A full-stack autonomous vehicle technology company called AImotive has closed its $38 million USD Series C funding round, which was led by B Capital Group and Prime Ventures, and included participation from several other investors. The new round of funding will be used to continue the development of AImotive’s proprietary autonomous driving technology, which mainly relies on affordable, off-the-shelf camera sensors and artificial intelligence-based vision processing. According to AImotive, its technology is inherently scalable thanks to its “low cost modularity and flexibility,” and it is also open to the “fusion of non-vision based sensors” for extra safety in poor visibility conditions.

Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora has partnered with Hyundai Motor Company to develop self-driving Hyundai vehicles, which they hope to bring to market by 2021. Through the partnership, Aurora’s self-driving technology will be installed in Hyundai’s vehicles, beginning with models custom-developed and launched in test programs and pilot cities. The partnership will initially focus on the ongoing development of hardware and software for automated and autonomous driving, as well as the back-end data services required for Level 4 automation. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Level 4 autonomous vehicles can operate without human input or oversight under certain conditions.  

AeroVironment, Inc. has announced the formation of a joint venture to develop solar-powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAS for commercial operations. The joint venture, known as HAPSMobile, Inc., will fund the development program up to a net maximum value of $65,011,481. HAPSMobile, Inc. is a Japanese corporation that is 95 percent funded and owned by SoftBank Corp., which is a telecommunications operator based in Japan. The remaining five percent of the joint venture is funded and owned by AeroVironment, which is committed to contribute $5 million in capital for its five percent ownership of HAPSMobile. AeroVironment has an option to increase its ownership stake in HAPSMobile “up to 19 percent at the same cost basis as its initial 5 percent purchase.”

The Department of Defense and defense contractors have traditionally embraced the use of unmanned technology, but in recent years other government agencies have begun to introduce unmanned systems into their operating procedures. Our panel of speakers will highlight the growing number of public organizations using unmanned systems. Attendees will learn about efforts, within and beyond the Department of Defense, to leverage unmanned technology. This webinar will provide a preview of AUVSI Unmanned Systems Defense. Protection. Security., the most comprehensive military- and government-focused event in the unmanned systems industry, where experts will address innovation, investment, and sustainability challenges and opportunities. Who Should Attend?