New York (CNN Business)Volkswagen and Ford announced plans Friday to work closely to develop electric- and self-driving vehicles, the latest automakers to partner in the face of massive changes rocking the auto industry.

The new facility, scheduled to open in the next two years, will take new commercial-grade hybrid models and incorporate the self-driving technology needed to turn them into autonomous vehicles. Ford is still considering where to build the AV finishing center and has not said how many people will work there.

Source of article and image: www.cnbc.com

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A public consultation on robotics and Artificial Intelligence consultation coordinated in 2017 by the European Parliament covered, among other things, also autonomous vehicles. Based on the results of this consultation autonomous vehicles have been identified as a policy area requiring most urgent action.

On January 15th 2019, the European Parliament has approved a motion calling for greater development of and more funding for research on automated vehicles, while members also emphasised the need to establish appropriate rules regarding safety and liability. The stakes are high, because, as rapporteur Wim Van de Camp (EPP; NL) said: “Europe has to be innovative, but faster. China and the USA are not waiting.”

Jack Stilgoe, associate professor at University College London, fellow of the Alan Turing Institute concludes that: “the uptake of self-driving cars at scale will require substantial changes to behaviours, infrastructures and the rules of the road, as well as improvements in the technology inside the cars, which means that the transition will be much slower than the enthusiasts predict.”

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Source: sciencemediahub.eu

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Key factors in selecting the location of the centre included the availability of AI experts, a sound environment for the automotive industry and a proper infrastructure, Jens Bruening, head of the centre, said.

László Palkovics, Hungary’s minister of innovation and technology, said the choice was also motivated by trust between Continental and the Hungarian government.

Source of article and image: dailynewshungary.com

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He is especially interested in AI based fault tolerant trajectory planning and tracking control.

In this video Hakan tells us about how he heard about us and what is his opinion about the Faculty of Transportation Engineering and Vehicle Engineering!

LG will apply Microsoft’s AI knowhow to its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Driver-Status Monitoring Camera (DSM) and Multi-Purpose Front Camera products and incorporate Microsoft’s Virtual Assistant Solution Accelerator in LG’s infotainment systems. And with Azure Data Box service, data captured on the road can be uploaded automatically to create a library that helps the self-driving software grow even smarter.

In addition, LG plans to build innovative digital development and testing grounds employing state-of-the-art technology. High performance computing (HPC) and graphics processing unit (GPU) supported by Microsoft Azure will drastically reduce the time required for LG AI self-driving software to learn and evolve. Road and traffic patterns in cities that would normally require more than a full day for self-driving systems to comprehend would take only minutes with Azure.

And Azure can help AI self-driving software learn diverse patterns displayed by drivers as well as recognize and distinguish between pedestrians and other objects. By embedding AI self-driving software enhanced by Azure within the ADAS, performance of the DSM and Multi-Purpose Front Camera can be dramatically improved.

Source: https://news.microsoft.com

Image: autopro.hu

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NEVS is a leading Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer (and formerly Saab Automobile), is working on its own autonomous vehicle. A decision has been taken to use Phantom Auto’s teleoperation safety technology. This is with a view to manufacturing a safe electric autonomous vehicle.
With the new partnership, Phantom Auto, who are located in Silicon Valley, California, U.S, have a system that allows for a remote human operator to drive an autonomous vehicle when it encounters a scenario which the self-driving car cannot handle on its own. This enables the safe and rapid deployment of the car.

Through this, NEVS is aiming to become a pioneer in vehicle mobility and to challenge more established rivals. As Stefan Tilk, CEO of NEVS, comments to TechCrunch: “Our AVs must be able to drive from any point A to any point B, which means driving through all edge cases they experience on the road, such as inclement weather, road work, and any other road obstructions.”

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com

Source of image: Waymo

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Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a new system that allows self-driving cars to drive on roads they’ve never been on before without 3D maps. Called MapLite, the system combines simple GPS data that you’d find on Google Maps with a series of sensors that observe the road conditions.

This allowed the team to autonomously drive on multiple unpaved country roads in Devens, Massachusetts, and reliably detect the road more than 100 feet in advance. (As part of a collaboration with the Toyota Research Institute, researchers used a Toyota Prius that they outfitted with a range of LIDAR and IMU sensors.)

“The cars use these maps to know where they are and what to do in the presence of new obstacles like pedestrians and other cars,” says Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s CSAIL, in a statement. “The need for dense 3D maps limits the places where self-driving cars can operate.”

MIT explains how its system operates without relying on 3D maps: MapLite uses sensors for all aspects of navigation, relying on GPS data only to obtain a rough estimate of the car’s location. The system first sets both a final destination and what researchers call a “local navigation goal,” which has to be within view of the car. Its perception sensors then generate a path to get to that point, using LIDAR to estimate the location of the road’s edges. MapLite can do this without physical road markings by making basic assumptions about how the road will be relatively more flat than the surrounding areas.

Source: www.theverge.com

Source of image: http://news.mit.edu

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Leading the charge on self-driving trucks is TuSimple, a company with dual headquarters in Beijing, China, and in San Diego, California, plus a testing facility in Tucson, Arizona. TuSimple has identified port terminal tractors as an ideal first application for autonomous vehicles.

Port operations are perfect for autonomous vehicles for a number of reasons, but primarily because of the closed and controlled environment in the terminal grounds. Cargo ships are loaded and unloaded and the containers are stacked in neat blocks and closely tracked. Terminal facilities are closed to the public due to safety and customs issues. Roadways are wide and the full map of a port storage yard is comparatively simple. To top it all off, speeds inside the facility are kept low, which creates a perfect scenario for autonomous vehicles.

“This is a great place for autonomous trucks,” explained Chuck Price, Vice President of Product at TuSimple. “With a fully autonomous vehicle, it allows us to introduce our technology into the environment without any infrastructure change in the port. It’s a very quick introduction. They’re very excited about it, and we’re excited to be able to be a part of it.”

TuSimple has been operating a test fleet of autonomous port terminal tractors in China, and it’s gaining attention there.

TuSimple is not only unique in its choice of first applications. The company’s implementation of autonomous driving is also different from other approaches. Instead of relying on laser-based radar (LIDAR), the TuSimple technology is primarily based on cameras.

“The most visible difference between how we’re approaching the problem and how our competition approaches the problem is when we decided to build technology that is camera-centric as opposed to LIDAR-centric,” Price explained. “We use an array of 10 cameras currently, but that number is in flux as we complete our solution. We use radar as a secondary sensor. For the most part, our array of cameras delivers a superior solution to pretty much any other sensors.”

TuSimple also uses millimeter wave radar, but it maintains an array of cameras provides superior results.

The market for autonomous trucks in closed private facilities is large, but nowhere near as large as the market for self-driving trucks on the world’s highways. Like most autonomous developers, TuSimple has been testing its technology in Arizona, which has welcomed the process.

Source: www.digitaltrends.com

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Photos: tusimple