Ford has revealed its newest self-driving car, the fourth-generation of test vehicle developed by it and Argo AI. Still intended for autonomous driving research and development, rather than commercial sale, the Escape Hybrid-based vehicle promises an upgrade in sensor tech, but also a cleaner route to the eventual driverless service Ford plans to launch.
Autonomous car company Cruise has been given permission to let loose its EVs in California without a human backup driver onboard, revealing plans to begin entirely self-driving operations by the end of the year. The General Motors-owned company - which revealed a custom-designed electric vehicle, the Cruise Origin, earlier in the year - will be diving in at the deep end, with its driver-free vehicles roaming the streets of San Francisco.
While many consumers are waiting in anticipation for autonomous vehicles to come to market so they can be driven wherever they want to go, the first place many expect autonomous vehicles to surface is in the commercial industry. A company called Einride has announced that its next-generation Pod is now available worldwide. The Pod features an updated design and new functionality.
Waymo's driverless taxi service is opening up to the public, exiting beta in Phoenix, AZ and allowing Waymo One members to book the autonomous minivans. The Waymo Driver, as the Alphabet company describes its self-driving tech, has until now been providing rides for a small subset of Waymo One users, and Waymo has been careful to prevent those riders from talking about the experience.
The United States Navy has tapped Lockheed Martin to study the potential for large autonomous ships that will be able to operate for long periods of time at sea without any human crew members. The company is now the main contractor behind the US Navy's Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) competition, joining multiple other companies in working toward the eventual development and launch of a large autonomous ship.
Ford is testing an automated parking garage that would allow vehicles to be sent off to park themselves, potentially paving the way to ease self-driving technologies into the mainstream. The system, which Ford co-developed with Bosch, allows Escape SUVs to navigate themselves through a specially-equipped parking structure, and then be remotely summoned again via an app.
Lucid Motors has revealed the bevy of sensors its upcoming Lucid Air electric luxury car will be equipped with, as it paves the way for future autonomous driving capabilities. The Lucid DreamDrive system will consist of LIDAR, cameras, radar, and ultra-sonic sensors, in addition to extra driver-monitoring systems inside the vehicle, all in the name of either supporting the person behind the wheel or, eventually, replacing them altogether.
Ford and Intel have inked a deal to give future cars better vision, with Mobileye vision-sensing tech being used to power the automaker's driver assistance systems. Mobileye EyeQ will be used for systems like Ford Co-Pilot360, including both hardware and software, and eventually form part of the technology behind Ford Active Drive Assist in 2021.
Elon Musk is confident that Tesla will have "the basic functionality" of fully autonomous vehicles by the end of the year, though it's uncertain whether the outspoken CEO's predictions will result in an electric car able to truly drive itself on public roads any time soon. Musk has been a vocal proponent of the feasibility of so-called Level 5 self-driving, countering broader skepticism of just how close to deployment autonomous vehicles actually are.
Amazon acquired a company called Zoox to "help bring their vision of autonomous ride-hailing to reality." It's important right this minute to be extra clear, here, that Amazon did NOT just acquire the video conferencing brand Zoom - that's a different company altogether. Amazon acquired Zoox, a California-based company "working to design autonomous ride-hailing vehicles from the ground up."
Mercedes-Benz will use NVIDIA's DRIVE platform for its driver-assistance and autonomy in future vehicles, the automaker has announced today, including powering cars that can drive themselves from address to address on regular routes. The deal will see the first new Mercedes using NVIDIA DRIVE from 2024, as the German automaker revamps its fleet.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz have put their autonomous driving collaboration on hold, blaming the expense of building a shared system for the decision. The two German automakers announced their self-driving alliance in early 2019, focusing on developing a Level 4 autonomous system that would allow their cars to navigate independently without any human involvement, within certain conditions.