Thursday, July 9, 2015

All About Partnerships

Who is dancing with whom?
University of Michigan to open driverless 32-acre testing grounds - fake city and suburban streets - this month, by late July. Consortium of car companies and technology companies involved. Not Google, not Uber.

By the way, at least one of the driverless cars heading to Michigan will be a 3D-printed vehicle from Local Motors. The company is also pairing up with other universities and companies.

General Motors and the University of North Carolina are teaming up to reduce the cost and improve the performance of driverless computer technology. The National Science Foundation will also be contributing. 

Predictions abound
I do not waste my time on the numerous predictions about the changes that driverless vehicles will bring or how many people will ride in them. This study caught my eye for its prediction that electric driverless taxis will result in a 90 percent reduction in automotive emissions.

And where are those Google cars? Not only in Mountain View, CA, and its environs. Google announced this week that its driverless cars are hitting the streets of Austin, TX. Perhaps a liberal, tech-friendly city in the de-regulated environment of the Lonestar state and is what attracted Google.

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