A curated list of blog posts, eBooks, reports and ecosystem experts that might be useful to founders and investors interested in the Australian tech startup ecosystem.
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Driverless vehicles operated by Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] were back on the road in San Francisco on Monday after one of its self-driving cars crashed in Arizona, the ride-hailing company said.
Uber’s autonomous vehicles in Arizona and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, remained grounded but were expected to be operating again soon, according to a spokeswoman for the company, who refused to be identified.
“We are resuming our development operations in San Francisco this morning,” she said in an email.
For many, learning how to drive is a rite of passage that teenagers pine for. Getting behind the wheel for the first time, passing drivers ed, getting your license, and buying your first car symbolize your first steps towards independence.
But one expert believes it’s a milestone that teens of the future won’t experience.
“My own prediction is that kids born today will never get to drive a car,” says Henrik Christensen, who heads UC San Diego’s Contextual Robotics Institute. “Autonomous, driverless cars are 10, 15 years out. All the automotive companies–Daimler, GM, Ford–are saying that within five years they will have autonomous, driverless cars on the road.”
Illustration of 3D-printed sensory composite (credit: Subramanian Sundaram)
MIT researchers have designed a radical new method of creating flexible, printable electronics that combine sensors and processing circuitry.
Covering a robot — or an airplane or a bridge, for example — with sensors will require a technology that is both flexible and cost-effective to manufacture in bulk. To demonstrate the feasibility of their new method, the researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have designed and built a 3D-printed device that responds to mechanical stresses by changing the color of a spot on its surface.
Safety has been a preoccupation of consumers and carmakers for the past few decades, with some companies — like Volvo — making it their key selling point.
Automobiles are already far safer now than ever before, but advances in technology keep raising the bar for what consumers expect. And Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas thinks the forthcoming Tesla Model 3, priced at $35,000 and expected to launch later this year, will lead the way in dramatic fashion.
Between 30,000 and 40,000 people are killed in car accidents every year in the US alone, so the stakes for drastically improved safety are high.
Illustration of 3D-printed sensory composite (credit: Subramanian Sundaram)
