The SoftBank Vision Fund will invest $2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings LLC (GM Cruise).
The investment, according to GM, will strengthen GM’s plans to commercialize autonomous vehicle technology at large scale.
“Our Cruise and GM teams together have made tremendous progress over the last two years,” says GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra.
“Teaming up with SoftBank adds an additional strong partner as we pursue our vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”
Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous Vehicles
'Purpose-built legislation' being developed in Australia for automated vehicles
In Australia, “purpose-built legislation” will be developed to allow an automated driving system (ADS) to drive more automated motor vehicles in place of a human.
National Transport Commission (NTC) Chief Executive Paul Retter says that a new national law—expected to be in place by 2020—would bring certainty to manufacturers and operators that want to bring more automated vehicle technology to the country.
Weekend Roundup
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Intel and Mobileye are testing their 100-car autonomous vehicle fleet in Jerusalem. The companies say that Jerusalem is a good place for testing this technology not only because of convenience of location—Mobileye is based in nearby Israel—but also to show that this technology is capable of operating in any geography and under all driving conditions, as Jerusalem is known for its challenging and aggressive traffic conditions. (Intel)
Sacramento mulling driverless car program
A driverless car program could be headed to the city of Sacramento, California.
According to CBS Sacramento, Sacramento’s Chief Innovation Officer Louis Stewart is “paving the way” for Phantom Auto—which offers a “teleoperation-as-a-service safety solution” for all autonomous vehicles—to launch a test program on city streets by June.
For Stewart, Sacramento is the perfect location for a program like this.
“Sacramento is the locus of power,” Stewart says. “We have all the politicians here, we have all the regulatory bodies here, and we have a citizenry that’s actually hungry for this kind of technology.”
Autonomous buses to be tested in Gainesville starting in August
As part of a three-year, $2.6 million dollar project between the city of Gainesville, Florida and the University of Florida, three autonomous buses are expected to begin operating on Gainesville Regional Transit System (RTS) bus routes in downtown Gainesville in late August.
Capable of holding up to 12 passengers at a time, the buses can fully operate on their own, but they will have operators onboard to start with once they hit the road in a few months.
Jacksonville Transportation Authority converting part of Skyway 'people mover' for autonomous vehicle testing
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has announced that it will convert a portion of the existing Skyway “people mover” into an elevated test track for autonomous vehicles.
The Skyway track conversion will allow JTA to test autonomous vehicles in an elevated environment, and ultimately provide a road map to eventually convert the Skyway system for new autonomous electric vehicles, according to JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford.
“We are advancing whatever is the mobility or whatever the mode that fits the bill, and not just our 40-foot bus,” Ford told News4Jax, via WJCT.
Team Polaris' MRZR X selected by U.S. Army for trials as part of SMET program
The U.S. Army has selected Team Polaris—made up of Polaris Industries Inc., Applied Research Associates Inc. (ARA) and Neya Systems LLC—and its advanced MRZR X multi-mode vehicle platform to be one of the robotic systems used by infantry brigade combat teams for the next year of trials, as part of the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET) program.
Warfighters using the MRZR X are provided with a “modular, multi-mission support platform” that has several modes of operation, from traditional operator driving to multiple levels of autonomy, including the capability for remote control, teleoperation, follow-me, leader-follower and full autonomy.
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Weekend Roundup
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
A company called Upvision recently used a UAS to map a copper mine in Mongolia. The company says that “more than 10 km² of mine and surroundings” were mapped using the MaVinci Sirius UAS, which Upvision has used for more than five years for this type of mission.
