Category: Driverless vehicles

Korean car manufacturer Hyundai has unveiled its latest vehicle.

By Rob Hull

• The Hyundai TIGER is a Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot
• It has been developed by the auto manufacturer’s New Horizons Studio in the US
• When terrains are not too difficult to navigate, the vehicle uses its wheels and a four-wheel drive system to quickly navigate to a set destination
• If the route is blocked, it sprouts four legs and can clamber over items such as large rocks and fallen trees

But instead of being a family-friendly hatchback or a school-run SUV, the brand has revealed an autonomous vehicle that sprout legs and walk.

Called TIGER – short for Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot – it is an unmanned electric robotic vehicle designed to transport cargo and medication to the world’s most inhospitable locations.

Continue reading… “Hyundai develops an autonomous vehicle that sprouts legs to WALK across remote terrains to transport urgent goods and medication to inaccessible locations”

Toyota has devised a plan to take on big tech. The Japanese car making giant recently unveiled its Woven Planet research group, which is set to develop driverless and connected cars.

This move represents a giant change of direction for the car maker, which has previously spurned development of autonomous car tech in comparison to companies such as Mercedes-Benz and VW that have invested heavily.

Tesla is also a big time developer of autonomous car tech, with its controversial Autopilot and Full Self-Driving mode.

Toyota said it would unveil a fully self-driving prototype in the near future but didn’t give any further details.

Woven Planet is led by ex-Google roboticist James Kuffner, who said that Toyota has a distinct advantage in developing electric cars because of the amount of data they can collect from the tens of millions of Toyotas on the road around the globe.

Toyota is now on a collision course with some of tech’s biggest names.

Continue reading… “Toyota reveals plans to take on big tech with self-driving vehicles”

Japanese housewife Satoko Nemoto boarding one of the driverless buses at Haw Par Villa.

Singapore- Ms. Satoko Nemoto, a 43-year-old Japanese housewife who has been in Singapore for only three months, travelled by MRT all the way from her home is Pasir Ris to Haw Par Villa just to ride on a driverless buss operated by SMRT.

She said the bus ride was quiet and smooth, and she especially liked that the bus was fully electric thus, eco-friendly.

She was among a total of 320 people who have taken the driverless buses at HawPar Villa and Jurong Island since they were launched last month, with some specially making the trip to the two areas for the ride.

Most found it a pleasant enough experience, saying the buses were not as slow as they had expected and the presence of a driver at the wheel in case of emergencies reassured them.

There remained concerns, however, over safety issues.

Continue reading… “Driverless bus trials draw 320, including curious passengers”

By Jon Fingas

AutoX is the first in the country to offer rides without safety drivers.

After lots of tests, it’s now possible to hail a truly driverless robotaxi in China. AutoX has become the first in the country to offer public rides in autonomous vehicles without safety drivers. You’ll need to sign up for a pilot program in Shenzhen and use membership credits, but after that you can hop in a modified Chrysler Pacifica to travel across town without seeing another human being.

As with Waymo One, there is help if you need it. You can talk to customer support reps if you have questions or need help.

AutoX is eager to tout its robotaxis’ ability to handle real-world conditions after several months of stress testing. In a demo video (below), the driverless van knows how to safely “nudge” past a parked vehicle and deal with a scooter running a red light. The vehicles use a combination of LiDAR, radar and blind spot sensing to get a feel for their environment.

Fully driverless robotaxis are still very rare anywhere in the world, and it’ll take a combination of refined technology and updated regulation before they’re relatively commonplace. This is an important step in that direction, though. They might get a boost in the current climate, though. The COVID-19 pandemic has added risk to conventional ride hailing for both drivers and passengers, and removing drivers could make this one of the safest travel options for people without cars of their own.

Continue reading… “Driverless robotaxis are now available for public rides in China”

By Christopher Carey

The trials will be hosted at the Stadium MK sports arena on the outskirts of the city.

Milton Keynes Council has secured more than £4 million  (US$5.4 million) in funding, including £2.3 million from the government, to create and test mobility services using 5G technology.

Trials will include the use of driverless shuttles and road vehicles for moving people and goods, autonomous surveillance vehicles and drones for enhancing security, and robots and drones for goods delivery and hospitality use. E-scooters could be included in the trials in future.

The initiative, which builds on a £10 million investment by the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), industry and academic partners, will be hosted at the Stadium MK sports arena on the outskirts of the city.

Speaking to Cities Today, Brian Matthews, Head of Transport Innovation, Milton Keynes Council, said: “The trials will be designed to provide useful input into thinking how visitors move around the venue, which includes an arena, a large hotel, restaurants and a retail complex.

Continue reading… “Milton Keynes to trial 5G drones, robots and driverless shuttles”