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Unmanned Systems

Automated, Electric Monarch Tractor Ready for 2021 Deliveries

“If you want to fundamentally improve your economics,” said Monarch Tractor co-founder and CTO Zachary Omohundro to farmers and growers everywhere, “you go electric.”...

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Connectivity

State of the Industry: Ubiquitous Broadband Is Key

Bipartisanship and infrastructure: More of the former will (hopefully) help secure more of the latter. That sums up a recurrent theme during the Association of Equipment Manufacturers’...

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News
Unmanned Systems

Traxen ‘Trains’ AI-Based Adaptive Cruise Control for Trucks

Artificial intelligence (AI), high-definition maps, and advanced algorithms and sensors combine to enable Traxen’s intelligent adaptive cruise control (ACC) system for...

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News
AR/AI

CES 2021: Deere Highlights Digital Technology Via Virtual Reality

Digital technology is rapidly transforming off-highway equipment, giving users more functionality and higher precision than is possible with human operators. John Deere...

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News
Energy

Neste Targets Hard-To-Electrify Vehicles for Renewable Diesel

Commercial vehicles run under a wide range of operating conditions and duty cycles – not all are well-suited for battery-electric propulsion, particularly in the near term....

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Q&A
Power

Q&A: Panasonic Races to Keep Pace with EV Battery Demand

As part of its series of virtual Tech Talks at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Panasonic hosted two of its key battery engineers to discuss the fast-paced development of...

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News
Connectivity

Vehicle Safety Communications Landscape Clarified with Controversial FCC Ruling

After years of transportation-industry tussle over competing technologies to enable communications between vehicles and a “connected” environment, the...

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News
Regulations/Standards

'Level 2+': Making Automated Driving Profitable, Mainstream

Soon after SAE International released its J3016 “Levels of Automated Driving” standard in January 2014, engineers and product planners working in automated-vehicle development...

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Articles
Manned Systems

Gearing EVs for Greater Efficiency

A long-touted benefit of electric vehicles has been the utter simplicity of their drivetrains. With just a pair of reduction gears between the traction motor and final drive, single-speed gearing helps to...

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Articles
Regulations/Standards

Allison Builds a Testing Powerhouse

Reducing product development time is among the industry’s top priorities, particularly as vehicle makers transition into an electrified future. Waiting on the environment – climate, weather, terrain...

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News
Manned Systems

Riding on Air: Activated Carbon Aims at Autos

Activated carbon may seem an esoteric piece of science in the automotive space, but it is quietly playing a key role in Audi A6 and A7 air-suspension systems. The technology also is promising...

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News
Software

Velodyne Preps for Volume Lidar

Prior to 2020 there were allegedly 80 to 100 “lidar companies” in the world, depending on who in Silicon Valley was compiling the list. Such was the over-inflated bubble of autonomous mobility prior to...

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News
Communications

Built-In Google Vehicle Apps Arrive

The modern vehicle cabin experience increasingly is defined by software and interactive screens. The new prominence of digital media interactions is evident in the late 2020 debut of the all-electric...

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What We’re Driving
Manned Systems

When a Van Beats a Pickup

As a utilitarian tool, the 2021 Great American Pickup truck has some fundamental flaws. Its open bed jeopardizes any cargo that’s valuable (exposing your payload to the world) or not waterproof. Worse, however,...

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News
Automotive

Supplier Opportunities for 2021

We happily put 2020 in the rearview mirror and await the full rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines to gain some level of normalcy. The automotive industry once again underscored its industriousness and...

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News
Propulsion

2021 Nissan Kicks SV

Since its U.S. launch for the ’18 model year, the positioning of the Kicks has puzzled me. Though Nissan was anxious to bill it a “crossover,” I think most would call it a “car.” Nissan hardly is alone in...

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What We’re Driving
Propulsion

2020 Toyota Camry TRD

There was more than a little scoffing when Toyota revealed there would be a TRD (Toyota Racing Development) variant of the Camry. Already strange enough that Toyota established TRD mostly as toughened-up trim for its...

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News
Software

CES 2021: Mercedes-Benz Hyperscreen Brings Dash-Wide Displays to Production

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its new Hyperscreen, a 56-inch IP-display that will debut on its 2022 EQS EV sedan and serve as the visual cornerstone of its MBUX...

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Technology Report
Unmanned Systems

CES 2021: GM Creates BrightDrop, a New Electrified Delivery and Logistics Company

During her CES 2021 keynote on January 12, GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra announced the creation of a new logistics company called BrightDrop. The new...

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Technology Report
Unmanned Systems

CES 2021: Magna Execs Warn of Impending EV Complexities

The industry’s transition to electrified, and ultimately fully electric, vehicles is bringing far greater complexity in product development and technology-management overall,...

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Technology Report
Communications

Dana’s Twin-Clutch Axle Boosts Bronco Sport’s Off-Road Cred

Bandwidth is the Holy Grail of global vehicle development. Its measure of success includes the ability to derive genuinely diverse products and even entire brands from a...

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News
Nanotechnology

Nissan’s 2021 Rogue Is a COVID Beater

Nissan staff truly pulled out the stops to get the all-new 2021 Rogue into the market during the global pandemic. Rogue is the company’s best-selling product in North America, by far – a...

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Road Ready
Communications

Sparkling RWD Platform Underpins 2021 Genesis GV80

Genesis went standalone (in the same way most premium brands coexist with their parent company’s volume brands) from Hyundai Motor Group in 2016 and immediately asserted itself as...

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Articles
RF & Microwave Electronics

Protecting AV Control Circuits

The safety and convenience offered by autonomous vehicles (AVs) cannot be achieved unless the vehicle’s electronic circuits are highly reliable and robust to electrical shocks. Designers can substantially...

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News
Manned Systems

10 Best Practices for ADAS and AV Testing

Testing for automated driver-assist systems (ADAS) has required a completely new approach to testing. The most obvious reason for this is the sheer number of sensors and actuators involved in any...

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News
Connectivity

Smart Tech Revolutionizing the Traffic Light

Every motorist has experienced the frustration of waiting at a red light when there is no traffic in sight. These days, countless household devices use sensors, cameras and connectivity to...

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Articles
Connectivity

Digitalizing Off-Highway Machines Delivers Actionable Data

Off-highway equipment manufacturers are increasingly working with suppliers of drivetrain systems and electrohydraulic (EH) system suppliers to advance the digitalization of mobile...

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News
Energy

Battery of Issues Surrounds Large-Vehicle Electrification

Electrification has made major inroads in light trucks and compact off-highway machines, but its adoption in long-distance trucking and many large off-highway vehicles remains more...

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Technical Innovation
Power

Mahle Amps up Its Electrification R&D

Best known for pistons and other reciprocating components inside internal combustion engines (ICE), Stuttgart-based Tier 1 Mahle claims it’s keeping the R&D throttle wide open to cement its role...

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