Google or Uber: Next Gen Robot Cars to Replace Traditional Taxi
- By Susanne Posel – February 3, 2015
0 Comment
technocrats, corporations, DOD
Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | The US IndependentFebruary 3, 2015
Uber has formed a “strategic partnership” to conduct research and development collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to create self-driving cars (SDCs) so that Uber can possibly compete directly with Google.
In Pittsburgh, Uber will form the Uber Advanced Technologies Center (UATC) to “provide a forum for the company to work closely with Carnegie Mellon faculty and students” in order to develop driverless car and mapping technology.
Jeff Holdren, chief product officer for Uber, said: “We are excited to join the community of Pittsburgh and partner with the experts at CMU, whose breadth and depth of technical expertise, particularly in robotics, are unmatched. As a global leader in urban transportation, we have the unique opportunity to invest in leading edge technologies to enable the safe and efficient movement of people and things at giant scale. This collaboration and the creation of the Uber Advanced Technologies Center represent an important investment in building for the long term of Uber.”
According to “a person close to the Uber board”, David Drummond, chief legal officer and senior vice president of corporate development for Google, said the corporation is looking into creating their own “car-hailing service” that would be an extension of their SDCs.
This bit of information, although reported as an exclusive, has no credible source and is most likely a rivalry between Uber and Google being created in the mind of the public
Allegedly “Uber executives have seen screenshots of what appears to be a Google ride-sharing app that is currently being used by Google employees.”
In May of 2014, Google X Lab (GXL) invited the press to take a look at their latest self-driving cars (SDCs) with demonstrations to show journalists how these cars can navigate city streets, avoid pedestrians and cyclists, and follow instructions to get to a pre-programed destination.
To create the autonomous car for Google, a Stanford University team invented Stanley .
This SDC won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and the $2 million prize from the Department of Defense (DoD).
The SDC available to journalists was the Google customized Lexus SUV.
GXL has “entered a new stage” with the development of new technology that can:
• Drive an estimated 700,000 “accident-free” miles
• Utilize lasers, radar and camera to analyze urban driving conditions
• Artificial intelligence can “read” road signs
• Navigate obstacles in roadways
• Navigate merging into lanes and bad weather conditions
• Detailed mapping of the country
Back in June of 2014, Travis Kalanick, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies (UT) spoke at the Re/Code Conference (RCC) in California with Kara Swisher, editor of Re/Code on the topic of driverless cars.
UT has put their name in the hat of corporations investing and manufacturing in self-driving cars (SDCs).
Kalanick said: “The reason Uber could be expensive is you’re paying for the other dude in the car. When there is no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere is cheaper. Even on a road trip.”
UT could provide SDCs to customers; thereby “bringing the cost of ridership so far down that car ownership will go away.”
Kalanick predicts that UT SDCs would be “safer and more environmentally friendly.”
Kalanick explained that his SDC is expensive because of “the dude in the car. When there’s no dude in the car, the cost of taking the vehicle somewhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle. And then car ownership goes away.”
end quote from:
- Elon Musk & his Super Friends Promise to Foil Evil Robot Plans of the ... Google or Uber: Next Gen Robot Cars to ... so far down that car ownership will go ...
No comments:
Post a Comment