The Volvo Group and NVIDIA have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of the decision making system of autonomous commercial vehicles and machines. The system will be designed to safely handle fully autonomous driving on public roads and highways, the companies say.  The system will use NVIDIA’s end-to-end artificial intelligence platform for training, simulation and in-vehicle computing. It will be built on NVIDIA’s full software stack for sensor processing, perception, map localization and path planning, which will facilitate a number of possible autonomous driving applications including public transport, freight transport and refuse and recycling collection.

When it comes to self-driving vehicles, cars seem to get most of the publicity but many new and established players are seeking to transform commercial trucking by developing automation technology that helps or removes the driver. Companies have equipped trucks with various sensors, software, tracking devices and wireless communications gear and are testing their souped-up vehicles on real roads, sometimes with customer freight onboard.  According to proponents of such efforts, autonomous trucking offers many benefits, including increased safety. In the United States, about 4,000 people a year die in truck accidents, most of which are caused by human error. Driverless trucks could also save money and boost productivity.

Boeing has announced an investment in Robotic Skies, a provider of services that connect manufacturers and operators of commercial UAS with a global network of more than 170 civil aviation authority-certified repair stations.