In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Waymo, Arbe, Mechanical Simulation & Teamsters.
In this Article
Way-Less from Waymo
In blog post from company news Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dlgov, co-CEOs wrote:
Waymo Driver is designed to integrate with a variety of vehicle platforms and commercial applications including ride-hailing, trucking, local delivery, and personal car ownership.
“Given the tremendous momentum and substantial commercial opportunity we’re seeing on the ride-hailing front, we’ve made the decision to focus our efforts and investment on ride-hailing. We’re iterating more quickly than ever on our technology by pushing forward state of the art AI/ML, and seeing significant business growth and rider demand in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.”
“With our decision to focus on ride-hailing, we’ll push back the timeline on our commercial and operational efforts on trucking, as well as most of our technical development on that business unit. We’ll continue our collaboration with our strategic partner, Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), to advance technical development of an autonomous truck platform. Both our companies share the common goal of improving road safety and efficiency for fleet customers, so we’ll follow through with the platform investments we’ve made to create a redundant chassis to facilitate autonomous trucking. We look forward to continuing to bring together our autonomous tech with DTNA’s autonomous-ready Freightliner Cascadia® platform and exploring the potential of future platforms. Our ongoing investment in advancing Waymo Driver capabilities, especially on freeway, will directly translate to trucking and benefit its development efforts.
Our goal is to set our company on a solid path of value creation by focusing on achieving commercial success for our ride-hailing business in the near term. We are rapidly improving the Driver, shaping and overcoming hurdles in the regulatory landscape, and testing use cases that will provide valuable insights for partners in the long run. We continue to see a significant future commercial opportunity for our trucking solution alongside other commercial applications of the Waymo Driver. Laser-focusing on ride-hailing today puts us, our partners, and our customers in a strong position to be successful in the future across all of the business lines we pursue over time, showcasing the breadth of the Waymo Driver.”
Arbe Radar for Weifu
Arbe Robotics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ARBE), a global leader in Perception Radar Solutions, announced that Weifu High-Technology Group, a prominent tier 1 supplier in the Chinese automotive market, has issued an $11.6 million preliminary order for Arbe radar chipsets, for its estimated requirements for 2024. Arbe is committed to providing Weifu with the capacity and support for its growth in the market.
In addition, Weifu has placed a $1 million order of professional services for radar systems design based on the Arbe chipset, including: engineering services, setup of a testing lab, and advanced support from Arbe, for the upcoming 12 months, further strengthening the collaboration between the two companies.
“We are seeing strong demand for perception radar from the Chinese market,” says Xu Yunfeng, CEO of the Weifu Group. “Our strong collaboration with Arbe signifies our commitment to providing our customers with the most advanced radar technology, enabling them to innovate and advance ADAS and autonomous vehicle development with a safety-first approach.”
Arbe and Weifu have been collaborating since 2019, serving the automotive industry in China. Weifu is focused on developing radar systems based on Arbe’s chipset and delivering customized perception radar systems to automotive OEMs, trucks, commercial vehicles, and traffic operations.
“China is one of the fastest growing automotive industries in the world,” says Kobi Marenko, CEO of Arbe. “The preliminary order from Weifu exemplifies the accelerated progress of the automotive market in this region, with key players seeking perception radar solutions that can provide comprehensive free space mapping of a vehicle’s surroundings.”
Arbe’s perception radar chipsets offer advanced capabilities that address recent causes of ADAS and autopilot accidents, prioritizing the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users. Its advanced capabilities include free space mapping around the vehicle, stationary object detection across the entire field of view, while eliminating false alarms.
Teamsters Support AV Regs
The following is a statement from Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien on the legislative hearing today in the House Energy and Commerce Committee concerning two bills that would regulate autonomous vehicles (AVs):
“Congress has an opportunity to put an end to the unregulated Wild West of AV testing and deployment. Unfortunately, the SELF DRIVE Act is a reckless approach to this issue, and only continues the disastrous trend of laws written by and for Big Tech. The Teamsters will use every resource at our disposal to stop AV legislation that does not prioritize workers and safety.
“In contrast, Representative Dingell’s proposal demonstrates meaningful leadership towards creating a federal safety framework that holds AV companies accountable for their products through binding, enforceable requirements. However, any Energy and Commerce Committee proposal is just one piece of a necessary and comprehensive response from Congress. A future AV package must also include efforts to create strong regulation on the operation of commercial motor vehicles and the impact of the deployment of AVs on workers.
“The Teamsters are committed to working with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to get federal AV policy right, given the high stakes for our members. We look forward to continuing these conversations.”///
Mechanical Sim Updates to 2023.1 for CarSim, TruckSim, BikeSim & Suspension Skim
Mechanical Simulation Corporation is proud to announce the release of the 2023.1 versions of its VehicleSim® software products: CarSim®, TruckSim®, BikeSim®, and SuspensionSim®.
Mechanical Simulation Corporation, the global leader in vehicle dynamics simulation software, is proud to unveil the highly anticipated 2023.1 software release. Its products provide accurate and realistic predictions of real-world vehicle behavior. This new version reinforces the company’s commitment to innovation and solidifies its position as the industry’s leading solution for virtual vehicle testing and simulation.
This release introduces a range of cutting-edge features and enhancements, empowering engineers, and researchers to expand the scope of their development processes with the use of simulation and making it easier to optimize designs and enhance overall vehicle performance.
This release adds alternate steering methods including differential steering (skid steer) and hydrostatic articulation, found in many construction and mining vehicles. The most common skid steer vehicle is a type of forklift used in landscaping. A hydrostatically articulated vehicle can be steered using a yaw hydraulic pivot point to bend the vehicle. These features are a perfect pairing with Mechanical Simulation Corporation’s soft soil tire model. This terramechanical tire model allows users to simulate soft soil conditions. The incorporation of a terramechanical tire model enables engineers to achieve unparalleled fidelity in simulation behavior, providing precise insights into vehicle dynamics in various scenarios, including complex maneuvers, diverse road surfaces, and challenging weather conditions.
With an unwavering focus on usability, accuracy, and repeatability, this release receives high marks for increasing the coverage of different types of vehicles and scenarios that can be simulated.
“Our new features greatly expand Mechanical Simulation’s core capabilities and are a competitive differentiator. Engineers who develop vehicles that operate in off-road environments such as agricultural, construction, and military applications can now bring their products to market faster and safer with the help of CarSim and TruckSim,” said Jeremy Miller, Head of Engineering at Mechanical Simulation Corporation.