One of the many things I learned in my two decades in the engineering profession is that communication is not a strength of most engineers — at least to those that aren’t engineers. They tend to use way too many technical terms to express concepts in ways that come across as an alien language to…
ASIMO, the world’s first bi-pedal humanoid robot, “lived” just 22 years. But that brief time ushered in an era of robotic acceptance and innovation that has fueled progress in robotics, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and automation of all kinds. When Honda began researching humanoid robots in 1986, its engineers were interested in creating a walking…
Stop, yield, no U-turn, no turn on red, railroad crossing, children playing, falling rocks — there are a huge variety of road signs out there that drivers are expected to recognize to get around safely. We human beings typically learn about them in school, driver’s ed courses, and going about our daily lives. But signs…
Amsterdam, and The Netherlands more broadly, are world-renowned for the many urban canals and the boats that navigate them. But a boat traveling safely down a Dutch canal without a captain is not a common sight. At least not until the lidar-powered Roboat came along. Formed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Amsterdam…
Ariel Wolf is the general counsel for the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), an organization established to educate the public, lawmakers, and regulators on the safety and societal benefits of autonomous vehicle technology. Self-driving. Fully driverless. Semi-autonomous. ADS. ADAS. Automated. Fully automated self-driving. A lot of terminology is tossed around by journalists, policymakers, analysts and…
“They came out of nowhere!” You’ve probably heard this phrase uttered while riding in a car (maybe you’ve even said it yourself) if another vehicle, pedestrian, or bicyclist appears suddenly in front of your vehicle without warning. Safe drivers will react by slowing, stopping, or moving their car appropriately to avoid contact with the fellow…
