Report explores AV trends and progress
News
New report explores autonomous vehicle trends and progress
Law firm Dentons has released a new report exploring the progress being made in the development of autonomous vehicles around the world, from both a technology and regulatory standpoint. According to the report, the roles and expectations around autonomous vehicles have shifted following the upheaval of 2020, with four new countries emerging as leaders: Hungary, Poland, South Korea and Turkey.
First commercial autonomous transport service in Singapore
The Alliance for Action (AfA) on Robotics, part of Singapore's Emerging Stronger Taskforce, has launched the city's first deployment of an autonomous transport revenue service. The pilot scheme, set to run until the end of April, is supported by CapitaLand and JTC, and involves deploying on-demand autonomous bus services at Singapore Science Park 2 and Jurong Island.
California DMV grants driverless vehicle test permit to Baidu Apollo
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has issued a permit to Baidu Apollo to test driverless vehicles on public roads in Sunnyvale, a city in Santa Clara County. Baidu becomes the sixth company to receive a driverless testing permit in the state, joining AutoX, Cruise, Nuro, Waymo and Zoox, while 58 companies have an active permit to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver.
Insurance
Travelers publishes paper on insuring autonomous vehicles
The Travelers Institute has released an updated position paper – ‘Insuring Autonomy: How Auto Insurance Will Lead Through Changing Risks’ – assessing how the existing automotive insurance structure can be leveraged for autonomous vehicles. The paper, which provides recommendations to help establish an insurance framework for AVs, says the auto insurance industry will play a critical role as lawmakers, regulators and society adjust to transportation innovations.
Deliveries
Starship Technologies hits 1m deliveries
Autonomous delivery firm Starship Technologies announced this week that it has now completed one million deliveries using its self-driving robots, boosted by demand for contactless food and grocery deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also revealed an additional $17m in funding from investors including Goodyear Ventures, Goodyear's Venture capital arm.
News in brief
Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing has raised $300 million from investors for its autonomous driving unit, according to Reuters
Navya has announced its membership of the Autoware Foundation, an organisation that supports and promotes open-source autonomous mobility projects
Xpeng Motors has begun rolling out its planned new automated highway driving features to eligible customers in its home market of China, reports CNBC
Tesla has hit back at claims by Waymo's CEO, John Krafcik, that it is not a viable competitor in the autonomous vehicle market, reports Business Insider
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son expects mass production of self-driving vehicles to start in two years, reports Reuters
China's WeRide has won approval to expand its autonomous driving testing area to roads in core urban areas of the city of Guangzhou, and has launched a self-driving bus, the Mini Robobus
AV mapping specialist DeepMap has created a detailed map of the California interstate highway system for autonomous cars and trucks, calling the initiative 'Project Gold Rush'
Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, has claimed that the company's 'Full Self-Driving System' technology will be capable of Level 5 autonomy by the end of the year, reports CNET
Self-driving tech developer AutoX has opened up its robotaxi pilot programme to the general public in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, according to CX Tech
Blackberry has expanded its strategic partnership with Baidu on autonomous driving technology
Finnish self-driving software company Sensible 4 is launching its second self-driving project in Norway
Veoneer has signed an agreement with Qualcomm to collaborate on the delivery of scalable ADAS, collaborative and autonomous driving solutions through Veoneer’s new dedicated software unit, Arriver.
And finally…
Avoiding trip hazards
Despite the rising popularity of dockless shared scooters on city streets, they can cause a problem when they're not properly parked. In major cities such as San Francisco, operators are often required to send their own employees to repark and reposition the scooters, or face fines.
In a bid to alleviate the problem, scooter-sharing provider Spin has announced a partnership with Tortoise, a company that uses autonomous technology to reposition scooters remotely. The partners will offer remotely-operated three-wheeled e-scooters to cities across North America and Europe. The scooters can be relocated at speeds of 2-3 mph to move them out of the way of pedestrians and other street users, or return them to areas with higher demand. Over time, Spin also plans to allow riders to 'hail' an e-scooter several blocks away to their desired pick-up location.
The first pilot of the 'Spin Valet' platform will take place in Boise, Idaho – an emerging tech hub and, soon perhaps, a city with one less trip hazard on its streets.