GM demos self-driving micro car in Detroit: Chevy EN-V 2.0

Chevyenv2jpgAt the Intellegent Transport Systems Conference in Detroit GM is demonstrating the a self-driving version of the EN-V 2.0, slow-driving petite car designed for the most congested cities.

The Chevrolet Electric Networked-Vehicle (EN-V) 2.0 has the latest intelligent and connected automotive technologies including Lidar and V2X to for automated, low-speed electric driving LSV.

GM advances connected cars with V2V, hands-free & feet-free driving in 2017 Cadillacs

santamonicfwyGM will begin offering advanced “intelligent and connected” vehicle technologies in 2017 starting with Cadillac and make driving less work for the hands and feet of drivers with Super Cruise (semi-automated driving) and V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) communications.

Super Cruise will offer hands-off the wheel lane following, braking and speed control in certain highway driving conditions. GM semi-automated driving technology will also work in stop-and-go driving. This will make driving in heavy traffic and on long road trips easier.

Volvo testing self driving, autonomous cars at AstaZero

volvotaVolvo has opened AstaZero as a test site for traffic safety solutions, in the hopes that by by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car. Volvo has been working with magnets that can be sensed in the snow. The Volvo XC90 has advanced run-off road/brake at intersection and AT&T 4G LTE. Volvo also tests autonomous cars in Gothenburg.

Volvo plans development of active safety systems, to prevent accidents with AstaZero as the premiere proving ground, near Volvo Cars headquarters in western Sweden.

Google competitor Baidu working on autonomous self driving car & bike, why?

img_boyThe biggest competitor in the world to Google is China’s search giant Baidu and in their parallel universe research and development labs in China and the Silicon Valley are working on self driving cars and  possibly bikes which may hit the road later this year.

A Baidu rep told Tech in Asia confirmed that Baidu is in the very early stages of development of driverless cars.

Virginia Tech research could prevent truck accidents like the Tracy Morgan crash in the future

tracymorganThe  type of tragic truck accident that involved Tracy Morgan and friends may be avoided in the future after research and studies by Virgina Tech.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute will receive $55 million to further study safety efforts for commercial truck drivers and  automated vehicles.

The contracts are awarded from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

auto connected tanks to be deployed via drones by U.S. Army: tested in Florida

black-hawk_350x250Carnegie Mellon and Sikorsky Aircraft are working with the U.S. Army  to show that a drone copter and a driverless ground vehicle can work together to autonomously survey a contaminated site. The unmanned ground vehicle UGV will navigate using sensors looking out for chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear contamination.

Volvo’s Drive Me Driving Itself in Gothenburg & NYC

volvotestdriveGoogle isn’t the only company with self-driving cars.  Volvo’s “Drive Me’ program has 100 self-driving Volvos on public roads in every day normal driving situations

The first test cars are already rolling around the Swedish city of Gothenburg and the Autopilot technology is performing well.

Audi A7 Self Driving Autonmous Cars Don’t Have Ugly Can on Top LiDAR on Grille

audiconnecctAt CES Audi announced that it has developed its own, much smaller LIDAR that is mounted on the Audi grille, eliminating the ugly “can” at the top look. The company showed just how intelligent and beautiful self-driving cars can be.

In a demonstration Audi used an app to “call” the car from a parking spot to the front of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Las Vegas.