This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World

Starting this fall, University of Michigan students will have access to Navya’s driverless shuttles, when the vehicles are used to transport students between Michigan’s North Campus Research Complex and its Lurie Engineering Center, which is a two-mile route. The vehicles are being deployed in partnership with Mcity, which is the “University of Michigan-led partnership with autonomous private industry players that’s designed to bring driverless tech to market safely and quickly.” The vehicles will operate during regular business hours, and will be free of charge to ride. If everything goes well, the operating hours of the vehicles could be expanded. (Tech Crunch)

On September 1, a newly enacted law called SB 2205 will go into effect, allowing the state of Texas to become a test bed for driverless vehicles, without the need of having a human behind the wheel during the testing. This means that researchers will be able to test out self-driving vehicles on public highways and roads throughout the state “without any intervention or supervision by a human operator.” Under the new law, there are still several rules that have to be adhered to by developers of these vehicles, including having to show that the driverless vehicle is capable of following all state traffic laws, as well as federal highway safety rules. There will also need to be a recording device present during testing, and proof of insurance or liability coverage for the vehicle will also need to be shown. (The Register)

With a mind towards having self-driving taxis available by the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, ZMP Inc, a Japanese robotics maker, is partnering with Hinomaru Kotsu, a taxi company that operates in Tokyo, in an effort to develop a fleet of self-driving taxis that can haul athletes and guests around Tokyo during the Olympics. Since 2016, ZMP has been testing self-driving vehicles on the roads of Tokyo. While those tests have included a human in the driver’s seat, the company is hopeful that this year, it can begin testing the vehicles without a driver present. (Reuters)

The Madison County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois has unveiled its new UAS, and during a demonstration for the media, the department showcased some of the UAS’ capabilities, including being able to ferry a life jacket and rope to someone stranded on the river, and being able to read a hazardous materials sticker from hundreds of yards away. The UAS, which is a Matrice 600 UAS equipped with optical and forward-looking infrared cameras, is designed for aerial photography and industrial use, but within the department, it will be used for missions such as crash investigations, search and rescue operatioins, and surveillance. (The Telegraph)

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has selected UAS from two different companies to help aid its border surveillance and control activities. EMSA will use the AR5 UAS from the Tekever and Collecte Localisation Satellites consortium, to provide data gathering services for the agency’s environmental protection efforts. EMSA has also selected the V-200 SKELDAR rotary-wing UAS services from UMS Skeldar, to help with several different tasks such as search and rescue operations, the detection of drug and people trafficking, and border control activities. (Naval Today)