Uber looked into partnering with automaker for self-driving project

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Uber’s self-driving project could have been a collaborative effort between the ride-hailing giant and a major automaker, according to a report by The Information.

In the summer, Uber rejected an acquisition offer for the self-driving unit by an unnamed automaker. That led executives to discuss the possibility of further collaboration with automakers, to offset some of the costs of running the division.

See Also: Intel to deploy 100 self-driving vehicles worldwide by end of year

Uber has made self-driving partnership announcements in the past, with Daimler and Hyundai, and Toyota made a strategic investment in the company, aimed at the self-driving division. None of these have been major collaborations, the type that Waymo has with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) or Cruise Automation with General Motors.

It was reported last year that FCA was looking to partner with Uber and Amazon, though neither of these partnerships have been confirmed.

There have been a lot of changes at Uber since the discussions were held. An internal investigation found multiple cases of harassment, co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO, and Waymo launched a lawsuit against the company for stealing trade secrets.

The lack of leadership and lawsuit may keep automakers away from signing major partnerships with Uber. The company has reportedly lost a bit of its value in the past few months, though revenue and usage is still growing.

Without a dedicated partner, Uber could find itself far behind rivals in the self-driving market. Waymo has deployed 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans as part of its partnership with FCA, and Cruise Automation is using GM’s Chevrolet Bolt EV cars to test an employee taxi service in San Francisco.

Traditional manufacturers BMW, Fiat, and Delphi have partnered with Intel and Mobileye, creating a consortium dedicated to building all the parts for a self-driving car.

nuTonomy wants to be self-driving in Singapore by summer 2018

Self-driving startup nuTonomy said it hopes to launch a commercial ride service in Singapore by the second quarter of 2018, possibly in partnership with local ride-hailing service Grab.

Originally an MIT spin-off, nuTonomy has worked on self-driving software for three years. It started trialling its tech in Singapore in 2016, and expanded its shuttle program later that year.

See also: nuTonomy comes home with Boston self-driving tests

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nuTonomy chief executive Karl Iagnemma said to Reuters that he hopes the service will start in summer, though it could be pushed back to the third or fourth quarter. Iagnemma did not say if this transport service would be ride-hailing, ride-sharing, or a shuttle.

Singapore is a hotbed for emerging technologies, with drones, IoT, and self-driving cars all tested in the city state. NuTonomy received little resistance as it expanded its trial program, and the commercial service will, we assume, see the same safe passage.

Working with Grab could be a way to build nuTonomy’s fleet quicker, possibly using drivers in the interim stage between semi-autonomous and driverless. A Grab partnership also opens up the doors to wider South-East Asian deployment, as the company is active in several countries.

NuTonomy is also working on a trial in the U.S. with ride-sharing service Lyft, expected to launch later this year in Boston. Lyft recently announced that it would be creating its own self-driving division, leading some to question the partnership between it and General Motors.

Colorado to deploy self-driving crash truck to shadow road crews

The Colorado Department of Transportation has said it will deploy a self-driving truck to protect road crews from speeding vehicles by the end of this fall, potentially extending the program to cover all road maintenance if the trial is a success.

The self-driving truck will act as a “crash truck”, which moves slowly behind road crews. The trucks are currently manned by a single driver, who faces the brunt of the damage if an accident happens.

See Also: Forrester: self-driving to make global economy “unrecognizable” by 2035

In Colorado, 21,898 crashes and 171 fatalities were reported on work zones between 2000 and 2014, according to CNN Money, highlighting the need for crash trucks and other buffers.

The self-driving truck will follow a lead vehicle further ahead via radio waves, taking notice of worker movements and other factors. The self-driving technology is developed by Kratos Defense, a supplier of autonomous vehicles for the U.S. army.

“People talk about automation and will this displace workers. Here’s a case where I think everyone will agree we want to get workers out of these trucks,” said Shailen Bhatt, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

One truck so far

Colorado has purchased one truck for the trial and will buy more if the trial is successful. Officials said that former drivers of crash trucks will be given other roles in the road crew.

Trucks are expected to make up a significant amount of the self-driving industry’s value, according to a report by Strategy Analytics and Intel. The business-as-a-mobility sector could be worth $3 trillion by 2050, most of the value coming from long-haul shipping, another job with a high turnover rate.
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Apple to test self-driving shuttle for employees in Palo Alto

Apple is reportedly working on a self-driving shuttle service for its employees, moving them between Palo Alto and 1 Infinite Loop, the company’s headquarters.

The shuttle service will use the company’s own self-driving software, which has been in development since the ‘Titan’ project started three years ago. The shuttle will be from a third-party manufacturer, a sign, according to The New York Times report, that the company has scaled back its autonomous project.

See Also: Waymo patents collapsible self-driving car design

Apple would not be the first company to test its self-driving software on employees, Cruise Automation has a service running in San Francisco and Waymo has used employees in Chandler, Arizona. Michigan University also runs a shuttle service for students.

Apple built a team but never went far

Apple had, by 2015, assembled a large team for the Titan project, covering all aspects of the self-driving car. The company was looking into doors that shut automatically and silently, a car interior without a steering wheel or pedals, and a way to get rid of the ugly Lidar sensor.

It wasn’t until last year the company realized it wasn’t getting very far with the do-it-all-at-once approach, and brought in Apple veteran Bob Mansfield to scale back and focus on software.

The refocus has placed Apple behind in the autonomous race. The company applied for a California DMV self-driving permit only a few months ago, while competitors Waymo, General Motors, and Tesla have tested self-driving cars in the state for years.

The permit showed the firm is using three Lexus cars to test its software.

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Ford to work on self-driving cars with taxi and delivery functionality

Car ownership is predicted to decline as self-driving cars hit the roads, with more people, especially in cities, opting for a taxi or shuttle. When that happens, Ford wants to be the company supplying taxi operators with vehicles.

In a blog post, Ford vice president of autonomous vehicles, Sherif Marakby, said the company is aiming to build a self-driving car that maximizes ‘utilization time’, while also evolving to the new needs of taxi operators and delivery services.

See Also: Ford patents removable wheel for self-driving vehicles

Ford makes a point that the new customer is not the individual, but a company. Instead of selling a car to a consumer, it is sold to Uber or Lyft and then used by hundreds of commuters every day.

We’re developing self-driving technology because the world is changing rapidly. For many people who live in large cities, owning a car is no longer a viable choice,” said Marakby.

“Ride sharing and hailing is on the rise, and shopping at malls is giving way to buying online, which is increasing package delivery services. Therefore, we’re building a business to capitalize on both of these trends. We plan to develop and manufacture self-driving vehicles at scale, deployed in cooperation with multiple partners, and with a customer experience based on human-centered design principles.”

Decades of experience gives an edge

The automaker has spent decades working with partners in the taxi and delivery industry, which it said gives it the edge on the competition. In the post, Marakby said the first self-driving cars to come out of Ford’s factories will be hybrids, due to their range advantages compared to electric.

Ford is also putting heavy emphasis on a “human centered design approach”, which is currently being researched at the company’s team in Palo Alto. It said it will work with partners to ensure that its self-driving cars are a force for good on the roads, instead of a disruptor.

The current goal is for a self-driving Ford by 2021, though the company’s head of research said it may be 2026 before customers can buy one of those vehicles.

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Google retires Firefly car to focus on mass-produced vehicles

Google’s self-driving division Waymo has announced it will be retiring the Firefly car, the nearly iconic pod-like vehicle that was manufactured in-house to experiment.

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Waymo is now moving to mass produced vehicles, like the Chrysler Pacifica minivan. It received 600 minivans from Fiat Chrysler last year and is in the process of outfitting the vehicles with Lidar, sensors, and artificial intelligence.

See Also: Waymo working on competitor to Uber’s self-driving trucks

“Now that we’ve moved to our next phase — letting members of the public use our self-driving cars in their daily lives — we’re ready to retire our fleet of Fireflies and focus on integrating our latest technology into vehicles like our new self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivan,” said YooJung Ahn, lead industrial designer and Jaime Waydo, lead system engineer, in a blog post.

“By focusing on mass-produced vehicles like the Pacifica minivan, we’ll be able to bring fully self-driving technology to more people, more quickly.”

A move to a more collaborative approach

The move to a mass-produced vehicle shows the change at Google from wanting to build the hardware, software, and underlying services to a more collaborative approach, where it works with Fiat and ride-sharing service Lyft to improve transportation.

Firefly has been the main vehicle of choice for Waymo over the past two years, as it transitioned away from the Lexus RX450h SUVs that made up most of its fleet.

The automobile had no steering wheel and had a speed limit of 25 mph. Waymo says that it will continue to use Fireflies for ceremonies and a few will be at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Finland prepares for self-driving shuttle service this fall

Finland could be the first country to have a regular autonomous shuttle service, with city transportation officials aiming to debut the service this fall.

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Tests have been ongoing since August 2016, when the shuttle was first deployed on a quarter-mile course with 12 passengers on board.

See Also: Scandinavia leaps ahead of everyone in IoT deployment

Since then, improvements have been made to the sensors and self-driving software. It is now able to run longer routes and could be used for multiple purposes, including last mile deliveries and as a taxi for the elderly.

Targeting six biggest Finnish cities

Sohjoa, the EU-backed project that counts Finland’s six most populated cities, Finnish universities and transport officials as members, will release finalized information on the route, schedule, and launch date later in the year, according to Curbed.

The autonomous shuttle aims to reduce car ownership by making public transportation quick, direct, and safe. Finland is already promoting several other projects that look to improve public transportation options and reduce carbon emissions.

Finland has become a hotspot for self-driving cars due to its transport laws not restricting the testing or deployment of autonomous vehicles. A car technically does not need a driver in Finland, meaning as long as the tech is safe, it has a place on the road.

UK Autodrive scheme to be tested on public roads this year

Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Motors are collaborating in the U.K. on a scheme called Autodrive, which is working on communication systems for self-driving cars.

The most recent test, held in Nuneaton, a town in Warwickshire, England, looked into several safety systems aimed at reducing accidents. These included emergency warning technology and collision warnings, displayed through sound or visual alerts to the driver. The cars also transmit warnings to other self-driving cars nearby.

See Also: Self-driving car trials to hit UK roads in 2019

Other tests focused on communicating traffic light changes, showing free parking spaces in the nearby area, and telling cars behind that the car in front is breaking with force. Autodrive expects the introduction of these technologies, if adopted widely, to significantly reduce the amount of accidents on the road.

The next stop for Autodrive is Milton Keynes and Coventry, where it will continue to test the safety technologies on segregated sections of roads, according to Wired. The cars will move to public roads before the end of 2018, when the project is set to finish.

The U.K. has made several legislative changes to make the country more appealing to automakers that want to test self-driving technology. It legalized the testing of self-driving cars and, through the government’s innovation agency Innovate UK, has invested millions into startups and consortiums pursuing safer and cleaner transport solutions.

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Frankfurt commuters may soon jump aboard self-driving shuttles

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Continental, a German auto manufacturer, has announced plans to test a “robo-taxi” in Frankfurt. The CuBe (Continental Urban mobility Experience) will be a blueprint for the future development of autonomous shared transport in urban areas.

The CuBe will be fitted with driver assistance programs and sensors already embedded into Level 2 cars found on the road today, like the Tesla Model S. Continental is adding a laser sensor to the car, and will build self-driving software that is personalized for a shared experience.

See Also: Continental rolls into BMW’s self-driving consortium

“The future of individual mobility in cities is autonomous and electric, and it will become part of the shared economy,” said Continental Executive Board member, Frank Jourdan. “This is why we’re developing cross-divisional solutions for driverless robo-taxis… we will be starting with practical testing this year.”

Continental in a perfect positon?

Jourdan thinks Continental is in a perfect position to be the leader in driverless pods, as it already supplies sensors, actuators, control units, and networking technology to automakers. Delphi, a rival parts supplier, is also working on its own self-driving system.

“The trials will be used to identify all the essential technical requirements that enable safe, driverless passenger transport in urban areas,” said head of the self-driving project, Dr. Andree Hohm. “This helps us to find answers to questions about our product strategy and to deliver leading technology for individual mobility in the future – including driverless systems.”

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Continental has not mentioned any tests outside of Frankfurt, although the company does cite the congestion in cities like Berlin and London as major issues, which could be fixed through robo-taxis.
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Ford patents removable wheel for self-driving vehicles

In the interim between semi-autonomous and self-driving, cars will need to be able to switch modes with relative ease. Ford has shown one possible way to move to self-driving mode, by making the steering wheel and brake pedals removable.

In a patent granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Ford shows how the wheel and pedals could be manually removed and refitted for testing the car. Customers would be able to move from autonomous to manual, simply by attaching the parts back to the car.

See Also: Ford spends billions to meet ambitious self-driving goal

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Once removed, the parts that connect to the steering wheel are folded away inside the dashboard. An airbag is fitted inside the front dash, replacing the one in the steering wheel.

Ford’s patent looks to a future where customers are able to choose between manual and self-driving. This is expected to be between 2025 and 2050, a time when people will still be allowed to drive, but cities and metro areas begin to move to a fully driverless system.

Commuters from outside the city may drive into town, before switching to a driverless mode.

Ford is aiming for a self-driving vehicle on the road by 2021, though it is expected to be part of the company’s own ride-sharing app. Customers won’t be able to purchase the cars until at least 2026, according to the company’s head of research.

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What’s odd about the patent is Ford plans to skip Level 3 autonomy and go straight to Level 5, the highest level of self-driving. In that future, the computer will control the car in all environments.

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