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Unmanned Systems

Silicon Valley Summit Refines Autonomous Safety Thinking

Until recently, leading autonomous vehicle (AV) technologists posited that ultra-safe, go-anywhere robotaxis would soon be on the road. But questions about those timelines –and the...

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Unmanned Systems

The Key to Autonomous Vehicle Safety Is ODD

In a perfect world, an automated vehicle (AV) would be all-knowing. Its sensors, communication systems and computing power could predict every road hazard and avoid all risks. But until a wholly...

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Design

New Proving-Ground Tools Needed to Manage AV Testing

According to Dr. Richard Simpson, principal systems engineer at test systems’ supplier AB Dynamics, a universal command and control system for test-track operators is vital to manage...

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Unmanned Systems

GoMentum Begins Testing Autonomous Shuttles

It was uneventful when an eight-passenger, low-speed driverless shuttle crawled at about 10 mph (16 km/h) toward the intersection at the GoMentum Station AV proving grounds in Concord, Calif. The...

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Energy

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Optimize EV Batteries

Everywhere you turn these days, there’s news about the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform our lives—from diagnosing cancers to devising better pick-up lines at...

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Connectivity

SAE Survey: Riding in Automated Vehicle Reinforces Positive Perceptions

If there’s one takeaway from SAE International’s groundbreaking Demo Days program that took place in various U.S. cities over 18 months, it’s that everyday...

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Robotics, Automation & Control

Toposens 3D Sonar Seeks Objects Overlooked by Lidar

Alexander Rudoy was spending almost every hour of his free time developing a robotic toy fish that could sense its underwater surroundings. At the time he was studying electromechanical...

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Unmanned Systems

Volvo Safety Guru Lotta Jakobsson on AV Crash Tech

It’s been 60 years since Nils Bohlin, the legendary Volvo safety engineer, invented the three-point safety belt, which remains the single most important safety feature of today’s...

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Materials

A View Inside Volkswagen's Silicon Valley Lab

On July 1, Volkswagen renamed its Silicon Valley outpost. The former Electronics Research Lab (ERL) based in Belmont, Calif., now is the Innovation and Engineering Center California (IECC). In...

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Unmanned Systems

SAE Innovations in Mobility Conference: Advanced Weather Data Can Boost AV Functionality, Safety

Acknowledging that foul weather is a challenge for automated-vehicle (AV) operation, the CEO and founder of a company that creates highly...

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Communications

Far and Away: Remote Drivers Monitor Autonomous Vehicles

Eliminating the safety “watchdogs” who typically ride in autonomous vehicles (AVs) is a big step for technologists and legislators alike. A shuttle at Texas A&M university is...

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Unmanned Systems

The AV Industry Searches for a Near-Term Business Case

In July 2019, an impressive lineup of the world’s leading autonomous vehicle (AV) companies gathered in San Jose for the TechCrunch Sessions: Mobility 2019 conference. Technologists,...

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Manned Systems

Mapping Canada — Centimeter by Centimeter

Fully-automated vehicles will only be as smart as the datasets they use to determine their driving pathways. Jakarto Cartographie 3D, a young company based in Montreal, is working on AI-powered,...

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Articles
Regulations/Standards

Dial ‘M’ for Mobility: Smartphone as Steering Wheel

For those with a passion for automated-vehicle innovations, late September and early October meant a trip to Twitter and YouTube, which were awash with videos from owners, detractors...

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Energy

2020 Volkswagen Passat GTE

A mid-life update and up-spec for Volkswagen’s Europe-built Passat range brings a plug-in hybrid-electric (PHEV) version – a first for the model – for MY2020. Not for the first time (the Phaeton was one...

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Robotics, Automation & Control

Teleoperations Will Keep Humans in the AV Loop

In March 2017, Leanid Tsurankou began working as a self-driving engineer for Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group in San Francisco. Those were heady days, when a wave of euphoria about...

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Unmanned Systems

Protean Electric Aims for Pirouetting Autonomous EVs

Designing and engineering 360º steering capability for a production autonomous electric vehicle (EV) is no mean feat. But Protean Electric also combines this pirouetting capability with...

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Technology Report
Software

Roush Opens Advanced Durability Lab

The auto industry’s steady march toward electrified and automated vehicles has many suppliers affixed to the digital-testing environment rather than using traditional hardware validation.

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Software

Siemens Digital Industries Software Debuts, Focuses on Delivering Digital Future of Industry Today

Siemens PLM Software has transformed into Siemens Digital Industries Software, reaffirming its focus on enabling digital industries and...

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Articles
Energy

Improving Lidar – or Defeating It

For more than a decade, the lidar market has been led by Velodyne and its spinning towers of 64 or 128 laser beams. But the relatively high cost, delicate architecture, and beefy form factor have made it...

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Articles
AR/AI

The Vehicle as a Gaming Device

From the moment I slipped the Oculus Rift device over my head, I was transported from a routine urban drive in the backseat of an Audi Q7 into an enchanting underwater world. The Virtual Reality (VR)...

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Connectivity

A Legal Profile of Facial Recognition

Whether it’s using your face to confirm payment over your smartphone, monitoring your child at day-camp, or being confirmed as a ticketholder going to a concert, the possibilities for facial...

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Articles
Software

Israel’s Thriving Mobility-Tech Sector Has Created an Innovation Nation

“We’re gonna need partnerships, big and small, particularly with start-ups,” Ford Motor Co. chairman Bill Ford (above) announced at his company’s...

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Automotive

Texas A&M Deploys Remote, Human-In-The-Loop Safety Net for Self-Driving Shuttles

Texas A&M University is putting a human behind the wheel of its autonomous shuttle fleet with a partnership with Designated Driver, a teleoperation...

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Unmanned Systems

Autonomy in Your Face

Research into potential automotive applications for biometrics ─ facial and retina scans or fingerprints ─ is increasing, despite rising concerns about privacy and data security, and outcries from civil liberties...

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Robotics, Automation & Control

Virtual Factories Accelerate Collaboration, Advance Technologies

The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), a non-profit consortium based in Prince George County, Virginia, uses a 3D visualization lab to expand beyond the...

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Communications

Parsons New Smart City Challenge Aims to Reduce Intersection Congestion

Parsons Corporation has created a new series of government collaboration opportunities with its Smart Cities Challenge campaign. Smart Cities Challenge: Transforming...

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Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Stuck on Structural Adhesives

A funny thing happened on the way to the total-vehicle lightweighting that’s now a common engineering dictate for nearly every new vehicle: structural adhesives—which entered low-volume automotive use in...

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RF & Microwave Electronics

Beep and Bestmile Partner on Self-Driving Fleets in Florida

Beep Inc., an automated vehicle (AV) distributor based in Orlando, Florida, is partnering with Bestmile SA – a developer of fleet orchestration software. Through the...

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