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Category: transportation – Page 225

Elon’s Real World AI is the Real World Technological Singularity

Ray Kurzweil predicted Technological Singularity nearly 20 years ago. Elon Musk could enable a world of economic abundance with real world AI. Robotaxi and Teslabot will transform the world more than car and the first industrial revolution.

Tesla sells Model Ys for about $60000, but it currently costs them about $30000–40000 to make them. A Teslabot is 1/30th of the mass of a Model Y. It will use 1/30th of the batteries. The software is an overall cost of development. If billions of bots are produced then the cost would trend toward the cost of the hardware plus Apple iPhone-like margins including the software (say 40% gross margin). At Model Y cost of $30k then the hardware cost for Teslabot will go to $1000. $2000 with margins and software. A bot can work for 8,000 hours in a year. 8,760 hours in a year. $2000 divided by 8,000 hours is $0.25. If you add 10 cents per hour for electricity then it is $0.35 per hour. Going beyond that is bots can work in the factory and work cheaper than humans. Currently 15,000 workers in Tesla China factory. Replace all of them with $0.35 per hour bots. Reduce labor cost component. If a lot of bots can increase production rates. by 2X then all costs spread over more units. Bot-produced solar and batteries can lower the cost of energy by vastly increasing the supply. Those trends could get us to $500‑1000 per bot costs and lower energy costs. Having virtually unlimited labor costing less than 35 cents per hour will be transformational.

The Technological Singularity is a predicted point when technological growth becomes radically faster.

Real World AI would be general artificial human-level intelligence. Capabilities to provide broad levels of human jobs and tasks.

Teslabots able to perform loading and deliveries to massively boost the supply chain.
Teslabots able to perform manufacturing tasks in the factory.
Teslabots able to use machines built for humans.
Teslabots able to work in factories to make factories self replicating.
Teslabots able to perform mining.

These capabilities would make economic growth massively exponential.

Continue reading “Elon’s Real World AI is the Real World Technological Singularity” | >

A low-cost, viable solution for self-driving cars to spot hacked GPS

A lot of hurdles remain before the emerging technology of self-driving personal and commercial vehicles is common, but transportation researchers at The University of Alabama developed a promising, inexpensive system to overcome one challenge: GPS hacking that can send a self-driving vehicle to the wrong destination.

Initial research shows a vehicle can use already installed sensors to detect traveling the wrong route when passengers are unaware of the change, thwarting an attempt to spoof the GPS signal to the vehicle, according to findings outlined in recently published papers in the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems and Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.

Relying on software code and in-vehicle sensors already part of the self-driving system would be cheaper for consumer and to deny the hacked directions used to steer cargo or people away from their intended destination, said Dr. Mizanur Rahman, assistant professor of civil, construction and and affiliate researcher with the Alabama Transportation Institute.

Minecraft is hackers’ favorite game title for hiding malware

Security researchers have discovered that Minecraft is the most heavily abused game title by cybercriminals, who use it to lure unsuspecting players into installing malware.

Based on stats collected by the security firm between July 2021 and July 2022, Minecraft-related files accounted for roughly 25% of malicious files spreading via game brand abuse, followed by FIFA (11%), Roblox (9.5%), Far Cry (9.4%), and Call of Duty (9%).

Other game titles with notable percentages of abuse during this period are Need for Speed, Grand Theft Auto, Valorant, The Sims, and GS: GO.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving now costs $15,000, but lawmakers argue it doesn’t live up to its name

The price has increased by $3,000, but Tesla’s FSD is still a work-in-progress.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta option now costs a hefty $15,000. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter late last month that it would increase the option’s price by $3,000.

As of this week, the change has been made official, meaning anyone selecting the FSD option for their Tesla will have to pay the increased price. Musk mentioned in his August tweet that the previous price would be “honored for orders made before September 5, but delivered later”.

Is Tesla’s $15,000 FSD offering worth it?

Tesla.

Continue reading “Tesla’s Full Self-Driving now costs ‚000, but lawmakers argue it doesn’t live up to its name” | >

Super-dense packing of hydrogen molecules on a surface

Hydrogen (H 2) is currently discussed as an ideal energy carrier in a world requiring renewable energies. Hydrogen has the highest gravimetric energy density of all chemical fuels (141 MJ/kg), which is three times higher than gasoline (46 MJ/kg). However, its low volumetric density restricts its widespread use in transportation applications —as current storage options require a lot of space.

At ambient temperature, hydrogen is a gas, and one kilogram of hydrogen occupies a volume of 12,000 liters (12 cubic meters). In fuel-cell vehicles, hydrogen is stored under a very high pressure of 700 times the atmospheric pressure, which reduces the volume to 25 liters per kilogram of H 2.

Liquid hydrogen shows a higher density resulting in 14 liters per kilogram, but it requires extremely low temperatures since the boiling point of hydrogen is minus 253 °C.

Self-driving cars roll around Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Walking around Austin, you may see something surprising — self-driving cars rolling around the roads.

Earlier this year, autonomous vehicle technology company Argo AI launched its driverless operation in Austin. Argo AI public policy and government relations manager Sly Majid said these cars are key to the future of transport.

“Autonomous vehicle technology is incredible,” he said. “The vehicle is doing the dynamic driving tasks; the vehicle is the driver of the car.”

Lithium-Oxygen Battery May Spell The End Of The Age Of Oil

Circa 2016

A radically new form of lithium-oxygen batteries avoids many of the problems that have prevented the uptake of what is, in theory, the ultimate transportation battery. If the work can be scaled up, it could mark the end of gasoline-powered cars.

The cost, weight, and insufficient lifespan of batteries represents a major obstacle to electric cars replacing internal combustion engines on our roads. There are two paths to address this: One, like Aesop’s tortoise, involves slow incremental improvements in existing lithium-ion batteries, collectively bringing down the cost and extending the range of electric vehicles.

The other path involves a shift to a radically better technology, of which the one with the greatest potential is lithium-oxygen, also known as lithium-air. The announcement in Nature Energy of a very different way of making lithium-oxygen batteries indicates it is not time to write off the hare in this race.

Recycling EV batteries is a problem, but not as you think

The global rush to recycled batteries is excellent news for automakers, however, there isn’t nearly enough scrap to feed them all.

The wave of new factories poses a significant risk for the recycling industry itself, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

“Nobody is really looking at each other, and they seem to think there will be a lot of scrap and end-of-life batteries,” Hans Eric Melin, the founder of a UK-based consultancy Circular Energy Storage(CES), told Bloomberg.

A hacker attacked Yandex Taxi and sent dozens of cars to the same location

The hack created a massive traffic jam in Moscow.

Drivers working for Yandex Taxi, the largest taxi service in Moscow, did not have a good day on Thursday as hackers messed with the company’s app and sent dozens of cars to the same location resulting in a traffic jam that lasted up to three hours, according to Twitter reports.

A co-founder sanctioned for propaganda.

KrimKate/iStock.

The vehicles were all sent to the Kutuzovsky Prospekt, a major avenue in Moscow that is the location for the ‘Hotel Ukraina’ or Hotel Ukraine. It has not yet become clear whether the hack was a protest in favor of Ukraine or whether other reasons were behind it.

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