HumanDrive Project: Mimicking human driving in autonomous vehicles

HumanDrive Project: Human like driving in Autonomous cars

With AI technology and machine learning the latest “in things”, autonomous driving was never that far away. We already see some forms of it on the road, whether it be in the form of autonomous parking or cruise control, all of this has to do with AI and machine learning tech. The HumanDrive project started by Nissan’s European center will test out how autonomous cars face the UK terrain, through country sides and motorways.

The HumanDrive project will feature a 30 month trek across the UK all without the input or intervention of humans. It’s going to be human- like driving without the human behind the steering wheel.

What is the HumanDrive Project? 

The HumanDrive project aims at making the outside world think that a human is driving a car when in reality all the systems within the car will be operated by a machine. The challenge is for the autonomous car to appear like a human is driving it through all types of terrains and through all types of landscapes whether it be through the country side or in crowded towns.

Handing in the reins of the vehicle to a machine, may prove to be a smoother experience for a driver than simply using automated driving for parking or during cruise control.

Using various simulation models and in depth analysis of how drivers behave on the road were the key ingredients when it came to developing automated driving in the HumanDrive project.

By identifying the key ingredients in the HumanDrive project, researchers were able to list the risks and behaviors of human drivers in those scenarios and establish it within the HumanDrive project.

How autonomous should a car be in the HumanDrive Project? 

Studies conducted by researchers on the HumanDrive project was done so as to determine the degree of autonomous driving that people preferred and whether the driving should mimic individual styles. All these studies were directed at determining the level of control in such autonomous vehicles in the HumanDrive project.

Testing of the HumanDrive project: 

Researchers applied an externally created autonomous driving software to a simulation model in order to determine risks and responses in those settings.

Another method of testing had been to develop geo-specific databases that would give the autonomous vehicle a feel of the terrain in which they would be driving.

The HumanDrive Journey: 

The HumanDrive project will kick start its 200 plus mile journey through the UK and culminate in December of next year. The journey will take the autonomous vehicles through the country side and motorways. The whole idea behind the project is to foster confidence in such human-less vehicles and to increase public awareness of them. Another aim of the HumanDrive project is to aid public authorities to benefit from such automated technologies.

The business of automated vehicles: 

Low carbon consumption vehicles and automated vehicles are the future of transport. As the demand for these vehicles increase and more and more people go in for such transport the possibilities of this business sector is enormous. To be more accurate it is 52bn pounds by the year 2035 to the UK alone.

How Self Driving Cars will Get Your Hands Back on the Wheel

Prevailing Navigation System in Cars

Self-driving cars will be driving themselves very soon on long expanses on the highway and it is left to be seen when the car seems to need you to take the wheel. In Germany, at a Bosch-sponsored event, the automotive equipment supplier had shown a solution which tends to work in the same way to the prevailing navigation systems in cars.

The function had been examined by a passenger who took the passenger seat of a heavily modified Tesla Model S while a Bosch test pilot had taken the driver seat for a demonstration on the test track of the company near Frankfurt, Germany.

As the car reached a section of road where it was permitted for self-driving cars, the centre screen calculated the distance and once in the zone area, the driver pushed two buttons on the steering then and let the car manipulate the driving.

As the car neared the end of the approved self-driving zone, the screen started to calculate the distance to when the driver required to take back control portraying and sounding alerts as they got nearer. The information seemed to be the same as the navigation system showing the distance to the next turn, which most of the drivers would find accustomed.

 

Level 3 Self-Driving

 
This competence signified the next step in driver support to what engineers consider Level 3 self-driving, where humans tend to share control with the car. This is a natural evolution of self-driving cars system from the prevailing adaptive cruise control systems that could regulate the speed of the car in relation to the traffic ahead.

Together with the adaptive cruise control cars progressively is likely to come with lane keeping systems which tends to use cameras in recognizing lane line and steering the car in order to avert it from travelling into another lane. In order to permit Level 3 self-driving cars would have to maintain high definition maps of precise roads.

Technology partners together with automakers could develop maps and also wirelessly modernize them to prevailing cars. When the car tends to driver on a mapped road, it has the potential of taking over the driving and the computer of the car is said to constantly compare what its sensors view with its stored map. Super Cruise technology had been recently demonstrated by Cadillac utilising this methodology that would be made available in the next few years.
 

Easier Driving Environments – Highways/Freeways

 
However, when this technology tends to be made available, high definition maps will not be accessible for every road. Similarly, the automakers could also opt for easier driving environments like the highways as well as freeways for the purpose of self-driving cars instead of suburban or city streets.

One can visualize driving down I-5 on the west coast, I-95 down the east coast or I-80 through the country and after merging on the freeway, your car tells you it can take over and so you permit it to drive for some hundred miles to your exit and then take the wheel for the off-ramp.

There could be issues when the section of high definition mapped road may run out and the driver does not seem to take charge. A solution was shown by Bosch for this type of a scenario. When the driver had not taken the wheel after several audio as well as visual warnings, the car seemed to pull over to the side of the road safely.

In the near future, drivers may be awaken from their nap to find that their self-driving cars are parked in a selected pull-over zone, relaxed though several miles down the road.

Space Robot Technology Helps Self-Driving Cars and Drones on Earth

Support Robots to Navigate Independently
 
The significance of making units of self-driving cars together with grocery delivery through drone could be revealed through an improbable source – autonomous space robots.

An assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics, Marco Pavone has been creating technologies to assist robots in adjusting to unknown as well as altering environments. Pavone had been working in robotics at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA before coming to Stanford and had maintained relationships with NASA centres together with collaboration with the other departments at Stanford. He views his work in space and Earth technologies as complementary.

 He commented that in a sense, some robotics techniques which tend to have been designed for autonomous cars could be very useful for spacecraft control. Similarly the algorithms which he and his students devised to assist robots make decisions and assessments on their own with a span of a second could help in space exploration as well as they could improve on driving cars and drone from the Earth.

One of the projects of Pavone tends to centre on supporting robots to navigate independently in bringing space debris out of orbit, delivering tools to astronauts and grasp spinning, speeding objects out of the vacuum of space.
 
Gecko-Inspired Adhesives
 
There is no boundary for error while grabbing objects in space. Pavone informed that in space when you approach an object, if you are not very careful in grasping it at the time it is contacted, the object would float away from you. Bumping an object in space would make recovering it very difficult.

Pavone had teamed up with Mark Cutkosky, a professor of mechanical engineering, who had spent the last decade perfecting gecko-inspired adhesives, in order to resolve the grasping issue.

 The gecko grippers support a gentle approach as well as a simple touch in order to `grasp’ an object, enabling easy capture and release of spinning, unwieldy space debris. However the delicate navigations needed for grasping in space is not an easy job. Pavone had stated that one have to operate in close proximity to other objects, spacecraft or debris or any object one might have in space that needs advanced decision making potentials.

 Pavone together with his co-workers developed systems which enabled space robot to independently respond to such flexible situations and competently grab space objects with their gecko-strippers.
 
Perception-Aware Planning
 
The subsequent robot could move as well as grab in real time, updating its decisions at a rate of several thousand times a second. This kind of decision-making technology is said to be beneficial in solving navigation issue with drones that are Earth-bound.

 A graduate student Benoit Landry had stated that for these types of vehicles, navigating at high speed in proximity to buildings, people together with the other flying objects seems difficult to perform. He focused that there seems to be a delicate interplay between making decisions and environmental perception. He added that in this perceptive, several aspects of decision making for independent spacecraft tend to be directly significant to drone control.

Landry together with Pavone have been working on `perception-aware planning’ that enables drones to consider fast routes as well as to `see’ their surroundings besides improved estimate on where they are. The work is presently being extended towards handling of interactions with the humans, a main section to organize autonomous system like the drones and self-driving cars.

 

Reduced Gravity Atmospheres
 
Landry had also mentioned that the background of Pavone at NASA had been a good complement to the academic work. When a robot is said to land on a small solar system body type an asteroid, added challenges tend to come up.

 These atmospheres seem to have total different gravity than the Earth. Pavone had stated that if one were to drop an object from waist-height, the same would take a couple of minute to settle to the ground. Ben Hockman, a graduate student in the lab of Pavone, had worked on a cubic robot known as Hedgehog, in order to deal with low-gravity atmospheres such as asteroids.

 The robot passed through uneven, rugged and low-gravity territories by hopping rather than driving like the traditional rovers. Ultimately, Pavone and Hockman desired Hedgehog to be capable of navigating and carrying out tasks without being obviously told how to perform it by a human located millions of miles away. Hockman had mentioned that the prevailing Hedgehog robot is said to be designed for reduced gravity atmospheres though it could be adjusted for Earth.

It would not hop quite that far since we tend to have more gravity though it could be utilised to cross more rugged territories where wheeled robots are unable to go. Hockman viewed the research that he had been doing with Pavone as core scientific exploration adding that science attempts to answer the difficult questions we don’t know the answers to and exploration seeks to find whole new questions we don’t even know yet how to ask.

Prepare Yourself for Sweet Luxury of Riding in a Robocar

The idea of a self-propelled vehicle has existed for decades, but the car companies are only now approaching the vision. Also, data services like Google are working on the Robo car. But the way to the Robo car is quite still far.

Cars in the advertising always have free travel. What the advertising does not show: column traffic and pure boredom behind the wheel. Who does not want a chauffeur in professional traffic? In fact, drivers can soon leave the hands off the wheel and the feet off the pedals. This year, the BMW i3 will be the first held up in traffic jam on the road, which will be able to take over the running tasks up to 40 km/h. In the next Audi A8 generation, an autopilot is to accelerate, brake and steer up to 60 km / h.

Audi has unveiled the auto pilot-driven Robo car as part of the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 (CES) in Las Vegas. Also in the case of parking, you can save time and effort in the future: simply activate and disembark the park pilots. The driverless Robo car is automatically removed from the car park central computer by Wlan to the next free parking space.

The predecessors of the 1950s

"If we like it or not, slowly, but surely, the robots take over the job of the car driver," popular science cited as early as 1958. At that time, the first cruise control was introduced in the Chrysler Imperial. The system was able to keep the speed constant, but by no means recognize the traffic situation.

It was only after the turn of the millennium that robotic vehicles launched more and more sensors into the world: the research agency of the US military Darpa organized several races for driverless cars. In 2005 the victorious VW Touareg "Stanley" found its way independently through the Mojave desert. However, the Darpa had planted a zone of comfort to the electron brain through the human-free area: low earth walls as roadsides helped the radar, video and laser sensors to orient themselves. In addition, the route was set by nearly 3000 GPS points. Every 70 meters, a satellite-based road mark kept the scouts on course. In the ranking of intelligent systems, these rolling robots had not earned the predicate autonomously.

Measurement by laser scanner

"We have learned how to measure the edge of the road using a laser scanner in preparation for the Grand Challenge," explains Bjorn Giesler, who is responsible for driving the Robo car at Audi. In the meantime, cars nearer to the series are also available without drivers in the US state of Nevada. Audi was the first Robo car manufacturer to have the license to test the autopilot in regular road traffic. "How close we are to the show is to see the size of our laser scanner," said Ricky Hudi at CES. The Head of Development Electrical / Electronic at Audi presented a hand-held sensor that fits easily into any vehicle front.

This is a huge difference to the research vehicles of Google and Lexus that are on the road in California: their powerful laser scanner for the Robo car cost as much money as a fully equipped luxury limousine.

All the cars work on automated driving

The driver thinks the car is steering - as futuristic as this form of movement can also be: All leading car manufacturers are working with high pressure on the gradual introduction of automated driving Robo car. "The driver is only relieved of the burden on long, fatiguing routes on the motorway or in traffic situations through the system.

The sensor technology does not yet create the complex urban traffic or even critical situations on the highway ", explains the BMW developer Dirk Wisselmann all too euphoric expectations. There are also still high legal hurdles for fully automated driving Robo car :" Every driver should be able to reach everyone Time to control his car as well as to ensure timely and appropriate diligence, "says the 1968 Vienna Convention.

This also applies to the cars of Audi, Google, Lexus, Bosch, Continental and others that have been driving through California and Nevada for months. Each test Robo car has at least one passenger who constantly monitors the operation of all systems. The human being therefore remains the responsibility and must be able to take over the task at any time. Therefore, the system also ensures by camera that the pilot behind the wheel is neither sleeping nor impotent. If, for example, the traffic jam occurs and the traffic flows again at more than 60 km / h, the driver of that Robo car is asked to take over. In addition, the function is only available on the motorway, where there is no city-waggle with traffic and unpredictable pedestrians.

Traffic is coming into the cloud

Always on the road and on the road: In the future, the traffic in real-time will be reflected in a data cloud (cloud). Obviously the Volkswagen Group does not want to leave such data services to Internet companies like Google. "We will use the cloud as an external sensor for driving," promises Ricky Hudi.

Only the swarm-in-the-spot of the networked vehicles can control the traffic situation so precisely that the driver can turn to other activities without risk. "I assume that most vehicles will have a communication unit as a link to the cloud in ten years," says Hudi, "because we have a huge advantage with the large fleet of Volkswagen Group vehicles."

Google Patents Crumpling Car Safety System

Google is known for its expertise in every field. It provides various kinds of information over varying subjects within a flick of seconds, because of its efficiency people from all age groups belonging to several different fields are aware of this dynamic search engine called Google; which is worldwide famous. Google have come up with a technology that can control a car’s system so that the risk of car crash can be avoided to a greater extent.

Google has come up with a system that grants the car to get crumpled up from before so that the risk of car crash can be reduced. It has suggested several ways to build up panels on the car’s circumference so even if a crash takes place unexpectedly neither the passengers, nor the pedestrian or any other object is harmed.

They are planning to develop a technology that will enable the panels to get coupled with the help of sensor data that will easily detect the object that is approaching the car and will take immediate measures, so eventually the crash can be avoided. This possibility was seconded by AA, retorting on the fact that several manufacturers of car are on the run to develop ways that will minimize the intensity of injuries even if the crash takes place.

Some details have been provided by the US granters on the different ways to fit in panels related to bodywork on the cars. A section of bumber wings is to be fixed to the cars that can be broken down with the help of actuators on the chassis of the Google Car. Automatically before the impact the actuators on the car’s chassis would give a signal, leading to the breaking down of pins that would enable the panel to halt back.

An alternative was also suggested where the panels would be fixed to the hinges or to the grooves, so the panel could be pulled immediately when it comes in contact with an object. A further note is added to this accident prone car where a control system would be infused to the cars that can run even without drivers.

If any of the parts of the car move out of the way then the force by which the car will collide to the other object that may be reduced, this will in turn reduce the serious damage of life, car and other objects. Henceforth, if this development is seriously carved out then the consequences would always bear a positive connotation.

The data sensors available in the car will check out the size and the weight of the object that is approaching the car and will accordingly take measures so that the crash can be avoided and if not avoided then the risk of injuries can be reduced. This is a very big hike that is being provided by Google that will ensure more safety on roads. The car holders will no longer have to worry for their life’s or their car’s well being.

Self Flying Taxi to Transport Passengers in Dubai

A city that moves faster than a bullet train, requires top-notch transportation services in order to keep pace with the existing trend of the world. In such advanced city traffic related issues are always a matter of concern. We know that Dubai is a highly developed country that has so much in store for you that you cannot imagine.

Dubai has come up with an extraordinary innovation that will make life much easier for all the dwellers there. The head of the department of transport in Dubai has reported that very soon the skies of Dubai will be filled with self-flying taxis that will help people to overcome their transportation issues.

This seems much like a ferry land story where there used to be flying gadgets that made the entire thing very interesting. Dubai have decided to name it Ehang 184, that will be strictly applicable for the airborne services. The flying machine would be designed in such a manner that it won’t require a human to direct it. The technology fed in it is such that it will run on its own. It is suited to carry one passenger at a time along with their luggage. It can fly for 23 minutes.

Dubai is not the first city that has taken such an initiative. In 2006 Summer, Las Vegas had already announced that they will avail this facility to their people. The Ehang 184 that Dubai has unveiled is powered by electricity and has the capability to travel for 31 miles along with a single person and their baggage that should not be more than 100 kg. It can easily cover a distance of 63 miles in just an hour and two hours is required to get it completely charged. This is a magical vehicle that is a complete transportation device without any curbs.

This is an app based service and anyone who wants to avail this facility for themselves are required to download the app first and then enter their destination. This revolutionary transporting device then will automatically demarcate the route and will enable sound and safe travelling to their passengers and reaches them at the required destination. It can fly at a stretch, but is generally required to stop at the required destination that depicts that though it is capable of unbreakable journey, but still it has to hop from one landing spot to another.

The propellers used in it are folded inwards at the time of landing and when it entirely lands it can easily fit in the space that is needed by a single car. It is also inflicted with a fail safe system. The company says that this function is fed in it to ensure that no emergency situation arises when the flying taxing is actually flying high. Due to this function the vehicle lands immediately at the closest place if anything malfunctions during the flight. It is also designed to be secured with encrypted channels for easy communication. This is a big innovation that can redefine a city completely.

Waymo: Detroit Auto Show Reveals a Google Designed Self Driving Van

Google has been developing Waymo a self driving vehicle for quite some time and it isn’t secret as a number of reports about its testing have emerged in the past. However we have been for a long time to see this vehicle in live action finally that moment arrived at the Detroit Auto Show. This edition of Detroit Auto Show was filled with a slew of sport utility vehicles, flashy and sleek deans and robust pickup vehicles. But Google unveiled an odd-looking and quite classic minivan Waymo which has the self driving capability infused in it. This particular minivan has been designed and manufactured by Google which comes with its indigenously developed autonomous driving capability.

Google shift its self driving vehicle development under new business

Just a month ago Google’s parent company Alphabet has did away with the driverless car project to a new business company. Now the self driving vehicles developed by the Google will be made under Waymo but it will still have the Google branding on it. The point of creating a whole new company to cater to the self driving vehicle segment is that it will help in commercializing the vehicle in short period without much needless scruples of gaining authorization. The first minivan showcased by the Google Waymo is simply the first vehicle in series of vehicles which will launch in upcoming years.

An elegant old design with modern driving capabilities

Tesla and BMW has shown futuristic autonomous vehicle in the past and they are going to make their way in the market by 2020. On other hand Google has gone with a traditional and conventional design model with it minivan but it is equipped with Google’s indigenously developed self driving capabilities. This Waymo minivan makes use of self-driving sensors and advanced vision system which has been exclusively developed for this vehicle. Google has partnered with Fiat Chrystler to manufacturer the van which showcases the collaboration between a true automobile maker and tech firm at its best.

As stated earlier Google isn’t the only one which is keen on developing safe, reliable and robust self driving vehicles. Some of the established automakers like General Motors and Ford Motors are also aggressively working towards developing their own self-driving vehicle and both of these has showcased plan of having a manufacturing unit in Michigan in upcoming months
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Google plans to turn every mainstream vehicle into autonomous vehicle

However Google has some other plans for itself driving technology. It is gearing up to offer ready made packages of its self-driving equipment which can be easily integrated to any kind of mainstream vehicle to turn it into an autonomous vehicle.

An official from Google has stressed upon the fact that Google has invested a huge sum in developing all the self-driving sensors in-house which allows it to add new functionalities and to remodel it to work with other vehicles with ease. Google self-driving technology has one important goal at its core which is to bring full autonomy to the vehicles without undermining the safety quotient of the vehicle.

Synthetic Diamonds Could One Day Replace GPS and Make Driverless Cars a Reality

It is believed by numerous scientists that lab grown diamonds that are red in colour and contain an atomic defect could possibly one day replace the GPS system owing to its exceptional magnetic waves. A tech company that is based out of Oxfordshire has a team at Element Six which is researching on the extraordinary properties of the crystals that come with the ‘nitrogen vacancy defect’ which is a gap in the atomic structure at the centre (heart) of the diamond.

It is at room temperature that these diamonds have portrayed tremendous sensitivity to magnetic waves and at the moment are able to perceive a vehicle that is passing 300 metres away. However there is still hope that these diamonds would one day be accustomed to being able to not only sense other vehicles but also its very own location on the surface of the planet with the aid of the reading of the magnetic waves transmitted by the sun.

In the case of such an occurrence, the result would be revolutionary as this would completely put an end to the need of GPS satellites which serves the sole purpose of sending signals back to planet earth to tell cars and other vehicles their precise location at any given time. However if the diamond technology is successful, driverless cars could also become a reality as with the presence of the diamond, vehicles would be able to move around each other safely even in a case of it being autonomous.

"In the event that you have a gadget that is equipped for detecting the encompassing attractive fields, it additionally knows where it is," clarified important research researcher Richard Bodkin. "So once you can tackle those innovations into a solitary gadget, there is no motivation behind why driverless vehicles can't be figured it out.

" However such an improvement could be decades away, the researchers cautioned, however it would be revolutionary. Their work is centred on enhancing the attractive affectability of engineered precious stones, which could likewise be utilized to supplant MRI sensors. This could bring about a head protector or handheld scanner that would test a patient's body without putting them inside a MRI tube.

Component Six essentially concentrates on creating precious stone edged cutting instruments for use in substantial industry, for example, boring tools for oil and gas organizations. It is lion's share claimed by precious stone mining monster De Beers.

The organization is likewise taking a gander at how to utilize engineered precious stones in quantum figuring, an exceedingly hypothetical field that guarantees computational power far in abundance of today's computerized machines.

Waymo, Google's Self Driving Car Company

Google has been researching and developing a whole new level of driverless car technology for the past 7 years. Now Google has made their project into a new company named WAYMO. This company is under the Google’s parent company Alphabet. WAYMO is a technology based company which is made with an intention to make the self driving car to be safe to transport people and things and to be put a wide range of use and availability.

The company’s main focus is not to develop the self driving cars but to develop that technology in a effective and efficient way so that it can be widely put to use and easily available for other car developers. Now the testing of the project is made under all different scenario and this technology which is developed must be very useful and very simple to use and shouldn’t be complicated. Thus it can benefit everyone including public transport system. This technology can save time and distance and will be of much benefit. The WAYMO Company won’t be making cars whereas it will be fitting these technology advancement in that car.

The “Koala Cars” is a small car which is currently used by Google for testing and development of its self driving technology. The Fiat Chrysler seems to be the first car to come out with the Google’s software equipped who signed a deal with Google for its self driving technology in the company’s Pacifica mini vans this deal was made between the companies on May.

The development of this technology was started 7 years before in Google lab and now is being made ready to be put into production after a test made for 2.3 million miles in its fully robot controlled vehicle. There will a giant leap made by the company to put its developing technology in an finished car and to make it available to the public. They are in the process of developing more map routes, to make the user enjoy a smoother ride and make navigations very accurate. There must be a proper system to navigate and drive the vehicle in heavy snow covered road and in heavy rain in simple this technology must be able to adaptable in all weather.

On October 2015 it turned out to be a remarkable event for Google when the company gave the first full automatic car ride to a blind man in Texas and no one accompanied him on his journey. He was travelled in one of the Koala cars in Texas travelling through the public roads of Austin.

Google has developed and tested many project and everything is very special and unique whereas compared to this feature Google has been doing a good job and developing us to the future. Many people may ask “is it possible for us to physically not drive a car but to reach our destination safely?” well Google might and will give answers to these types of questions in the upcoming future.

Behold, Rolls Royce’s Truly Bizarre Self Driving Car

Roll-Royce – Self-Driving Concept Car – 103EX

Rolls-Royce, the ultra-luxury automaker introduced its self-driving concept car recently known as the 103EX. It is almost 20 feet long and 5 feet tall having some of the most amazing features. This futuristic looking vehicle comprises of two passenger seats on a silk covered sofa in the `Grand Sanctuary’ of the car or interior cabin. One gets to view through a glass display screen instead of a steering wheel. The engine is said to be at the rear of the car with the luggage compartment just behind the front wheels.

 Regarding the wheels, the company has not provided any engineering reason on why they intended to cover them so. It did mention that the design tends to make the car seem elevated ensuring its passengers to have a `Grand Arrival’. The vehicle seems to have some really in-built and advanced features such as the display screen together with an artificial intelligence called `Eleanor’ which tends to act as a personal assistant.

The name Eleanor was given in honour of Eleanor Thornton, who had inspired Charles Robert Sykes to sculpt the iconic hood ornament of Rolls-Royce. The auto division of Rolls-Royce, possessed by BMW has constantly been there attempting to push it on luxury and style and the 103EX surely tends to do both. It evidently entices buyers who intend to be noticed.

The 103EX – `Grand Sanctuary’

The company has mentioned that the model would be hitting the road in 2040. The 103EX has been endorsed as `grand sanctuary’ and is said to be one of four `Vision Vehicles’ Rolls-Royce parent which was announced back in March at the time of its centennial celebration.

Presently BMW together with Roll-Royce have visions for the next hundred years, wherein driving could be referred to something more than just a pastime. Director of designs for Roll-Royce Motor Cars, Giles Taylor stated that `with the Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100, we were mindful not to dwell on the past’.

Rolls-Royce while carefully not dwelling on the past is looking in restoring the world to a wealth and splendour of days gone by. In order to convey the stately feel together with the importance of Vision Vehicles occupant, Rolls-Royce had designed the 103EX as big as a carriage.

The vehicle being over five feet tall will not need people to duck into it. Making use of the 20 feet build, Rolls-Royce has carved an extra storage space between the cabin and the front wheels wherein the storage compartment tends to open whenever motorist disembark from the vehicle, automatically.

Rolls-Royce Patron – Famous Figure in Future

Rolls-Royce is not certain regarding the kind of engine it would be utilising, 100 years from now though it is sure that it wishes its riders to remain to reign in luxury during that time. Taylor states that `the Rolls-Royce patron will continue to be famous figure in the future.

 The Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 will pay a key role in these people’s lives, guiding and conveying them effortlessly through their life’s journey in an exquisite sanctuary where they can reflect in peace ahead of arriving in the grandest style’. Overall, this self-driving concept car can be considered as an exclusive invention and will remain to be the very first visionary vehicle created by Rolls-Royce.

BMW Revamps 'i' Electric Car Division to Focus on Self-Driving Tech

BMW `i’ Division Transformed into Development Centre

A board member has informed Reuters, that the `i’ division of BMW has been transformed into a development centre for self-driving cars, a main considered shift for the unit had earlier aimed on making a family of lightweight electric vehicles. Though Model 3 of Tesla would hit showrooms in 2017 and as Porsche and Audi rivals would be working on all electric cars to be released by 2019, the German car manufacturer seems to have put these kinds of cars at the back and its next fully-electric car would not be due till 2021.

The company’s approach has been changed after it’s fully battery powered car, and the i3, was not successful in gaining traction with the public with only 25,000 sales done last year. Tesla in comparison has already received over 370,000 orders for its Model 3. Instead of looking to match Tesla and Porsche with new zero-emissions sports limousine for release in the next two years, its focus lies in manufacturing an electric car with the next generation of technology, the autonomous driving.

Project `i’ Next

BMW board member Klaus Froehlich, in charge of development, in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Munich had mentioned that in April he had re-launched the `i’ division, as a unit dedicated in producing cars which tend to drive themselves and it is now in ramp-up stage which is called `Project i Next’. The renovation also tends to follow four great profile staff defections, this year from the division. Manager of BMW’s `i’ powertrain group Dirk Abendroth, vice president product management BMW `i’ Henrik Wenders, and vice president engineering, head of the i8 vehicle programme, Carsten Breitfeld, had been robbed by a Chinese electric vehicle start-up.

As a measure of its autonomous driving push, BMW has been hiring experts in machine learning as well as artificial intelligence. It is also assimilating the tasks of prevailing computer driven support systems such as emergency braking, cruise control, lane-keeping assistance and automatic parking. Froehlich stated that `with a fully autonomous vehicle, BMW could launch a ride hailing business without the need to pay drivers, thus giving car manufacturers a competitive edge over new ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft that seem toeat away car sales by making part utilisation convenient as ownership.

BMW to Partner with Ride-Hailing Firm

Toyota Motor Corp had mentioned earlier in the month that it would invest in Uber and Volkswagen had announced a $300 million investment in Gett which was a smaller ride-sharing company. It is said that BMW may partner with a ride-hailing firm especially in markets such as China though the car manufacturer’ policy on probable partnerships with companies is yet being worked out in this space according to Froehlich. He further added that China which is the world’s largest car market would probablybe the market, where autonomous cars would first appear on a big scale.

He also mentioned that China is implementing technology extremely fast. Last year more electric cars were sold in China than in all the other global markets put together. BMW has also been considering in expanding the area of reserving parking areas as well as electric car charging stations over mobile phone, a market that is still uneven within countries. Car manufacturers have already invested in ParkNow as well as Parkmobile the two digital parking as well as payment services.

Google Patents ‘Sticky’ Cars to Save Pedestrians hit by Driverless Vehicles

Google’s Driverless Cars – Safer than Humans

Google has stated that its driverless cars would be several times safer than humans vividly reducing the millions of road accidents which are seen every year. However, it does not mean that they will not hit someone and many times accidents could be inevitable. Google has patented a design for sticky layer on the front of a car which would tend to defend pedestrians when they get hit by a vehicle. Google’s self-driving vehicles would soon be catching pedestrians like flies which as per the patent granted recently tends to act like flypaper and instead of bodies bouncing off a car and resulting in further injury when hit; they would stay stuck to the vehicle till it slows down and stops.

These vehicles are fitted with sensors, clever lane mapping and networking in order that the vehicles can stay away from obstacles much better than human and also park accurately. The patent reads that `in case of an accident between the vehicle and the pedestrian, injury to the pedestrian takes place not only due to the impact of the vehicle as well as the pedestrian but also by the secondary impact between the pedestrian and the road surface or any other object. The adhesive bonds the pedestrian to the vehicle in order that the pedestrian remains with the vehicle till it stops and is not thrown from the vehicle’.

Work as Human Flypaper

The technology which has been awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO tends to work as human flypaper wherein the front bumper, hood and the side panels of the car would be enclosed with the sticky coating. Whenever a pedestrian is hit, the protective layer would break apart and trap the pedestrian and save the person from be sent skywards which could cause injuries.

It is said that the adhesive layer would cover the complete front area of the car, though would itself be underneath a special coating only activated in case of a collision, preventing bugs, leaves and other deposits from getting stuck to the car.Google’s fleet of 57 self-driving cars had covered over 1.5 million autonomous miles and had been involved in many collisions, most of which have been other drivers rear-ending the vehicles.

Bryant Walker Smith, self-driving car expert and Affiliate Scholar with Stanford Law School’s Centre for Internet and Society informed The Mercury News that there is another issue utilising sticky cars – What if the person tends to obscures the view of the driver thereby resulting in them crashing into another surface or vehicle?

Company Has Targeted 2020 for Public

However, Smith admired Google for its solution. He said that the idea that cars need to be safe for people other than the ones in them is the next generation of automotive safety and I applaud anyone for thinking as they should about people outside the vehicle. As a target date for being made available, the company has targeted 2020 for the public though they still tend to have many technical as well as legal challenges to overcome. Apple, Tesla, Uber together with other has been involved in driverless car research with many trials underway in the UK. Members of the public now can sign up to the first trials to be in London.

Google, Fiat Chrysler Working on Self Driving car Deal

Google & Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV – Developing Self-Driving Cars

Google together with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are almost on the point of agreeing on a partnership which could break barriers between Silicon Valley and the auto industry in competition of developing self-driving cars, according to sources familiar with the discussion. The announcement of the partnership deal would be out soon as disclosed to Reuters on condition of anonymity by three people familiar with the situation, since the discussions seemed to be private.

The talks at first were reported on Thursday by blog AutoExtremist.com. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc. as well as Fiat Chrysler, refrained from commenting on this issue. Google has stated that it does not desire to build self-driving vehicles on its own and has explored deals with auto companies though none have been confirmed. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive stated recently that the company was in talks with an advanced technology company, though had not offered any details. The executives at the other auto makers, together with Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co and Daimler AG, have shown wariness regarding alliances with Alphabet or other technology companies which could demote them to the role of hardware suppliers.

Marchionne Interested in Partnership with Google/Apple

Auto executive had informed that they do not want to stand by while Alphabet gains richer profits from the data created by vehicles and their passengers. GM has indicated that it intends to go its own way on driverless car technology, going ahead in buying self-driving vehicle start-up, Cruise Automation. After Fiat Chrysler had issued quarterly earnings on Tuesday on a conference call, Marchionne had repeated that he was interested in partnerships with Google or Apple Inc. Marchionne had stated in response to a question regarding working with non-traditional automakers that `dialogue continues with people who are interested in exploring their relevance in the automotive world and would continue to help them find their way out’. A former auto executive, John Krafcik, who tends to head Alphabets’ self-driving car project, at a conference in Detroit in January, had made a public pitch for partners. Fiat Chrysler officials in Michigan as well as Italy had refrained to comment on assumption that the technology of Google would ultimately be offered on the new Chrysler Pacifica minivan launched in February.

Self-Driving Vehicles, Minivans – Ride Sharing/Shuttle Fleets

Marchionne together with the other FCA officials are scheduled to visit the Windsor, Ontario plant which builds the Pacifica on May 6. The auto as well as the technology industry executive had stated that the self-driving vehicles, probably the minivans would hit the roads first in ride-sharing or shuttle fleets. Among the models which Alphabet has been utilising in its self-driving project, is the Lexus RX450h, which is a hybrid sport utility vehicle, manufactured by Toyota Motor Corpn. Alphabet intends to have the first driverless minivans on the road by this end of this year but has not commented on a timeline for all 100 vehicles. On increasing the test fleet, the agreement would be helpful to Alphabet’s mission to automate the world’s vehicles. Its present fleet of 70 self-driving cars has driven over 1.5 million miles in California, Washington, Texas and Arizona.