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Category: transportation – Page 162

Modular aviation to meet vector thrust propulsion.

Node Air and JetX are teaming up to develop a new type of aircraft that combines the best of their respective technologies. This collaboration will connect Node Air’s modular transportation system with JetX ‘s Vector Thrust Propulsion.

Node Air.

The concept of modular aircraft is relatively new and has yet to be fully explored in the industry. A modular aircraft can be easily reconfigured or modified depending on the specific needs of the flight. This could include adjusting the seating arrangement, cargo capacity, or even the shape of the fuselage. The goal of a modular aircraft is to be as versatile and adaptable as possible while also reducing the costs associated with maintaining multiple specialized aircraft.

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The German carmaker has received approval in Nevada, with California next on the list.

The German automaker, Mercedes Benz, is set to become the first to offer Level 3 autonomous driving technology in the US with approvals for its Drive Pilot system in Nevada, followed by California. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023, showcasing a host of new technology.

Sundry Photography/iStock.

According to the German manufacturer, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Nevada has approved the application, and the required certification is expected to come through in the next two weeks. “Mercedes-Benz will be the first OEM to have a Level 3 system to offer in the US – and is optimistic that California will follow soon,” said a press release.

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The dual-facing Ring Car Cam sits on the vehicle’s dashboard and is designed to record when your car is in motion and when it’s turned off. (Credit: Ring)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Ring launched its first video doorbell 10 years ago — and now, its parent company Amazon is launching another security device: a camera for your car.

Josh Roth, Ring’s Chief Technology Officer, said last week that one of the products that Ring’s founder (Jamie Siminoff) has asked most about is one to protect the car.

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The FAA said normal operations were “resuming gradually” after ordering a nationwide pause on all domestic departures until 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning following a computer failure that has impacted flights around the country.

“The ground stop has been lifted,” officials said at about 8:50 a.m. ET. “We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem”

Departures were resuming at about 8:15 a.m. ET at two of the nation’s busiest hubs — Newark and Atlanta — FAA officials said on Twitter, adding, “We expect departures to resume at other airports at 9 a.m. ET.”

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I n 2017, Andhra Pradesh witnessed two deadly bus accidents after the driver fell asleep at the wheel. One was a tourist bus and the other a school bus carrying children and teachers.

This news concerned Pradeep Varma (22), a student of Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam. It left him wondering why there was no technology in place to prevent such accidents.

“After doing some research, I realised that while there is technology to detect external crashes and predict them, there aren’t many prevalent ones to detect a driver falling asleep,” says Pradeep, in an interview with The Better India.

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I love it.

Why would a crow need a train ticket? To be honest, we’re not really sure but that didn’t stop one eager bird attempting to purchase a ride from a ticket machine at Tokyo’s Kinshichō Station.

Twitter user @kinoshi42155049 posted a video of the inquisitive crow having a nosey around the ticket machine before it hopped across to the adjacent machine, stole a woman’s credit card, and tried to slot it into the card reader. It didn’t quite succeed in its mission to buy the ticket but it came impressively close.

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This post is also available in: he עברית (Hebrew)

Fire departments conducting “size up” training typically rely on whiteboard discussions, drives around neighborhoods and photo-based systems. New training technology will help firefighters train for different types of fires or hazardous material situations, vehicle accidents, residential and commercial buildings, etc. An augmented reality training tool for firefighters, called Forge, uses artificial intelligence and biometric training to simulate real emergencies. Developed by Avrio Analytics, the system is designed to make sure that firefighters possess communication, situational awareness and associated skills needed in emergencies.

“Biometric and performance data collected during training allows Forge’s AI to dynamically change the training based on the user’s cognitive load, such as providing more or less guidance to the individual or introducing new training complexity in real-time,” the company told govtech.com. “This allows for training sessions tailored to the ability of the individual.”

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Google announced a new HD version of its Maps service for cars with the Android Automotive operating system. The new HD maps will provide more detailed road markings, lane-level localization, road barriers and signs. The feature will debut on the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 models and will benefit from the lidar, radar and camera sensors on vehicles to ensure a safer driving experience.

Volvo EX90 using Google HD maps
Volvo EX90 using Google HD maps.

Volvo’s HD maps demo shows users will get a detailed model of their vehicle on the screen which mimics all actions undertaken by the driver. HD maps will be available only on vehicles that use Google Automotive Services.

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They can be your power source on the go.

A startup named LAND Energy offers its customers something that most companies don’t. The option to swap the batteries on the vehicle, keeping the vehicle brand new even as technology improves over the years.

Unlike gas-powered vehicles, where the engine is the core of the machine, the battery pack on an electric vehicle (EV) is where the most advanced technology lies. With the EV industry still in its infancy, we can surely expect technology to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years, and that means that the vehicle you buy now could likely be obsolete.

LAND Energy.

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As we enter 2023, these were the big stories in self-driving cars for 2022. You an also check out my summary of early 2022 for more details on that quarter, but these are the game-changers for this year. There’s no doubt this was a year of huge ups and downs. A year where some gave up and others doubled down. A year where the stock market and VC funding took a massive nosedive and companies mostly shrunk, but also a year of great technical progress.

Usually I do this as a countdown to the biggest story, but I’ll spoil it right now and say the big story was the incredible contrast of the good and bad news. So I’m instead going to tell you the good, the bad and the not particularly ugly.

We wrap up the year with the biggest stories in robocars, from the very bad to the very good, of which 2022 had lots of both. Includes video of the stories.

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