Category: Driverless vehicles

If you like the idea of zero-emissions travel on the water, an electric autonomous boat might be the right mode of transportation for you.

BY MARK ALLINSON

Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Laboratory, together with Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions(AMS Institute) in the Netherlands, have been showcasing the final project in their self-navigating trilogy: a full-scale, fully autonomous robotic boat that’s ready to be deployed along the canals of Amsterdam.

“Roboat” has come a long way since the team first started prototyping small vessels in the MIT pool in late 2015. Last year, the team released their half-scale, medium model that was 2 meters long and demonstrated promising navigational prowess.

This year, two full-scale Roboats were launched, proving more than just proof-of-concept: these craft can comfortably carry up to five people, collect waste, deliver goods, and provide on-demand infrastructure. 

The boat looks futuristic – it’s a sleek combination of black and gray with two seats that face each other, with orange block letters on the sides that illustrate the makers’ namesakes.

It’s a fully electrical boat with a battery that’s the size of a small chest, enabling up to 10 hours of operation and wireless charging capabilities.

Continue reading… “Electric Future: MIT showcases electric autonomous boat technology”

The World’s First Intelligent Unmanned Oceanographic Research Ship Enters Service

The world’s first intelligent unmanned oceanographic research vessel “Zhuhaiyun” entered service in the city of Zhuhai today.

The ship, which has successfully completed all its maritime test objectives, is the world’s first intelligent oceanographic research vessel with autonomous navigation and remote control functions. The ship’s power system, information system, dynamic positioning system and operation support system are completely independently developed by China.

Continue reading… “The World’s First Intelligent Unmanned Oceanographic Research Ship Enters Service”

Vueron Technology did not share many details about the partnership, but noted it will help bring added sustainability through the transportation process. 

Vueron Technology has partnered with Teamfresh, one of South Korea’s biggest cold-chain logistics providers, and will supply it with its self-driving trucks.

The Seoul, South Korea-based company offers several vision products. The company said VueOne is its flagship product and uses only one lidar sensor to help autonomous vehicles detect obstacles. VueTwo is used for IoT applications and smart city applications for safety and security purposes. Vueron added that it works with automotive OEMs and Tier-1s.

Earlier this year, the company was approved for LiDAR-only autonomous vehicle testing permits in California.

“Through its innovative LiDAR-based solution, Vueron believes it can tackle the dual problems of high transportation costs and labor shortage, which have always represented a big hurdle in the logistics market,” it said.

Seoul, South Korea-based Teamfresh offers customers “order processing, operation consulting, fresh food third-party logistics, and commercial refrigeration vehicle distribution systems,” according to Pitchbook. It was founded in 2018 and has raised a total of $118 million.

Vueron said by working with Teamfresh it is helping establish a sustainable transportation service within the cold-chain marketplace. Vueron claimed that Teamfresh accounts for “90% of the whole fresh product delivery business in South Korea.”

Continue reading… “Vueron Technology to Provide Self-Driving Trucks for One of South Korea’s Biggest Cold-Chain Providers”

The company’s vehicle fleet combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation to carry out its deliveries.

Faction Technology, a driverless-technology company, announced it is bringing driverless delivery to portions of the San Francisco Bay Area. Faction’s first partner is Cocola Bakery, which is using Faction to deliver to its customers around the metro region. Deliveries will be made ​​in lightweight, electric vehicles based on three wheel EV platforms from Arcimoto and from ElectraMeccanica. Since July, Faction has made regular deliveries to the bakery’s customers and it’s now looking to add additional delivery partners in the coming months.

Equipped with Faction’s DriveLink and TeleAssist technologies, the company’s vehicle fleet combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation to carry out its deliveries. These technologies allow Faction to provide businesses like Cocola Bakery with a delivery service that seamlessly delivers goods via a driverless fleet in an affordable, safe, and predictable way.

“Cocola Bakery and our customers have been ecstatic with the services Faction has provided us so far,” said Amir Aliabadi, CEO of Cocola Bakery. “We are now able to quickly, affordably, and reliably deliver our products to customers around the Bay Area, something we couldn’t easily accomplish before due to inconsistent gig-worker services.”

Continue reading… “Faction Debuts Driverless Delivery Cars in San Francisco”

Outrider, the startup developing autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has releaseed TrailerConnect – a patented technology that robotically attaches the needed brake and electric lines from yard trucks to any of the over 10 million trailers and chassis circulating globally.

BY MARK ALLINSON

A deep-learning based technology, TrailerConnect is now available as part of the Outrider System, which automates distribution yards for large, logistics-dependent enterprises.

In distribution yards around the globe, yard trucks transition semi-trailers from dock doors to parking spots to public roads. To move these trailers, truck drivers connect pressurized brake lines to semi-trailers to release the parking brake and move the trailers around the yard – a hazardous manual task that requires the driver to get in and out of the cab constantly. 

Andrew Smith, CEO and founder of Outrider, says: “Outrider is reinventing the modern distribution yard to be more efficient, safer, and sustainable, and we are delivering the breakthrough technology like TrailerConnect to do it.

“TrailerConnect automates a dangerous task traditionally performed over 6 billion times annually worldwide. Four years of development and close partnerships with our priority customers has resulted in a technology integral to autonomously moving freight.”

Continue reading… “Outrider equips autonomous trucks with deep-learning driven robotic arms”

Hyundai Motor Group has started two pilot delivery service programs using autonomous robots based on its Plug & Drive (PnD) modular platform at a hotel and a residential-commercial complex located on the outskirts of Seoul.

The delivery robot consists of a storage unit integrated on top of a PnD driving unit. Alongside the loading box used to deliver items, a connected screen displays information for customers.

First shown at CES 2022, the Group’s PnD modular platform is an all-in-one single-wheel unit that combines intelligent steering, braking, in-wheel electric drive and suspension hardware, including a steering actuator for 360-degree, holonomic rotation.

It moves autonomously with the aid of LiDAR and camera sensors. An integrated storage unit allows the robot to transport products to customers.

Continue reading… “Hyundai Motor Robots Begin Pilot Programs to Advance Last-mile Delivery”

TrailerConnect uses proprietary software algorithms, hardware and sensors integrated onto Yaskawa-supplied arms to locate, identify, connect to and disconnect from semi-trailers without modifications or adapters.

By Marina Mayer

Outrider released TrailerConnect, a patented technology that robotically attaches the needed brake and electric lines from yard trucks to any trailers and chassis. 

“Outrider is reinventing the modern distribution yard to be more efficient, safer and sustainable, and we are delivering the breakthrough technology like TrailerConnect to do it,” says Andrew Smith, CEO and founder of Outrider. “TrailerConnect automates a dangerous task traditionally performed over 6 billion times annually worldwide. Four years of development and close partnerships with our priority customers has resulted in a technology integral to autonomously moving freight.”

Continue reading… “Autonomous Trucks Equipped with Deep Learning-Driven Robotic Arms”

New pilot programs demonstrate Hyundai Motor Group’s new Plug & Drive (PnD)-based robots with integrated autonomous driving technology and Group insights

Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) has started two pilot delivery service programs using autonomous robots based on its Plug & Drive (PnD) modular platform at a hotel and a residential-commercial complex located in the outskirts of Seoul.

The delivery robot consists of a storage unit integrated on top of a PnD driving unit. Alongside the loading box used to deliver items, a connected screen displays information for customers.

First shown at CES 2022, the Group’s PnD modular platform is an all-in-one single wheel unit that combines intelligent steering, braking, in-wheel electric drive and suspension hardware, including a steering actuator for 360-degree, holonomic rotation. It moves autonomously with the aid of LiDAR and camera sensors. An integrated storage unit allows the robot to transport products to customers.

By adding the autonomous driving capability, the PnD-based robot can find the optimal route within the area to deliver packages to recipients. It can recognize and avoid fixed and moving objects and drive smoothly, providing a fast delivery time.

“PnD-based delivery robots allow quicker delivery times with improved safety through the use of autonomous driving technology, including fast obstacle avoidance capabilities,” said Dong Jin Hyun, Head of Robotics LAB of Hyundai Motor Group. “We plan to keep upgrading mobility services, convenience, safety and affordability for customers through our pilot programs.”

Continue reading… “Hyundai Motor Group robots get rolling with pilot programs to advance last-mile delivery”

Einride has raised $500 million through a combination of equity and debt financing, giving it more funding to accelerate deployment of its autonomous and electric vehicles.

By Brian Straight

FreightTech startup Einride announced Wednesday it had raised $500 million in financing through a combination of a Series C equity raise and a debt facility.

The Sweden-based company raised $200 million in the Series C with the Swedish pension fund AMF, EQT Ventures, Northzone, Polar Structure, Norrsken VC and Temasek, among others participating in the round. In addition, Einride said it secured a $300 million debt facility led by Barclays Europe.

“The time is now to act on not only developing but accelerating the implementation of technology that will create a cleaner, safer and more efficient way to move goods,” said Robert Falck, founder and CEO at Einride. “We’ve created the Einride ecosystem to provide the most resilient and future-proof approach to electrifying freight today. With the support from our investors and shared belief in this mission, we’ll continue to drive disruptive change to global freight at scale.” 

The debt facility includes an initial rollout of $150 million in January, the company said, and will be used to support the growing Einride fleet in the U.S. and Europe and for future planned expansions. Einride is currently operational in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway.

“This landmark debt facility represents a key milestone in the financing of heavy-duty electric vehicles,” said Gordon Beck, director of securitized products solutions at Barclays. “The innovative asset-backed structure complements Einride’s unique ecosystem offering and is a continued demonstration of how Barclays is using our financial and capital markets expertise to support clients in driving the transition to net-zero.”

Continue reading… “Einride announces $500M for autonomous, electric vehicle development”