Ford and Baidu to trial self-driving vehicles in China
Ford has joined forces with technology company Baidu to test Level 4 self-driving vehicles in China over the next two years.
Level 4, established by the SAE International (formerly the US Society of Automotive Engineers), will allow the vehicles to operate without intervention from a human driver.
A report by CNBC says Ford’s self-driving vehicles are equipped with Baidu’s autonomous driving system Apollo. The cars are expected to be deployed in on-road tests by the end of 2018.
Sherif Marakby, pr
November 5, 2018
Read time: 2 mins
278 Ford has joined forces with technology company Baidu to test Level 4 self-driving vehicles in China over the next two years.
Level 4, established by the 567 SAE International (formerly the US Society of Automotive Engineers), will allow the vehicles to operate without intervention from a human driver.
A report by %$Linker: 2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external CNBCfalsehttps://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/31/ford-and-baidu-team-up-to-test-self-driving-vehicles-in-china.htmlfalsefalse%> says Ford’s self-driving vehicles are equipped with Baidu’s autonomous driving system Apollo. The cars are expected to be deployed in on-road tests by the end of 2018.
Sherif Marakby, president and CEO of Ford's autonomous vehicles unit, says the initiative will allow the company to offer solutions which improve safety, convenience and overall mobility experience.
In July, Baidu extended its %$Linker: 2Internal<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />4362180link-external partnershipfalse/sections/general/news/daimler-and-baidu-to-develop-automated-driving-and-connectivity-in-china/falsefalse%> with German car manufacturer 2069 Daimler to develop automated driving and connectivity projects in China.
The partnership initially formed in 2017 to develop the Apollo platform. Daimler also joined the Apollo Committee, a group whose stated aim is to accelerate research on safer solutions in automated driving and promote the drafting of related regulations.
Boeing has joined forces with California-based Kitty Hawk with the aim of advancing air urban mobility.
Steve Nordlund, vice president and general manager of Boeing Next, a subsidiary focusing on exploring urban air mobility, says the partners will focus on "safely advancing the future of mobility".
Kitty Hawk's range of electric transportation solutions includes Cora, a two-seated air taxi, and Flyer, a vehicle for personalised flight.
In January, Boeing completed a test flight of its autonomous
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that an Uber autonomous vehicle which killed Elaine Herzberg last year had software flaws.
NTSB released a report which says the Volvo XC60’s autonomous system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object and determined that an emergency braking manoeuvre was needed to mitigate the collision.
Uber confirmed that emergency braking manoeuvres must be carried out manually and the system is not designed to alert the driver.
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The Call for Contributions are still open for the ITS World Congress 2018, in Copenhagen. Through ITS, it aims to find answers to climate, air pollution, urbanization, congestion, and traffic safety through its main theme Quality of Life. The deadline for the submission of papers is 15 December 2017. Next year’s event is expected to attract over 10,000 visitors, 4,000 delegates and 400 exhibitors and will be held in the Bella Center from 12-21 September 2018. More information in the Call for Contribution
Columbus, Ohio has been named City of the Year in the Smart Cities Dive website’s awards for its work on transit and electrification.
The US city won the US Department of Transportation’s inaugural Smart City Challenge two years ago – and is rolling out a variety of smart city-related programmes.
Smart Cities Dive said the city’s “biggest area of progress this year” has been its increased reliance on electric vehicles (EVs), including in its bus fleet and other government vehicles.
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