autonomous vehicles

Despite some minor setbacks, the number of cities where robot taxi ‘s are deployed keeps growing. Recently both Cruise, Waymo, Motional and Lyft announced expansion of their activities in autonomous transport of people.

As they traverse the air, land, or sea, encountering one another or other obstacles, autonomous vehicles will need to talk to each other. Even cars with actual drivers could benefit from the ability to work together to avoid calamity and assure efficiency. Temporary, ad hoc networks will form around sets of vehicles and the onboard sensors and communications technology that allow them to navigate; they will interact, enabling them all to “see” one another and react accordingly.

Self-driving company Argo AI, is closing down after Ford and VW announced that the companies would be ending their investments in the self-driving company. “Profitable, fully autonomous vehicles at scale are a long way off,” CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.

Chinese smart EV company XPeng unveiled a series of technical innovations at its fourth annual 1024 Tech Day in Guangzhou. The event featured next-generation neural network-based perception architecture, closed-loop AI and data management platform, voice and smart cabin technologies, and the latest developments in its mobility ecosystem, including latest robotaxi, flying car and robotics endeavors.

Velodyne Lidar today announced the company has acquired Bluecity, a Montreal-based artificial intelligence (AI) software company whose lidar-based solutions solve safety, traffic and infrastructure issues. With the all-stock acquisition Velodyne wants to deliver AI-powered autonomous vision solutions.

Velodyne Lidar announced a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to Stanley Robotics for an automated valet parking solution. The service uses autonomous handling robots to help car parks to improve the customer experience and increase the number of vehicles that can be stored.

Cepton announced that it is collaborating with NVIDIA to add Cepton lidar models into NVIDIA DRIVE Sim. DRIVE Sim is an end-to-end simulation platform that enables large-scale, physically based multi-sensor simulation to support the development and validation of autonomous driving.

Cruise, the self-driving unit of GM, will introduce its robotaxi rides in Phoenix and Austin within 90 days, Crusie CEO Kyle Vogt said during Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference. 

Shenzen, a city in the south of China with a population of 17.5 million people, has officially allowed autonomous vehicles on the road. This is, however, based on strict rules regarding vehicles and safety.

Sony Group will develop sensors for autonomous vehicles that use 70% less electricity, helping to reduce autonomous systems’ use of power and extend the range of electric vehicles, reports Nikkei Asia.