Posts

News Roundup: Volkswagen Shows Off Sedric the Level-5 Autonomous Car in China, Major Players Weigh In on California’s Proposed Driverless Testing Policies, and More

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , ,

A look at some of the biggest news stories to come out of the driverless and connected-car world this past week:

Major players weigh in on California’s proposed self-driving testing policies

Representatives from major players in the autonomous drive game, such as Apple, Uber, Tesla Motors and Ford, have been sending comments to California officials on what changes they would like to see made in the Golden State’s proposed policies for testing self-driving vehicles. In particular, Apple wants to change the way companies report “disengagements,” which we assume refers to accidents or collisions. Tesla wrote that they disapprove of the idea of barring testing of vehicles that weigh more than 10,000 pounds. Uber said it should be allowed for people to pay to ride in an autonomous vehicle with a driver behind the wheel in order to provide the company with honest feedback. Tesla also warned that restrictive policies would encourage developers to leave the state. Read more from Business Insider.

 

What to do with the ‘ocean of data’ connected and driverless cars will create each day?

Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said recently that as more and more cars are outfitted with sensors, cameras and LiDAR, the more data they will begin to generate. In fact, a single autonomous car will be capable of generating as much as 100 gigabytes of data per second. “Assuming the entire U.S. fleet of vehicles - 260 million vehicles - has a similar data generation, it would create an ocean of data. To put it in context, one hour’s worth of raw data across the entire U.S. fleet would be around 5,800 exabytes in size,” Johnson said. One exabyte is equivalent to one million terrabytes. That presents a wealth of problems when it comes to the storage, management and analysis of that much data. Many big companies like Tesla, Delphi and Intel have ideas about how to tackle this problem. One idea is “edge analytics,” where information is analyzed close to the sensor itself rather than being sent elsewhere through the cloud. Read more from CNBC.

 

Volkswagen wows with ‘Sedric’ Level 5 autonomous concept car in Shanghai

We first saw “Sedric” the Level-5 autonomous car in March, when Volkswagen showed off renderings of the concept car. Now, Volkswagen is showing off the real thing. The company recently took Sedric to China to show it off at the Auto Shanghai 2017 show. The car is capable of full Level-5 self-driving, and in fact executives said all a passenger has to do it climb in, press a single button to start the car, and then control it throughout the rest of the trip via voice commands. The car has no brakes, controls or pedals. In fact, the car features no “cockpit” at all. See more from Automotive Tires and Parts.

Photo: Interior of Volkswagen’s ‘Sedric’ car / Credit: Volkswagen

 

News Roundup: Volkswagen Unveils ‘Sedric,’ Its New Level 5 Autonomous Car, Truck Drivers Push Back Against Autonomous Trucks, and More

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , ,

Jennifer van der Kleut

A look at some of the most interesting news to come out of the driverless transportation industry this week:

Volkswagen unveils ultra-modern-looking Level 5 autonomous car

No, this isn’t a giant Pokémon on wheels-it’s Volkswagen’s new fully autonomous concept car, named “Sedric” (a mashup of the term “self-driving car”), just unveiled this week. Volkswagen is hailing it as a Level 5 autonomous car, “capable of operating any driving mode in any environmental condition, allowing passengers to sit back and enjoy the ride.” The concept is evident by the car’s interior, designed to look more like a mobile lounge than the interior of a car. The car will be optimized for shared mobility, meaning passengers will have a “universal mobility ID” and be able to hail a Sedric from anywhere with their smartphones. Sedric will automatically recognize and remember each passenger when it arrives, allowing the passengers to talk to them in any language naturally, including with slang. Passengers will also be able to choose whether to look at the world passing by through the windshield, or choose entertainment like a movie or TV while they ride. Read more and see photos from SlashGear.

 

Trucking companies push back against autonomous trucks

The Alliance for Driver Safety and Security recently voiced its opposition to claims that autonomous trucks will soon take over the industry and cost truck drivers their jobs. Representatives say that the “accountability” of human drivers is too important to fully hand over to a machine, and that drivers should not be worried about losing their jobs to technology anytime soon, at least in the next few years. “A change to driverless vehicles will occur gradually-if at all,” the Alliance said recently. The organization represents major trucking companies like J.B. Hunt, Knight Transportation and KLLM Transportation, among others. “Truckers, after all, are not just operators but also cargo monitors and a key point of communication for logistics providers,” they explained. Read more from Supply Chain Dive.

 

Toyota unveils new autonomous concept car

The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) unveiled its new autonomous concept car, called the Toyota Advanced Safety Research Vehicle (TASRV), at the company’s annual Prius Challenge in Sonoma, California recently. The vehicle consists of Toyota’s plug-and-play autonomous system on a Lexus LS 600hL. Toyota representatives say the “flexible” system will be easy to upgrade often as the technology continues to advance. The on-board technology in the TASRV “focuses heavily on machine vision and machine learning and includes an array of layered and overlapping LIDAR, radar and camera sensors that reduce the need to rely on high-definition maps.” Toyota reps said they believe the technology will have invaluable applications throughout the industry as it helps bring driverless technology to areas without high-definition mapping. The car will also be able to share data with and gathered from other cars. Read more from Kelley Blue Book.