Yes, California has two more companies permitted to do driverless testing. I'm just repeating the headline here. Ars Technica reports that "[t]he Wall Street Journal reports that Valeo (a tier-one supplier to the auto industry) and Wheego (an electric vehicle powertrain engineering company) have each been granted permits by the state's DMV to begin testing a single autonomous vehicle on public roads." (I do not have a WSJ subscription; otherwise I would read the actual article.) It has become so common for companies to test in California that it is hardly news any more. I thought twice about mentioning it.
In the heartland, real news
The real news from the Ars Technica report is that Iowa will be opening up a major highway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City for driverless testing. Think snow and trucks on such a road. The report states that the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) and HERE - remember the jointly owned mapping firm of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz? - are getting together to create a corridor for testing of driverless trucks and cars.
According to the Des Moines Register, IDOT is emphasizing that this is solely a mapping project and that no physical infrastructure work is 'involved. This effort is part of Iowa's attempt to lure driverless testing to the state.
Streets aren't the only thoroughfares with traffic
Ford and Caterpillar, through their venture capital partners, are investing in robots for transporting stuff on factory floors. These are more predictable environments than actual streets. On the factory floor, rules are heeded for pedestrian/machine interaction; no one wants to lose a job for not obeying a right of way. The company receiving the $30 million infusion is Clearpath Robotics. There is no announcement of capitalizing on the robotics work for Ford and Caterpillar's own driverless vehicle efforts.
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