Self driving cars may never happen – Volkswagen says
After years of optimism and promises, automakers are beginning to realize just how difficult it is to make a market-ready, full self-driving car. The CEO of Volkswagen’s autonomous driving division recently admitted that Level 5 autonomy—that’s full computer control of the vehicle with zero limitations—might actually never happen.
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While it wasn’t too long ago that the idea of a self driving car was a matter of fantasy and science fiction, the efforts of services like Waymo, formerly known as the Google self driving car project, and developer Tesla have gone a long way to prove people that not only this is a real project, but that it’s already working technology.
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Early 2020 could likely spell trouble for the self-driving car industry, as Tesla came under scrutiny for three year-end deadly automobile accidents. Tesla was on the verge of releasing its self-driving cars for public use until these accidents happened.
Tesla’s self-driving cars use an Autopilot system that leverages cameras and radar for their “sight.” It is not clear if the Autopilot systems were being used in the three recent fatal crashes.
Uber’s self-driving cars back on roads less than year after fatal accident
Uber’s self-driving cars are back on the road less than a year after a fatal accident curbed the testing program.
The vehicles are back on the road in Pittsburgh for a pilot program nine months after one of its self-driving cars fatally struck a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., according to Reuters. Pennsylvania gave Uber permission to resume testing.
GM’s president is leaving Detroit to run its self driving-car biz
General Motors has given itself a deadline of 2019 to roll out a self-driving car service, a feat it would achieve though Cruise, a startup it acquired in 2016. And now Cruise has a new CEO in Dan Ammann, who is leaving his role as president of GM to take the full-time position. Founder Kyle Vogt will become the company’s CTO, effective January 1.
GM settles lawsuit with motorcyclist hit by self-driving car
General Motors agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a motorcyclist involved in a minor crash with one of its self-driving cars in San Francisco late last year, the automaker said on Friday.