There were many embedded chips and connected car news tips this week. Companies in the news included Google, Uber, NVIDIA, DENSO, Brain Corp, Nexteer, LEAR, Mahindra & Mahindra and Porsche.
A top executive from Airbnb, Shaun Stewart is joining Google as a director of the self-driving car project.
Telsa Tidbits
Wi-Fi hotspot chips are embedded in Tesla cars built in the second quarter of 2016 according to an FCC application. There is no word, yet when Wi-Fi hotspots will be available or how much data plans will cost.
Telsa increased the price for its AutoPilot feature to $3,000 for buyers who buy the system when ordering, or $3,500 for those who have it installed after vehicle delivery.
Tesla announced a new 100kWh battery option for the Tesla Model S and Model X. 0 to 60mph times drop to 2.5 seconds and 2.9 seconds and the total range figures increase to 315 miles and 289 miles.
Uber Losing $$$
Bloomberg reported that Uber has already lost $1.27 billion this year. The company’s drivers are not employee but will offer app-driven retirement savings account (RSA) as a benefit.
U.S. Wants to Govern Truck Speeds
U.S. regulators are looking to limit the speed of trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles, using governor, on newly made U.S. vehicles that weigh more than 26,000 pounds. Regulators are considering a cap of 60, 65 or 68 mph. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the final rulemaking for heavy-duty vehicle fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for safety and to reduce green house gas.
Self-Driving Taxis in Singapore
nuTonomy has launched the first self-driving taxi in Singapore. The company uses a Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV that is hailed via a smartphone app.
An engineer from nuTonomy will ride in the vehicle to observe system performance and assume control if needed to ensure passenger comfort and safety.
Throughout the trial, nuTonomy will collect and evaluate valuable data related to software system performance, vehicle routing efficiency, the vehicle booking process, and the overall passenger experience.
NVIDIA Parker
NVIDIA showed Parker the newest SOC for self-dirivng cars.
DENSO & Kanade
In an effort to deepen and advance its knowledge in artificial intelligence, DENSO has entered into a technical advisory contract with one of the world’s foremost researchers in computer vision, Carnegie Mellon University Professor Dr. Takeo Kanade. Through this contract, DENSO is looking to advance its artificial intelligence technology and expand its engineering expertise in the areas of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous drive, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Dr. Kanade, a U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor of Robotics and Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon will provide technical guidance to DENSO engineers on image recognition and machine learning, and will also speak at lectures and seminars organized by DENSO for a variety of purposes, such as recruiting, relationship building, etc. These activities will be held mostly in Japan.
Dr. Kanade and DENSO have worked together from 2002-2009 on a joint research of image.
Brain Corp & ICE for Cleaning
Brain Corp, a software technology company specializing in the development of intelligent, autonomous artificial intelligence (A.I.) systems for self-driving vehicles (SDVs), announced its partnership with International Cleaning Equipment (ICE). A global company headquartered in China, ICE develops specialized equipment for the industrial and commercial cleaning industry, with distribution across the United States, Europe, and Asia. ICE USA is based in Holland, MI.
“We are excited to work with Brain Corp to incorporate their innovative technology, into our next generation product platform”
The collaboration will allow both Brain Corp and ICE to provide a pooling of breakthrough technologies including lithium ion batteries, and automated driverless technology, which includes self-driving vehicles, to each of their respective customer bases. Brain Corp’s intelligent A.I. technology, EMMA (Enabling Mobile Machine Automation), can transform commercial-grade equipment, such as industrial floor care machines, into self-driving vehicles, allowing manually operated equipment to perform complex tasks without direct operator control.
Nexteer Next Move
Nexteer Automotive, a global leader in intuitive motion control, opened its new World Headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The strategically located headquarters provides a strong platform for increased industry presence and expanded reach for skilled talent.
Summer Olympics Pay Off in Car Interest
The significant investments BMW and Chevrolet made to advertise during the 2016 Summer Olympic games seem to have paid off, according to new data from Edmunds.com. Consumer interest in BMW vehicles on Edmunds was up 12 percent during the first week of the Summer Games, and rose seven percent the second week. Chevrolet saw a six percent lift in interest on the site during the first week of the Olympics, and a two percent increase the second week. To calculate consumer interest, Edmunds’ team of experts first established a baseline by analyzing four weeks of pre-Olympics traffic data to find the average number of unique visitors to each brand’s make and model pages. They then looked for lifts in traffic to those pages on a weekly basis during the Games and compared them against that baseline.
Cyber Security at LEAR
Lear Corporation [NYSE: LEA], a leading global supplier of automotive seating and electrical systems, today announced that Dr. André Weimerskirch has been appointed Vice President, Cyber Security for E-Systems, effective immediately.
M&M DiGiSENSE
DiGi-Porsche
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