Interviews
What are the risks of a 'driverless divide'?
In the first part of our interview with Rita Excell, Executive Director of the Australia and New Zealand Driverless Vehicle Initiative (ADVI), we discussed the potential impact the driverless vehicle industry could have on today’s driving jobs.
In part two, we hear about the risks of a ‘driverless divide’ and discover what challenges the industry faces when it comes to educating consumers about the advent of driverless vehicles.
driverlessguru.com
News
UK government sets sights on advanced automated vehicle trials
The UK government this week announced plans to support advanced trials of automated vehicles, as it reiterated its commitment to having self-driving cars on the streets by 2021.
It will also strengthen its code of practice for testing the vehicles, requiring those carrying out trials to publish safety information and trial performance reports, and to carry out risk assessments ahead of a trial.
driverlessguru.com
Renault-Nissan alliance to partner with Waymo on self-driving cars?
According to Reuters, the Nikkei reported this week that the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance plans to partner with Google's self-driving car company Waymo to develop autonomous taxis and other services using self-driving vehicles.
However, an alliance spokesman was quoted as playing down the report: “This (Nikkei) story is based on rumors and speculation. We have nothing to announce.”
reuters.com
Opinion
Five reasons why autonomous cars aren't coming anytime soon
If you're wondering when autonomous cars are coming to your city, you might have a little longer to wait. That's the message from this ABC News article, which predicts that even 10 years is an optimistic assessment of when self-driving vehicles will be carrying passengers in every city. Writer Tom Krisher explores some of the obstacles to faster progress, including snow, non-standard pavement lines and, of course, the need for autonomous vehicles to share the roads with human drivers.
go.com
Investment
Amazon invests in self-driving tech firm Aurora
Aurora, the self-driving technology startup founded by former Google Self-Driving Car Project chief Chris Urmson, has raised more than $530 million in a funding round that brought in Amazon as an investor.
According to Forbes, Aurora is now one of the best-funded companies working to commercialise autonomous vehicle tech, as it works to build partnerships with manufacturers to help develop their autonomous vehicles.
forbes.com
Self-driving truck company Ike raises $52M
An autonomous truck developer has raised $52 million in Series A funding, led by Bain Capital Ventures, to continue developing a self-driving truck product that can work at scale. Ike Robotics believes that creating a self-driving truck is a systems problem, rather than a software one, and is tailoring its approach to reflect this.
medium.com"We need to build technology that the trucking industry wants to use. Technology that helps truck drivers, not replaces them."
Jobs
Will humans be in greater demand as jobs are automated? This report thinks so
Despite popular fears that many of the jobs done by humans will one day be automated, a recent report suggests that the opposite is actually true. The survey by ManpowerGroup found that more employers than ever are planning to increase or maintain headcount in the next two years, as a result of automation. And businesses that are already automating tasks and transforming digitally are most confident about increasing headcount.
driverlessjobs.com
Consumer attitudes
‘Majority’ of UK public would not feel safe in self-driving cars
More than half of UK citizens say they would not feel safe riding in a self-driving car, according to a new poll. Technology company Thales found that nearly a quarter of those questioned feel 'apprehensive' about the idea of self-driving cars on the UK's roads, while a fifth of respondents are downright fearful of the idea.
“For the government’s 2021 vision to become a reality, autonomous cars must not only ‘be’ safe, but also be perceived as safe by the public.”
– Dr Alvin Wilby, Thales UK
driverlessguru.com
Parking
Self-driving cars could ‘create havoc’ on city streets to avoid parking fees
You might think urban traffic is already pretty bad. But it could get worse, if the self-driving cars of tomorrow try to avoid parking fees by continuously driving around city centres. That's the view of transportation planner Adam Millard-Ball, an associate professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who believes autonomous vehicles will have every incentive to 'create havoc' on the streets.
“Parking prices are what get people out of their cars and on to public transit, but autonomous vehicles have no need to park at all.”
– Adam Millard-Ball, University of California, Santa Cruz
driverlessguru.com
And finally...
Autonomous cars to call police on drunk drivers
For many people, one of the greatest benefits of fully driverless vehicles will be the possibility of being driven home by your car after a night out.
But ahead of that, drivers are more likely to find themselves behind the wheel of partially automated vehicles that can call on them to resume control at any time.
Presumably with this in mind, technology firm Huawei has submitted a number of patents for an autonomous vehicle system that can detect a driver's condition and determine if they are drunk or sleepy, reports inews.co.uk.
If it finds that they are, suggests the article, the vehicle could sound a warning, lock the controls from the human driver, or even call police to help out.
inews.co.uk