Items tagged with Automobiles
Tesla is in the process of upgrading its Autopilot system to better 'see' the world surrounding world and discern from potentially dangerous objects that need to be avoided and those that don't require braking. Several of the changes that will ultimately lead to a smarter Autopilot system have been introduced in version 8 of its software.
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Artificially intelligent systems are becoming increasingly capable as companies like Amazon build in new functionality and team with partners for creative uses of these technologies. Case in point, Hyundai is the first automaker to launch an Alexa skill, allowing remote voice commands to control connected cars as part...
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Self-driving cars might be the future of transportation, but for Uber, the time to pounce is now. Uber's ultimate goal is to replace the ride service's more than 1 million flesh and blood drivers with autonomous vehicles, and it wants to do it as soon as possible. While it seems premature to think about such a thing...
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Tesla Motors is working feverishly to finish constructing its $5 billion, 3,200 acre "Gigafactory" located outside Sparks, Nevada (near Reno). It's already semi-operational with 1,000 construction workers toiling away seven days a week in two shifts. The factory, which is two years ahead of schedule, will help meet...
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You're not supposed to know this but Apple is not-so-secretly working on an autonomous, electric vehicle project codenamed Project Titan. While Apple wants to keep its efforts on the down low, inside sources frequently spill the beans on the company's progress, and what they're saying now is that Apple's brought in...
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Yet another agency is looking into a fatal crash involving a 2015 Tesla Model S. The latest to don its detective cap is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is investigating whether Tesla ran afoul of securities regulations by not telling investors of the crash involving the company's self-driving...
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Tesla Motors could use a bit of positive publicity to offset the recent scrutiny over its autonomous vehicle technology. What better way to do that than to hint at something awesome (and super secret) through social media? Tesla co-founder and product architect Elon Musk attempted to do just that by referencing a...
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Following the first fatal accident involving Tesla's autonomous vehicle technology, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is sending a team of five investigators to Florida next week to investigate the crash and the circumstances that allowed the accident to occur. That's in addition to a probe by the...
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It's not as though the LaFerrari is need of added sex appeal, it's already a sweet looking Italian ride that any auto buff will instantly fall in lust with. Be that as it may, Ferrari found a way to make it even sexier by removing its top, turning this exotic beauty into a convertible for drivers who find exhilaration...
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Students at ETH Zurich and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts took to the fast lane and developed an electric vehicle that's capable of going 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just 1.513 seconds. Here in the U.S. where we stubbornly shun the metric system, that's roughly equivalent to a 0 to 60 miles per...
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Do you get nervous and start sweating bullets when you have to make a left-hand turn at a busy intersection with no stop light? The scenario is a little more common in big and busy cities like Los Angeles, and to make commutes a little less stressful for drivers, Waze created a new routing feature that bypasses...
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Tesla might be the first name you think of when the topic of electric vehicles comes up, but being popular doesn't always guarantee victory. Case in point, German automaker BMW beat Tesla by winning a contract to supply the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) with a flee of electric cars for its community outreach...
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Part of being a safe driver is knowing when to use a car horn and to what degree. It's a skill that's lost on many drivers, who instead use the horn as an outlet for their frustration at other motorists rather than a warning signal that something bad is about to happen. Google's determined to teach its fleet of...
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Few things will force a smile the way a throaty V8 engine will when revving it even just in neutral, but the downside to muscle cars and sporty vehicles such as the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is gas mileage. Best case scenario is twenty-something miles per gallon. Compare that to Toyota's...
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Not all jobs at Google entail crunching code or having familiarity with APIs. If you have a clean driving history, excellent written and verbal communication skills, can type at least 40 words per minute, and a BS or BA degree, you could end up working for Google in a position on one of its self-driving car teams (and...
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Mitsubishi Motors has fessed up to "improper conduct in fuel consumption testing" for hundreds of thousands of vehicles spanning four minicar models sold in Japan over the past several of years. The motor company intentionally manipulated the testing method that's required for certification by Japanese law so that it...
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Wondering what happens when you task a group of college students with designing an automobile for the modern era? You end up with the uBox, a concept car that was designed, engineered, and hand-built by graduate students at Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).
The uBox is the...
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Imagine trying to drive at night in a secluded area with the headlights turned off. It's not something anyone should be attempting, though that's the condition Ford tested its self-driving Fusion Hybrid, and it did surprisingly well. With the headlights disabled, the Fusion Hybrid successfully navigated desert roads...
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Toyota this week announced that it's partnering up with Microsoft in various ways to push new connected car technologies to the masses. The initiative begins with the launch of Toyota Connected, a new company that will serve as a data science hub for Toyota's operations around the world.
"Toyota Connected will help...
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We occasionally highlight interesting muscle cars and other exotic vehicles that catch our attention, like Lamborghini's 750HP Aventador LP-700-4 Superveloce Roadster and the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. If I had to pick just one, however, it would be the brand new Firebird Trans Am Bandit Edition.
Pontiac...
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While Google and other companies work to improve autonomous vehicle technologies, legislatures and lawmakers are busy adopting rules and regulations to ensure that testing self-driving cars is a safe endeavor. Be that as it may, the one inescapable reality is that at some point, there's going to be a fatality...
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It would appear that one of Google's self-driving cars was involved in an accident that's not the fault of the other driver, tarnishing what's been a blame-free driving record up to this point. Based on a police report posted to California's Department of Motor Vehicles, the incident involved one of Google's Lexus...
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