Autoblog

Autonomous driving and race car driver brains get the Ted Talks treatment

Zach Bowman — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:59:00 EST

Like it or not, autonomous vehicles are coming. Between Google's various efforts and the constant evolution of automaker prototypes, it's only a matter of time before computers take the wheel. Don't get us wrong, either. That's not entirely a bad thing. While U.S. traffic fatalities have fallen to their lowest number since 1949, the reality is 32,310 Americans lost their lives in traffic incidents last year alone. That number marks a decline of around 26 percent since 2005, and analysts believe much of that fall is due to drivers traveling fewer and fewer miles.

So, what if people weren't forced to drive at all? What if a computer, which can't be distracted, never grows tired and is always at peak performance, took over the mundane task of dragging warm bodies to work every morning or off to vacation every summer? Where would our traffic fatalities be then?

In the latest TEDTalks video, Chris Gerdes speaks about how he's been part of a team that's seen Audi tackle Pikes Peak and build autonomous drift cars. But researchers have found something interesting by studying real race car drivers in the cockpit. Namely, human drivers continue to be better at instinctual manipulation of a vehicle than their autonomous counterparts. Pretty cool. Check the video out below.

Continue reading Autonomous driving and race car driver brains get the Ted Talks treatment

Autonomous driving and race car driver brains get the Ted Talks treatment originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Henrik Fisker, what are you drawing?

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:58:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Videos, Fisker, Design/Style, Electric

"Cars have become an appliance... And on top of that, you start feeling a bit guilty about driving a car, because it pollutes, you use a lot of gasoline." These are the words of Henrik Fisker, car designer and the man who startes his own automobile company which currently builds and sells the extended-range electric Karma sedan.

"Why do electric cars, or small fuel-efficient cars, always have to look dorky? Why can't we make a beautiful, gorgeous car?" Well, if you're the man who penned the BMW Z8 and a couple of show-stopping Aston Martin coupes, you don't have to design a dorky EV. Which explains the sleek lines of the aforementioned Karma and upcoming Fisker Atlantic.

Will Fisker ultimately succeed in establishing a viable automaker that continues to build cars well into the future? Only time will tell. Either way, we have to admire Henrik's bravado. "The doubters out there, they are rarely the builders. And those who are the skeptics, are never really the inventors... There are a lot of us out there who believe that dreams are possible."

Those parting words are spoken as Henrik Fisker lays out what appears to be a two-door sports car with a low-slung profile that would seemingly mesh quite well with the rest of Fisker's slinky but eco-conscious machinery. Scroll down below to watch the video, which was shot during his TED talk at Chapman University.

Continue reading Henrik Fisker, what are you drawing?

Henrik Fisker, what are you drawing? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Google's next driverless car goal? 1,000,000 miles

Aaron Richardson — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:02:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Technology, Videos

Google co-founder Sergey Brin announced at Web 2.0 that Google's next goal for its driverless cars is to go 1,000,000 miles without driver intervention. According to Brin, Google's teams have already amassed more than 1,000 incident free miles without driver involvement.

Up to now, Google's driverless cars have gone 160,000 miles, but with some limited human input. The company admits that there's been one fender bender, but attributed that to human driver error rather than Google's software.

Google would like to reach a point where it's legal for driverless cars to mingle with everyday traffic, but Brin said there's a lot of research and development left to do. Before the technology can be marketable, Google says it needs to be developed to need to a point at which human drivers can ignore the road entirely. Click past the jump for a video with more details.

Continue reading Google's next driverless car goal? 1,000,000 miles

Google's next driverless car goal? 1,000,000 miles originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Bill Ford is worried about traffic, talks to TED about it

Chris Shunk — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:57:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Videos, Ford

Bill Ford, Jr. speaks at TED 2011 - Click above to watch the video after the jump

Most of us are aware of Bill Ford, Jr.'s obsession with green technology that will help conserve fossil fuels while at the same time preserving the environment, but what you may not know that the Ford family scion is also very much interested in the future of gridlock.

Ford spoke at the Technology Entertainment and Design 2011 conference (better known as TED) to discuss the growing problem, and it appears the traffic buildup has just begun. The Ford Motor Company Chairman said in the post-jump video that the population of the planet is expected to jump from 6.8 billion people to about nine billion by mid-century. And with other countries around the world continuing to prosper, we could see cars and trucks on the road grow from today's 800 million vehicles to between two and four billion by 2050. That's a big jump, and when you consider that the typical commute in Shanghai is now about five hours, you can see how big a problem gridlock can become.

Hit the jump to read Ford Motor's TED conference press release, then feel free to watch video of Ford's speech. Towards the end of the video, Ford shows that some solutions to gridlock are beginning to present themselves, including smart vehicles that can communicate traffic information to one another in real-time, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Continue reading Bill Ford is worried about traffic, talks to TED about it

Bill Ford is worried about traffic, talks to TED about it originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Video: Google talks about its driverless car tech at TED

Aaron Richardson — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:02:00 EST

Filed under: Technology, Videos

Google Driverless Car - Click above to view video after the jump

Sebastien Thurn has made it his life's work to save one million lives from traffic accidents. Thurn has been instrumental in the development of Google's DARPA Challenge-winning driverless car technology at Stanford University, and he's confident that his technology can not only save lives, but eliminate traffic jams.

Thurn's footage of a driverless Toyota Prius is nothing short of incredible, showing the cars successfully navigating deserts, highways and city streets clogged with traffic and pedestrians. So far, the driverless car's most impressive journey has been from San Francisco to Los Angeles down Highway One.

Beyond just city and highway driving, Thurn has provided footage of the driverless Prius and a driverless Volkswagen Passat successfully navigating an autocross-style cones course, proving these cars can handle a wide range of driving styles. The cars function by employing a series of sensors to detect their environment, and use a computer program to respond to what's going on around them.

Thurn was on hand at this year's TED Conference to discuss the idea and show footage from 140,000 miles of driverless car tests conducted by Stanford. The TED Conference serves as a forum for innovative ideas, publishing video seminars and ideas year round, and hosting two in-person conferences per year. The foundation has been holding conferences and publishing content on a creative commons license since 1990. Check out the video after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Google talks about its driverless car tech at TED

Video: Google talks about its driverless car tech at TED originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mission One EV sport bike unveiled - 150 MPH, 150-mile range

Domenick Yoney — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Green, Motorcycle

Click above for high-res image gallery of the Mission One EV sport bike

Mission Motors has just revealed its all-electric sport bike and the family-friendly version of our initial reaction goes something like, "Holy Mother of God and all that is good and decent!", followed immediately by the sound of our jaws hitting the floor. After a couple of years of staying almost perfectly in stealth mode, the Mission One is being unveiled today at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. The Yves Béhar-designed bike sets a new performance standard for electric two-wheelers with a top speed of 150 mph and an estimated range of 150 miles. Of course, the strength of an electric drivetrain is torque and the Mission One has 100 lb-ft of the stuff on offer from the first twist of the throttle up until 60 mph. When it makes its race debut at the TTXGP on June 12th, we suspect the other entries will be scrappin' it out for second place.

To bring this amazing machine to market, Forrest North and his two co-founders, Edward West and Mason Cabot, have assembled a real dream team with incredible depth and experience and whose resumés list companies like Tesla Motors, Ducati and Google. The first 50 bikes produced will be a special Limited Edition model delivered in 2010 bearing a $68,995 price tag, while a standard, more affordable Mission One model will be announced this summer. If the goal of this company was to create a paradigm-busting object of desire, then we say, "Mission accomplished". Mouth watering specs below and official press release after the break.

Gallery: Mission One EV sport bike

[Source: Mission Motors]

Continue reading Mission One EV sport bike unveiled - 150 MPH, 150-mile range

Mission One EV sport bike unveiled - 150 MPH, 150-mile range originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Are electronics making cars obsolete faster?

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:07:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Ford, Lincoln

If just about any part breaks on your 1971 Volkswagen Beetle, you could probably get a replacement from a hundred different outlets. If the black box goes out on your 1996 Lincoln Mark VIII, your car becomes little more than a giant paperweight. With the profusion of different cars and the electrical components that go in them, automakers would face an inventory nightmare if they tried to stockpile all of the necessary replacement parts. So in order to avoid that scenario, once the warranty runs out, they simply stop making the parts.

Ted Field, Sr. found out the hard way when the black box went out on his Mark VIII. Ford doesn't make the part any more -- and doesn't have to, since the warranty is finished and "the part is obsolete" -- and no aftermarket company has reverse-engineered it. That means that an 11-year-old car with 66,000 miles on it ... is also obsolete. As a customer, Field has no idea how popular -- or not -- the Mark VIII would be, and couldn't have had any idea when he bought the state-of-the-art car that he'd be scrounging for parts just a few years later (relatively speaking). We often consider the price of technology on the front end -- say, how much more will a car equipped with ABS cost? But as cars become more and more computerized, and the obsolescence of computer technology occurs in faster cycles, it will be interesting to see what kind of price we have to pay on the back end as well.

Thanks for the tip, Stedwoo!

[Source: LA Times]

Are electronics making cars obsolete faster? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 May 2007 10:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments