orange. The iDAR edge detection points – which pass only the scene’s relevant information to the perception system – are green. The computer vision edge detection algorithm analyzes the camera stream, which cues the LiDAR to optimally capture only the important aspects of the scene. Ensuring that iDAR never misses a thing!
Moving grid scan pattern with edges only.

iDAR enables self-driving cars to see only what matters.

iDAR Sees Only What Matters — Elon Musk Is Right: LiDAR Is a Crutch (Sort of.)AEye’s $40M Series B Includes Numerous Automotive Leaders Including Subaru, Hella, LG, and SKAEye Extends Patent Portfolio, Creating Industry’s Most Comprehensive Library of Solid-State Lidar Intellectual PropertyAEye Announces Industry Leading Family of Perception Sensors for ADAS SolutionsAEye Advisory Board Profile: Adrian KaehlerLeading Global Automotive Supplier Aisin Invests in AEye through Pegasus Tech VenturesAEye’s iDAR Shatters Both Range and Scan Rate Performance Records for Automotive Grade LiDARRethinking the Three “Rs” of LiDAR: Rate, Resolution and RangeAEye Advisory Board Profile: Luke Schneider

Fisker teases solar roof for upcoming electric SUV

Road/Show by CNET article by ANDREW KROK

The Fisker Karma had a solar panel in the roof, too, so this shouldn't come as a surprise.

I have to imagine those lines on the roof are just stylistic renderings.

Henrik Fisker, and the automotive manufacturer that bore his name, was one of the first to implement solar panels across the length of a car's roof. While the Fisker Karma might be dead, gone and subsequently revived under a new name now, Fisker himself has started a new venture and, what do you know, this new car will have a solar roof, too.

Henrik Fisker took to social media on Wednesday to promote a new teaser for his company's upcoming electric SUV. This new teaser shows a little bit more of the crossover's back end, but more importantly, it shows that this new car will have a solar roof running the length of the vehicle. The car appears to also have a sunroof, so it's unclear how that will all be implemented together, but until the car shows up in the real world, we'll have to take Fisker's word for it.

Last week, we got a different view of the Fisker SUV's tuchus. Fisker tweeted out an image of the car's roof and D-pillar, with a clever integrated turn signal mounted high above the taillight. Fisker says it will improve safety, but it's unclear what benefits are offered by changing the turn signal's location. Previous teasers have shown off the front end from various angles, and it's a beefy looking thing, that's for sure.

Fisker has promised that a drivable prototype will be ready by the end of the year. So far, all we know is that the company aims to have a range in excess of 300 miles, yet its starting price will stay under the $40,000 mark. Sales are expected to take place in the second half of 2021, so there's likely some time before we see the actual production version of this still-unnamed utility vehicle.

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Waymo makes autonomous vehicles available to Lyft riders

VIDEO5:2505:25Self-driving Waymo minivans are now available on Lyft in ArizonaSquawk BoxWaymo, a subsidiary of Google-parent Alphabet which is developing autonomous vehicles and related services, has officially expanded its reach and is now making some of its self-driving minivans available for customers of ride-share firm Lyft.
The rides are restricted to a small area just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, where Waymo has been testing self-driving vehicles and has started its own autonomous ride-share service called Waymo One.
Waymo's limited partnership with Lyft is the latest example of the company branching out to work with more companies as it develops autonomous vehicles and services. Earlier this month, Waymo struck a deal with Nissan and Renault to build self-driving vehicles for those automakers.
By partnering with Lyft, Waymo CEO John Krafcik believes the relationship gives both companies “the opportunity to collect valuable feedback.” For Waymo it will be able to better gauge how the public interacts with a self-driving vehicle. Until now, those getting rides in Waymo vehicles in the Phoenix area have been pre-screened and accepted into the Waymo early rider program.
Waymo's steady expansion comes as competitors are making their own plans to roll autonomous ride-share services. Later this year, General Motors subsidiary Cruise, is expected to unveil an autonomous ride-share service in a small area in or near San Francisco.
Uber, which dominates the ride-share industry in the U.S., is also working on its own fleet of self-driving vehicles. Earlier this month, Eric Meyhofer, the head of Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, told CNBC his company is working to deploy self-driving cars without safety drivers in limited areas. But he said Uber wants to be in “the good graces of public trust and regulatory trust” before deciding when to roll out Uber vehicles without someone behind the wheel.
Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Autotrader, believes widespread deployment of self-driving vehicles, whether in a ride-share program or elsewhere, is still years from happening.
VIDEO6:1806:18Tesla could surprise to the upside with autonomous driving: AnalystTrading Nation “Nobody knows the right answers technically, and certainly, nobody knows the right answer for building a business model,” she said. “So I think there is going to be a lot of partnering up, changing partners, and figuring out strategies before this settles out, and I think that's a way down the road.”
For now, Waymo is making just a handful of its vehicles available in the Phoenix area and eventually, up to 10 Waymo self-driving minivans will be eligible for Lyft rides. The service will be limited to those Lyft customers planning to start and complete a ride within the geofenced area where Waymo vehicles have been operating.
When Lyft customers in certain suburbs of Phoenix call up the app on the phone and look for a ride, they will be offered the chance to be shuttled in a Waymo autonomous-drive minivan or a traditional Lyft vehicle with a human driver. The Waymo minivans in the Lyft program will all have a safety driver behind the wheel.

Carnegie Mellon, Argo AI Form $15M Self-Driving Car Research Center

Carnegie Mellon University this week announced a five-year research partnership with Argo AI that will focus on advanced perception and decision-making algorithms for autonomous vehicles (AVs). Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based self-driving car startup whose majority investor is Ford (NYSE: F), is spending $15 million to fund the effort, which will be called the Carnegie Mellon… Continue reading Carnegie Mellon, Argo AI Form $15M Self-Driving Car Research Center

BMW set to double electric vehicle sales by 2021

BMW's Vision M Next concept carBMWBMW is on track to double its electric and hybrid vehicle sales by 2021, the company said Tuesday as it unveiled its newest electric car.
The German automaker announced that it will meet its target of marketing 25 electrified vehicle models by 2023 — two years earlier than expected. More than half of those models will be fully electric.
Sales of BMW's electric models are expected to increase by 30% every year between now and 2025, the carmaker also added.
BMW also revealed the Vision M Next, an electrified concept car, which was complete with a prototype of “intelligent technology to transform (owners) into the ultimate driver.”
Unveiling the sportscar at its #NEXTGen show in Munich, BMW said the car gave a glimpse of how driving may look in the future — offering people the choice between being driven by technology or doing the driving themselves.

The Vision M Next was complete with prototypes of BMW's “ease” and “boost” features, which will be incorporated into its autonomous vehicles. The “ease” function is selected when the vehicle assumes driving duties, allowing passengers to relax, talk or even watch a movie. Meanwhile, “boost” allows drivers to control the car themselves.
By the end of 2019, BMW is aiming to have more than half a million hybrid or fully-electric vehicles on the road. This year will see the company start production of the fully-electric Mini and BMW iX3.
From 2020, BMW plug-in hybrids will also feature a new eDrive zones function — smart tech that recognizes green zones in cities that are reserved for emission-free driving. Cars fitted with the function will automatically behave as a fully-electric vehicle when driving within those areas.
“We are firmly committed to emission-free driving,” said Harald Kruger, chairman of BMW's board, in a press release Tuesday.
“Our vision is clear: sustainable mobility, produced in a sustainable manner. We have set ourselves the goal of only buying electricity from renewable energy sources for all our locations worldwide from 2020,” he added.

Local Motors Brings Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Challenge To The Pacific Northwest · Local Motors

Press and Releases PHOENIX (July 1, 2019) – Local Motors by LM Industries Group Inc., known for 3D-printed mobility solutions, is asking the Pacific Northwest region to consider locations for its self-driving shuttle known as Olli. The company is launching a fleet challenge for its autonomous shuttle and it is opening the opportunity to entries… Continue reading Local Motors Brings Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Challenge To The Pacific Northwest · Local Motors

Scania’s 2030 vision for urban transportation: NXT concept vehicle

SÖDERTÄLJE, Sweden, 12-Jun-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Scania has just unveiled self-driving battery electric urban concept vehicle called NXT. The concept vehicle has been designed with flexibility in mind – it can shift from transporting commuters to and from work in mornings and evenings to delivering goods during the day up to collecting refuse at night.

Scania’s DNA, the modular system, has now been taken to the next level by the company’s engineers in developing a concept vehicle that can change shape for different urban assignments.

In a vision for the future of transport, NXT’s front and rear drive modules can be fitted to a bus body, a distribution truck body or a refuse collector. The innovative concept vehicle’s bus module is currently on display at the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Stockholm, 10–12 June.

In the quest for lower emissions and less congestion thousands of cities around the world are presently seeking a change in urban transport. Infrastructural and technological breakthroughs in electric and autonomous vehicles are regarded as key enablers for cities around the world when shifting to a sustainable and greener transport system.

Commenting on the NXT concept vehicle, Scania’s President and CEO Henrik Henriksson, said:

“NXT is a vision of the future for transport in cities. Several of these technologies have yet to fully mature but for us it’s been important to actually build a concept vehicle to visibly and technically demonstrate ideas of what is within reach. NXT is designed for 2030 and beyond while incorporating several cutting-edge features that are already available.”

While vehicles play an important part in the urban transport, there’s more that needs to be done into the ecosystem for the real change to happen. The infrastructure, for one, requires a significant development to cater both for electrified and autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, the 24/7 flow of people and goods in cities will have to be coherently addressed versus disparately planned. And the commercial transport is, in many different ways, the pulse of the city’s transportation system. It is a vital part of how we get to work or school and how food is delivered to shops and restaurants. It is also very important part of how medicines reach to hospitals and how refuse is collected and removed. Presently, the transport and people/goods flow situation in cities is far from being optimised. Goods are delivered during the morning rush hour while most people are also on the move. At the same time, commercial transport is largely barred from city centres during nights due to the noise.

Henrik Henriksson commented further:

“We at Scania can’t redraw the entire transport system for cities. What we can do is inspire change and that is the idea behind NXT – to think about transport and vehicles in a different and sustainable way.”

In its core concept, the public transport has always been about sharing. Sharing has now been taken to the next level with Scania’s NXT concept. By relying on a higher degree of automation, it will be simpler to introduce greater flexibility in public transport system.

Commenting on the NXT concept, Robert Sjödin, NXT Project Manager, said:

“This is something new, something very different. Yet flexible design and modularised units lie very much at the core of Scania.”

Substantially reducing weight, the 8-metre-long bus module is built as one composite unit. In order to contribute to better weight distribution, the cylindrical cell batteries are organised under the floor making a use of otherwise dead space. Weighing less than 8 tonnes the vehicle’s range with present-day available batteries is estimated to be around 245 kilometers.

Sjödin elaborated further:

“Continuous improvement in small steps has been the hallmark of Scania. We are now taking a giant leap into the future. This vehicle will provide invaluable tangible data in our continued development of electrified autonomous vehicles.”

Media contacts:

Karin Hallstan
Head of Corporate Communications and PR
Phone: + 46 8 553 85210
E-mail: karin.hallstan@scania.com

SOURCE: Scania

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Important step in the digitisation of the automotive industry

Sindelfingen. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is a key prerequisite for the future topics connectivity, autonomous driving, shared, and electric drivetrain. With the new test facility, Mercedes-Benz takes an important step as a pioneer in the digitisation of the automotive industry. The new reverberation chamber makes efficient and comprehensive EMC measurements possible. New measuring methods allow vehicle… Continue reading Important step in the digitisation of the automotive industry

Sales of passenger cars have their worst month of June in three years by the channel of individuals

The registrations of cars and SUVs decreased by 8.3% in the first semester, while in the accumulated drop by 5.7%. The registrations of light commercial vehicles fell by 4.6% in June, but maintained the growth throughout the year. The industrial vehicles, buses, coaches and minibuses close the month of June with an increase of 35.6%.… Continue reading Sales of passenger cars have their worst month of June in three years by the channel of individuals