Autonomous Vehicles News & Discussions

When will self-driving vehicles become common?

By 2025
1
3%
By 2030
9
25%
By 2035
13
36%
By 2040
8
22%
Only after the arrival of AGI
5
14%
Never
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 36

weatheriscool
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World first: Bosch and Mercedes-Benz’s driverless parking system approved for commercial use
https://www.bosch-presse.de/pressportal ... 48960.html
Stuttgart, Germany – Bosch and Mercedes-Benz have reached an important milestone on the way to automated driving: Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has approved their highly automated parking system for use in the P6 parking garage run by APCOA at Stuttgart Airport. This makes it the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function to SAE Level 4¹ to be officially approved for commercial use. The technological advancement of automated driving plays a key role in the mobility of the future. With the vehicle and infrastructure taking over driving and maneuvering, drivers will be able to turn their attention to other things, instead of time spent looking for a parking space and maneuvering in tight parking garages.
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Self-driving electric tractor promises eco-friendly, hands-off farming

December 9, 2022 3:41 PM

The autonomous tractor world is heating up, apparently. CNH Industrial has unveiled what it says is the "first" electric light tractor prototype with self-driving features, the New Holland T4 Electric Power. The machine promises zero emissions, quieter operation than diesel models and (according to CNH) lower running costs while reducing the amount of time farmers spend behind the wheel. Sensors and cameras on the roof help the vehicle complete tasks, dodge obstacles and work in harmony with other equipment. You can even activate it from your phone.

The T4 Electric Power's 120HP motor produces a 25MPH top speed comparable to regular tractors. The battery is large enough to handle a day's work "depending on the mission profile," CNH says. That suggests the tractor might need a mid-day top-up, but that might not necessarily be a problem when the T4 can reach a full battery in an hour using off-the-shelf fast chargers.

Like Ford's F-150 Lightning, this tractor can serve as a power pack on wheels. It has outlets to plug in common tools like drills, and it serves as a backup power source for emergencies. You can attach hydraulic, mechanical and Power Take Off implements. Production of the completed T4 Electric Power is expected at the end of 2023, with more models on the way.

https://www.engadget.com/chr-new-hollan ... 40810.html


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A reinforcement learning framework to enhance the ramp merging capabilities of autonomous vehicles
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-12-fra ... omous.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

While many automotive companies are now invested in the development of self-driving cars, the vehicles created so far have not yet attained the safety levels necessary for them to be deployed on a large-scale. For this to happen, the vehicles will need to be able to tackle a wide variety of challenges on the road both safely and effectively.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have recently developed a reinforcement learning (RL)-based framework that could help to improve the performance of autonomous vehicles in ramp merging scenarios, instances where vehicles on a ramp road are deviated onto a main road. Their framework, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, could potentially help to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles in these particularly salient times, reducing the risk of accidents.

"Prof. John Dolan's lab at CMU has been working on various autonomous driving applications for quite some time," Soumith Udatha, one of the researchers who developed the model, told TechXplore. "The application that we focused on in this paper is that of freeway merging because of the challenges involved with vehicles at high speeds, drivers with various styles, and uncertainties involved."

The overreaching objective of the research efforts by Udatha and his colleagues is to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles. In their recent paper, they specifically tried to devise a framework that could effectively capture ramp merging scenarios and plan a vehicle's actions based on its analyses of any uncertainties and possible risks.

"RL models interact with an environment and collect data to optimize their rewards, but this data exploration encounters some problems when deployed in real-world settings," Udatha explained. "This is partly because not all the states that the agent encounters are safe. We constrained our RL policy with control barrier functions (CBFs) to ensure safety at a specified distance. So, with the environmental constraints, we ignore the unsafe states and enhance a system's ability to learn how to navigate."
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Tesla video promoting self-driving was staged, senior engineer testifies

Tue 17 Jan 2023 18.44 GMT

A 2016 video that Tesla used to promote its self-driving technology was staged to show capabilities like stopping at a red light and accelerating at a green light that the system did not have, according to testimony by a senior engineer.

The video, which remains archived on Tesla’s website, was released in October 2016 and promoted on Twitter by Elon Musk as evidence that “Tesla drives itself”.

But the Model X was not driving itself with technology Tesla had deployed, Ashok Elluswamy, director of Autopilot software at Tesla, said in the transcript of a July deposition taken as evidence in a lawsuit against Tesla for a 2018 fatal crash involving a former Apple engineer.

The previously unreported testimony by Elluswamy represents the first time a Tesla employee has confirmed and detailed how the video was produced.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... r-engineer
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Woman Dies After Tesla Crashes Into San Rafael Pool: CHP
Source: NBC Bay Area
A Tesla driver is dead after she crashed into a swimming pool in San Rafael Saturday morning, the California Highway Patrol said...

It's unclear why the car veered or whether it was in autopilot at the time of the crash.

Read more: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/t ... l/3135733/
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Mercedes-Benz is the first to bring Level 3 automated driving to the US / The company’s Drive Pilot system is approved for use in Nevada, but only at speeds up to 40 mph. You can play Tetris while cruising down the highway, but make sure your face stays visible to the camera, or the system disengages.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/27/2357 ... ved-nevada
By Andrew J. Hawkins / @andyjayhawk
Jan 27, 2023, 10:02 AM PST|

Mercedes-Benz announced that it was the first automaker to receive government approval in the US for a Level 3 driving feature. The company said it had self-certified in Nevada for use of its Drive Pilot feature, in which the car does all the driving but the driver needs to stand by to take control at a moment’s notice.

Mercedes certified that its technology meets Nevada’s “minimal risk condition” requirement that requires Level 3 or higher “fully autonomous” vehicles to be able to stop if there is a malfunction in the system.

“Nevada law allows all automation levels to operate on public streets,” a spokesperson for the state’s DMV said in an email. “Nevada does not issue any permit or license based on an autonomous vehicle’s level of automation.”

Mercedes certified that its technology meets Nevada’s “minimal risk condition” requirement

Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot is similar to “hands-free” highway driving systems like GM’s Super Cruise, Ford’s BlueCruise, and Tesla’s Autopilot, in so far as it allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel and feet off the pedals under certain conditions. But unlike Level 2 systems, in which drivers are required to keep their eyes on the road, Mercedes’ Level 3 system has a little more allowances.

According to The Drive, which got to test out the system on a closed course in Germany last year, the driver must keep their face visible to the vehicle’s in-car cameras at all times but can also turn their head to talk to a passenger or play a game on the vehicle’s infotainment screen. (A Mercedes engineer suggested playing Tetris, for example.) But when The Drive reporter brought a camera up to his face to take a picture, the system disengaged.
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Remote driving in UK from abroad should not be allowed, says Law Commission

15 hours ago

Remotely driving a vehicle in the UK while outside the country should not be allowed, according to an independent body that advises the UK government.

The Law Commission report into remotely driven vehicles says at present they are a "legal grey area".

Vehicles which are controlled by an outside driver are already used in warehouses, mines and farms, but car rental firms would like to use them.

The technology could also support autonomous vehicles.

The commission - which reviews legislation in England and Wales - says there is no specific legal requirement for the driver to be inside the vehicle they are operating.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64705924
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World's first full-size, self-driving public bus service

4th April 2023

Level 4 autonomous buses will begin operation in Scotland next month – the first service of its kind in the world.

Alexander Dennis Limited, a subsidiary of global bus manufacturer NFI Group, has today announced that a new autonomous bus service in East Scotland will commence on 15th May 2023. This follows the successful completion of an extensive testing program and registration by Stagecoach, the UK's largest bus and coach operator.

CAVForth (Connected Autonomous Vehicles) is a joint project of several companies and institutions, part-funded by the UK Government's Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. In addition to Alexander Dennis Limited and Stagecoach, the collaboration includes Bristol Robotics Lab, Edinburgh Napier University, Fusion Processing Ltd, and Transport Scotland.

One of the most complex projects of its kind worldwide, CAVForth will be the first registered service to operate full-sized, self-driving buses. A fleet of five Enviro200AV vehicles will cover a 23 km (14 mi) route, in mixed traffic, at up to 50 mph across the iconic Forth Road Bridge to the northwest of Edinburgh. Stagecoach will run a frequent timetable with capacity for around 10,000 journeys per week.

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... otland.htm


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