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News Roundup: Waymo Gets Patent For Exterior Airbags On Self-Driving Cars, Ford to Test ‘Cellular-V2X’ Tech in San Diego and More

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Jennifer van der Kleut

 

Waymo granted patent for exterior airbags

Google’s self-driving car spinoff company, Waymo, has been granted a patent for an airbag system that would be located on the outside of a car. Since self-driving cars are outfitted with sensors, cameras, radar and lidar on the outside of the car, Waymo engineers argue that the car itself can predict an accident even sooner than a human driver can (or can’t, if he or she is distracted). The concept of exterior airbags could protect passengers in the vehicle from an impact, as well as “reduce the likelihood of severe injuries or damage to objects such as pedestrians, bicyclists, animals, other vehicles, or simply inanimate objects.” Read more from Silicon Beat.

 

Mcity autonomous vehicle testing ground gets big investment from automakers, corporations

Mcity, the University of Michigan’s testing ground for autonomous vehicles, has received a total of $11 million in funding from 11 different companies, both corporations and automakers. Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Honda all contributed about $1 million each, and other corporations like State Farm Insurance, Verizon, LG and others. Mcity is a 32-acre man-made “city” where companies can conduct research and test autonomous vehicles. The hub offers a number of varied conditions for vehicles to test in, such as different road conditions, four-lane highways, high-pedestrian streets featuring fake, mechanical pedestrians, and much more. Read more from HybridCars.com.

 

Ford partnering with AT&T, Qualcomm and Nokia to test ‘cellular-V2X’ technology

Ford Motor Co. announced this week that it has formed a partnership with Qualcomm, AT&T and Nokia to test cellular modems that can connect vehicles to each other and to roadside infrastructure to help better navigate in bad weather or construction zones. “Cellular-V2X” technology, as it is called, aims to connect vehicles with traffic lights, roadside beacons and other vehicles on the road to share real-time information about driving conditions. It’s meant to improve safety, as well as help speed up the deployment of self-driving vehicles. Testing is scheduled to take place in San Diego, California before the end of the year. For testing, Ford vehicles will be outfitted with Qualcomm hardware powered by AT&T’s 4G LTE cellular network and Nokia’s computing technology. Read more from Automotive News.

Image: Rendering of self-driving minivan with exterior airbags by Waymo

News Roundup: Autonomous Volkswagen Bus Debuts at Detroit Auto Show, Britain Makes Progress Toward Insuring Autonomous Vehicles, and More

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Jennifer van der Kleut

A roundup of some of the biggest headlines to come out of the driverless, connected-car industry this week:

 

Volkswagen wows at Detroit Auto Show With ‘I.D. Buzz,’ Its New Autonomous VW Bus

Volkswagen is calling it its most “emotional” car ever, as it spells nostalgia for long-time fans of the old VW bus. The I.D. Buzz is VW’s new autonomous car that is debuting at the Detroit Auto Show this week. The bus can seat up to eight people and has trunks in both the back and the front. When the driver switches to autonomous mode, the steering wheel retracts into the dashboard. VW says the I.D. Buzz should hit the market by 2024. Read more and see a video on Deadline Detroit.

 

Google files patent application for autonomous ride-sharing technology

News outlets are reporting that Google filed a patent application on Dec. 22 titled “Determining Pickup and Destination Locations for Autonomous Vehicles.” The patent is reportedly for a new type of technology that would determine the best location for an autonomous vehicle to pick up or drop off a passenger, and if it determines it is not safe, suggest an alternate location. Google’s application says the technology is necessary because self-driving vehicles may not always be able to operate everywhere a human driver would. Many industry analysts have been speculating for some time that Google will plan to use self-driving cars for ride-sharing, much like Uber, and this appears to lend credence to that speculation. Read more from eWeek.

 

British government makes strides toward insurance for autonomous vehicles
The British government last week said it is making progress toward determining guidelines for insurance for autonomous vehicles. In an announcement on Jan. 6, the Department For Transportation said it plans to implement protections for victims of collisions in which it is determined that autonomous vehicle technology was at fault. The report states that the victim will have a “direct right against the motor insurer, and the insurer in turn will have a right of recovery against the responsible party, to the extent there is a liability under existing laws, including product liability laws.” Britain is making big strides in the path toward determining the best course for insuring autonomous vehicles, even moving ahead of the U.S. For example, in January 2016, a number of Britain’s leading auto insurance companies joined together to form the Automated Driving Insurance Group (ADIG), headed by the Association of British Insurers, to determine guidelines for which party should be responsible in crashes of autonomous vehicles-the drivers, or the vehicle manufacturers. Read more from Road Safety GB (Great Britain).

News Roundup: Apple Secures First Vehicle Patent, Google Driverless Exec Quits, and More

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Jennifer van der Kleut

A roundup of headlines from the driverless and connected-car worlds so far this week:

Apple finally secures its first vehicle patent - but it’s not what we expected

After much of the industry has been holding its breath, waiting for the first real, confirmed news of an Apple car, news finally came on Tuesday-but it’s not what any of us expected. Apple’s new patent is for an “articulated vehicle,” and as oApple-articulated-vehicle-patent-2ne reporter described the plans, it looks like a European-style “bendy bus” with a pivoting mechanism connecting the front and back cabins. Some are saying this could help vehicles steer more efficiently in ice and snow, and would help funnel brake fluid, hydraulics, cardan shaft or other important components through a large vehicle. So while it’s not the self-driving smart car many in the industry were hoping for, as one Gizmodo reporter said, “at least we know Apple engineers are working on things like how vehicles are controlled.” Read the full article on Gizmodo.

Big news from Google: Self-driving car exec leaving the project

Reuters reported big news on Monday: Chris Urmson, who has led Google’s self-driving car initiative for the past seven and a half years, announced Friday will be his last day with the project. Reuters said he has been considering the departure for a while and now is making the move. Urmson said on Twitter he is ready for a “fresh challenge” and the chance to gain some perspective from outside of Google. This is the latest in many departures from Google’s self-driving car project-Anthony Levandowski, the project manager, left earlier this year to launch his own startup with two other former Google employees. Read Reuters’ full story.

Israeli autonomous car Lidar manufacturer raises $9 million

Innoviz, an Israeli company that manufacturers Lidar sensors for autonomous cars, announced this week it has secured $9 million in funding to continue its work. The company’s technology is called High Definition Solid State Lidar and, according to the company, it enables a high level of performance and accuracy compared with other current mechanical solutions. Innoviz says this technology will serve as the basis for the entire sensing system required for autonomous driving. Read more about Innoviz from Globes English.

 

Google Wins Patent for Driverless Delivery Trucks

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Jennifer van der Kleut

In an exciting development, news outlets are reporting this week that Google has won a patent for self-driving delivery trucks.

According to publications like Quartz and The Verge, the patent application includes illustrations of trucks that would have a series of lockers that could be opened with an exclusive pin number by the person waiting for the delivery. Alternate options include allowing the person to swipe the credit card they used to make the purchase. The application implies the customer could choose a delivery window and the method of retrieving the package from the truck.

The Verge reports that the patent application indicates that the technology that would navigate the self-driving trucks functions similarly to that of its fleet of self-driving test cars.

The application implies that the person waiting for the delivery would be texted when the truck was close, or if the truck was running behind its specified time window.

Quartz writes that this patent application “dovetails nicely” with Google Alphabet’s current patent for autonomous delivery drones-an idea for which Amazon hopes to beat them to market, though there’s no telling when that might happen. Amazon has already released a handful of commercials promoting its future “Amazon Prime Air” service.

“…Whenever the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration figures out how to incorporate commercial drones into the national airspace, [Amazon] will be ready to set up its service,” Quartz writes.

There’s no telling when we might see driverless delivery trucks from Google. The Verge speculates that Google merely wants to patent all aspects of the idea before any competitors can do so.

“Most of the patent is taken up with covering every possible base. Google doesn’t pay these fancy lawyers for nothing.”

New Patent Indicates Google’s Self-Driving Cars Could Warn Pedestrians of Dangers

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One of the biggest promises driverless technology makes is that their sensors will detect dangers such as pedestrians and be able to stop for them, even if the passenger or driver in the car doesn’t notice them.

A new patent from Google suggests the company could go even one step further, and also warn pedestrians of dangers they may not notice, either.

TechCrunch explains that Google’s patent application indicates it could add a feature to their self-driving cars that could warn pedestrians either through a flashing sign, or even by communicating with the person.

“For example, the vehicle may include a physical signaling device, an electronic sign or lights, a speaker for providing audible notifications, etc.,” TechCrunch quotes from the application.

Read more on TechCrunch or read Google’s entire patent application.