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Category: transportation – Page 366

Neural’s market outlook for artificial intelligence in 2021 and beyond

The year is coming to a close and it’s safe to say Elon Musk’s prediction that his company would field one million “robotaxis” by the end of 2020 isn’t going to come true. In fact, so far, Tesla’s managed to produce exactly zero self-driving vehicles. And we can probably call off the singularity too. GPT-3 has been impressive, but the closer machines get to aping human language the easier it is to see just how far away from us they really are.

So where does that leave us, ultimately, when it comes to the future of AI? That depends on your outlook. Media hype and big tech’s advertising machine has set us up for heartbreak when we compare the reality in 2020 to our 2016-era dreams of fully autonomous flying cars and hyper-personalized digital assistants capable of managing the workload of our lives.

But, if you’re gauging the future of AI from a strictly financial, marketplace point of view, there’s an entirely different outlook to consider. American rock band Timbuk 3 put it best when they sang “the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”

First passengers travel in Virgin’s levitating hyperloop pod system

The company is working towards safety certification by 2025 and commercial operations by 2030, it has said.

Canada’s TransPod and Spain’s Zeleros also aim to upend traditional passenger and freight networks with similar technology they say will slash travel times, congestion and environmental harm linked with petrol-fuelled machines.

High-speed pods could eventually make New York-Washington trip in 30 minutes.

The Air Force’s new combat rescue helicopter is officially here to save the day

Have no fear: the Jolly Green II is finally here.

The Air Force officially took possession of its first two HH-60W Jolly Green II combat rescue helicopters at Moody Air Force Base last week, the service announced.

23rd Wing and 347th Rescue Group leadership took receipt of the new helos after they were flown from Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky Training Academy in Connecticut to Moody AFB in Georgia by Air Force personnel.

IBM, others run pilot test of AI suitcase for guiding blind

A group of five companies including the Japanese unit of IBM Corp are currently developing an artificial intelligence suitcase to assist visually impaired people in traveling independently, with a pilot test of a prototype conducted at an airport in Japan earlier this month.

The small navigation robot, which is able to plan an optimal route to a destination based on the user’s location and map data, uses multiple sensors to assess its surroundings and AI functionality to avoid bumping into obstacles, according to the companies.

At the pilot experiment held on Nov 2, the AI suitcase was able to successfully navigate itself to an All Nippon Airways departure counter after receiving a command from Chieko Asakawa, a visually impaired fellow IBM overseeing the product’s development.

Electric Volkswagen camper van road trips 7,500 km to top of Europe

All-electric camper vans are still quite rare. Those that are available tend to be designed for camping and commuting locally, not road-tripping indefinitely. But VW fanatic Frank Eusterholz had different ideas. He threw a PlugVan camper module into the e-Crafter cargo van and hit the road … the long road. Eusterholz’s 7,500-km (4,660-mile) journey sent him highway-cruising, switchback-climbing and island-hopping across Europe, from VW van HQ Hannover, Germany to the northernmost tip of Continental Europe. His journey serves as an inspiring early look at the electric RVing possibilities that will only grow with time.

Electric camper vans have been available for years, but a practical version with enough range always seems just a few years off. Next-generation EV campers from the Rivian R1T overland truck to VW’s own ID. Buzz promise more practical ranges and capabilities, but for now e-campers remain limited to small, modest-range minis like the Sussex e-NV200 Camper Car.

In an announcement released last month, Volkswagen painted a different picture of electric camper van touring. It described the story of 54-year-old Frank Eusterholz, a longtime EV driver determined not to let the modest ranges of contemporary electric vans deter him from EV van life. A resident of Samsø, a Danish island that’s been committed to sustainable energy for decades, Eusterholz considered the e-Crafter a natural vehicle choice, and the perfect camper base.

1st Look At 2021 Tesla Model 3

A new version of Tesla’s Model 3 has arrived in Hong Kong. Driving UpCar shared a first look at it on YouTube. DDcar also reported that Hong Kong Tesla has officially brought the new 2021 Model 3 into the K11 Mall in Tsim Sha Tsui for public display. This batch of Model 3 cars was made in the Fremont factory and is expected to have basically the same configuration around the world.

Some of the changes discussed in the video include a minor change in the headlights, new design on the wheels, all-black trim, and door handles, of which they say, “I believe it’s not that easy to leave a fingerprint on them now.”

TMC DUMONT — Motorcycle with an Airplane Engine

This is the TMC DUMONT, which is a concept art motorcycle, designed and built by Retired F1 driver and designer Tarso Marques.

This ultra sleek, hubless wheel, motorcycle, is powered by an actual 300 hp, six-cylinder, Rolls-Royce Continental Aircraft Engine from 1960.

The TMC Dumont made its debut at the Daytona Bike Week in 2018, the most important customization event in the world, and won best in show out of 100 competing bikes.

The bike may be impractical for everyday use, but if we only ever create things that are practical, what’s the point of having an imagination and following a dream.

Thanks for watching

#TMCDumont #Motorbike #Motorcycle

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