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Category: transportation – Page 26

Here’s how to book a driverless Uber ride in Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Beep beep — Uber rideshare users can now book a driverless ride around Austin, as the ridehailing company officially launches its partnership with Waymo.

Waymo and Uber announced in September the planned collaboration between the two companies, with rollouts poised in both Austin and Atlanta in 2025. Beginning Tuesday, Uber users can match with one of Waymo’s Jaguar I-PACE vehicles while booking an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric vehicle.

“Starting today, Austin riders can be matched with a Waymo autonomous vehicle on the Uber app, making their next trip even more special,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the announcement. “With Waymo’s technology and Uber’s proven platform, we’re excited to introduce our customers to a future of transportation that is increasingly electric and autonomous.”

WalkerS1-UBTECH

This is automating labor in an entirely new way.

Chinese robotics company UBTech has received over 500 orders for its new industrial humanoid robot, the Walker S1.

The Walker S1, officially launched this week, is already operating in factories, including those of BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer. This robot works alongside unmanned logistic vehicles and smart manufacturing systems, making it one of the first in the world to automate large-scale operations to this extent.

China’s manufacturing sector has faced a growing labor shortage, with a projected gap of 30 million workers by 2025. UBTech aims to reduce human labor in automated factories from 30% to 10% by using robots like the Walker S1, focusing human efforts on high-level tasks such as tool management and collaboration. “The idea is to replace around 20% of the workload with humanoid robots,” said UBTech’s chief brand officer Tan Min, highlighting the need for automation as vocational training programs struggle to meet the demand for skilled workers, while younger graduates increasingly avoid blue-collar jobs.

S partnerships with industry giants like BYD, FAW-Volkswagen, and Foxconn highlight the robot’s broad applications in manufacturing, logistics, and electronics. As labor shortages and safety concerns grow, UBTech’s innovative humanoid robots offer a glimpse into the future of automated factories, promising to transform not only automotive production but also other sectors through large-scale automation. ” + learn more https://www.ubtrobot.com/en/humanoid/products/WalkerS1

Image: UBTech

UBTech breakthrough sees humanoid robots work as a team in car factory

A Shenzhen-based humanoid robot maker said it has deployed “dozens of robots” in an electric vehicle (EV) factory where they work together on complicated tasks, offering a peek into the future of Made-in-China tech as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies are applied to empower manufacturing.

Hong Kong-listed UBTech Robotics said on Monday that it has completed a test to deploy dozens of its Walker S1 robots in the Zeekr EV factory in the Chinese port city of Ningbo for “multitask” and “multi site” operations.

According to photos and videos provided by UBTech, the human-shaped robots work as a team to complete tasks such as lifting heavy boxes and handling soft materials.

Meta Unveils Aria Gen 2: Discover the Future with Next-Gen AR and AI Glasses!

Meta has unveiled the next iteration of its sensor-packed research eyewear, the Aria Gen 2. This latest model follows the initial version introduced in 2020. The original glasses came equipped with a variety of sensors but lacked a display, and were not designed as either a prototype or a consumer product. Instead, they were exclusively meant for research to explore the types of data that future augmented reality (AR) glasses would need to gather from their surroundings to provide valuable functionality.

In their Project Aria initiative, Meta explored collecting egocentric data—information from the viewpoint of the user—to help train artificial intelligence systems. These systems could eventually comprehend the user’s environment and offer contextually appropriate support in daily activities. Notably, like its predecessor, the newly announced Aria Gen 2 does not feature a display.

Meta has highlighted several advancements in Aria Gen 2 compared to the first generation:

The 1,527 Horsepower Xiaomi SU7 Might Be The Real Deal On Track

Well, now the Ultra is officially been released A handful of Chinese media drivers have finally gotten behind the wheel for a review—both in the context of on-the-road driving and hammering it in more aggressive circumstances. Haoran Zhou, the former car PR person and F1 reporter, did a lead-follow of the SU7 Ultra on track.

I have to note that this is technically a step down from the full-race-ready track-prepped version that Xiaomi sent around the Nürburgring. The two cars still have the same 1,526 horsepower, but the lap-setting version has essentially a full carbon-fiber body, complete with huge brake ducts right into the side of the car. This version uses mostly the body of the standard SU7, although it does have a new aluminum hood.

Because of this, the SU7 Ultra is still as fully featured as the standard car. Zhou spent half of the video using Xiaomi’s driver assistance features. It appears to work as well as the standard SU7, but Zhou did remark that it was a little surreal to have a 1,500-horsepower car do some sort of autonomous driving. “I’m trying my best to find a positive use case for it,” he said, theorizing that these features would save wear and tear on the vehicle itself between track day use. “No normal human being would be driving like this in an SU7 Ultra,” he said.

Delta Goes International From Austin

Delta is once again bolstering its network from Austin, Texas, this time with a new international route. The Atlanta-based carrier has added several new routes from the city in recent months.

Service between Austin and Cancun, Mexico, will begin on Dec. 20, operating once daily on an Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline will go head-to-head with American and Southwest, which serve the market multiple times per day.

“Delta is the leading global network carrier at Austin-Bergstrom, operating nearly 60 peak day departures this winter,” said Paul Baldoni, Delta’s senior vice president of network planning, in a news release. “This new service to Cancun adds yet another popular leisure destination for our Austin customers.”

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic jet clears ‘major hurdle’ ahead of 1st flight (photos)

As such, during the recent tests, NASA staged an F-15D just 47 feet (14 meters) from the X-59 to “confirm there’s compatibility between the two aircraft, even at close proximity,” Lin said.

After that, the F-15D and X-59 were further separated on the ground to sit at a distance of 500 feet (152 meters) from one another, which simulated the conditions in which they will fly together.

“You want to make discoveries of any potential electromagnetic interference or electromagnetic compatibility issues on the ground first,” Lin said. “This reduces risk and ensures we’re not learning about problems in the air.”

By 2030, AI Could Replace Three Hundred Million Jobs Globally

The question is, can DEI proponents, who are already being marginalized, retool? Can they see themselves as champions who will guide humanity — regardless of peoples’ race, class, sexual orientation, gender, etc. — in this Fourth Industrial Revolution?

For, if political leaders are as unable as they seem to establish meaningful guardrails, AI will push those struggling to live their best lives (a right that should belong to all) to be thrown so far under the bus that roadkill will be more recognizable.

Prototype turns car and helicopter exhaust into thermoelectric energy

Combustion engines, the engines in gas-powered cars, only use a quarter of the fuel’s potential energy while the rest is lost as heat through exhaust.

Now, a study published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces demonstrates how to convert exhaust heat into electricity. The researchers present a prototype thermoelectric generator system that could reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions—an opportunity for improving sustainable energy initiatives in a rapidly changing world.

Fuel inefficiency contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and underscores the need for innovative waste-heat recovery systems. Heat-recovery systems, called thermoelectric systems, use semiconductor materials to convert heat into electricity based on a temperature difference.

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