The next-generation BMW voice assistant will be built on Alexa technology, according to Stephan Durach, Senior Vice-President Connected Company and Development Technical Operations BMW Group, and Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Amazon, at Amazon’s annual Devices and Services launch event. Since the introduction of the first... Read more →

DENSO Corporation has expanded the detection angle of its vision sensor, increasing the sensor’s ability to recognize pedestrians and bicycles around a vehicle to improve road safety. The vision sensor is used on some grades of the SUBARU Legacy Outback for the North American market, and the all-new SUBARU Crosstrek.... Read more →

Ford Motor Company launched BlueCruise 1.2 and Lincoln ActiveGlide 1.2 Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) with new features—including hands-free lane changing—and system updates to create more of a human-like driving feel. The available new systems starts arriving on vehicles from the factory this fall beginning with the Ford Mustang Mach-E.... Read more →

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is introducing a nighttime test of pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems to address the high percentage of pedestrian crashes that occur on dark roads. Four of the first 23 midsize cars, midsize SUVs and small pickups tested earn the highest rating of... Read more →

A new University of Michigan study finds that making the switch to all-electric mail-delivery vehicles would lead to far greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than previously estimated by the US Postal Service (USPS). (Earlier post.) In its analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle... Read more →

Bosch eBike Systems is presenting eBike innovations for model year 2023 at Eurobike (13 - 17 July in Frankfurt), including a new antilock braking system (ABS). Incorrect braking is one of the main causes of cycling accidents. The front wheel brake on a bicycle is crucial for a short braking... Read more →

CARIAD, the Volkswagen Group’s software company, has selected BlackBerry QNX technology as one component of its software platform VW.OS. Announced as part of Volkswagen Group’s NEW AUTO strategy, CARIAD is developing a unified software platform that consists of VW.OS, the Volkswagen Cloud VW.AC and a scalable, unified end-to-end electronic architecture.... Read more →

Memory solutions company Micron has received the first International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 26262 Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) D certification of memory for its low-power double data rate 5 (LPDDR5) DRAM, which is based on its first-to-market 1α (1-alpha) process node. With next-generation advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) applications requiring... Read more →

TTTech Auto and BlackBerry Limited will integrate BlackBerry’s QNX Neutrino Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) and TTTech Auto’s safe vehicle software platform MotionWise for advanced driver assistance systems and software-defined vehicles. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems impose increased functional safety and performance requirements. To address the computing... Read more →

LiDAR technology (Light Detection and Ranging) offers high potential for machine perception in automated driving and currently available comfort- and safety features due to its precise distance sensing and three-dimensional point cloud image generation. A growing number of new and established sensor manufacturers have thus been working on LiDAR sensors... Read more →

Toyota Connected North America (TCNA), an independent software and innovation center of excellence, has introduced its Cabin Awareness concept technology that uses millimeter-wave, high-resolution 4D imaging radar to help detect occupants (including certain pets) in cars and has the potential to detect them if ever they’re left behind. The Cabin... Read more →

BlackBerry Limited and Magna International Inc. have entered into a multi-year agreement to collaborate on various integrated Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) solutions. As part of the agreement, BlackBerry will provide Magna with QNX software including the QNX Software Development Platform, QNX OS for Safety, QNX Platform for ADAS, as... Read more →

CARIAD, the Volkswagen Group’s software company, will look to Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to supply system-on-chips (SoCs) for CARIAD’s software platform designed to enable assisted and automated driving functions up to Level 4. The SoCs from Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon Ride Platform portfolio will be an important hardware component in CARIAD’s standardized... Read more →

Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) introduced nine new projects being launched as part of the next phase of its automotive safety research, backed by the new five-year, $30-million commitment announced last year. The new research projects, announced during a virtual CSRC media event showcasing safer mobility, will examine the... Read more →

ZF is set to launch a Collision Mitigation System (CMS) for city buses. Offering active braking to help avoid frontal collisions with other road users, including vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, the system also helps counter the adverse impact of braking momentum on passengers. Helping reduce the risk of accidents and... Read more →

Nissan announced a new driver-assistance technology, which is currently in-development, that utilizes highly accurate, real-time information about the vehicle’s surrounding environment to enhance collision avoidance significantly. At a Nissan facility in Yokohama, a test vehicle demonstrated how this technology can automatically perform collision-avoidance maneuvers. ProPILOT Concept Zero test vehicle Nissan’s... Read more →

Magna is expanding its ADAS and electrification footprint with the opening of a new plant in Kechnec, Slovakia. The brownfield facility will support two European automakers and new global entrant. Covering an area of approximately 22,000 square meters, the facility is expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter of... Read more →

Seeing Machines, an advanced computer vision technology company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems, is collaborating with Magna on a demonstrator that features a fully integrated Driver Monitoring System (DMS) combining camera, electronics, and interior mirror technology. The demonstrator combines Magna’s industry leading mirror technology, camera design, integration, and packaging... Read more →

Quantum computing company IonQ and Hyundai Motor Company are partnering to apply quantum machine learning to image classification and 3D object detection for future mobilities. Image classification and 3D object detection are foundational steps toward the next generation of mobilities, including autonomous vehicles. Together, IonQ and Hyundai will look to... Read more →

Volkswagen is rolling out ID. Software 3.0 with new functions for tis all-electric ID. models, enhancing user experience and optimizing charging capacity. By using swarm data and the most recent generation of driver assistance systems, Volkswagen is also taking the next step towards automated driving. Buyers of new cars will... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America is introducing the Volvo I-Torque. Now available as an option with the latest D13 Turbo Compound engine, the Volvo I-Torque is a unique powertrain solution enabling the truck to operate optimally with up to a 31% increase in fuel efficient speed range, achieving up to 8.5... Read more →

Scantinel Photonics, a FMCW LiDAR startup, has demonstrated the first fully solid-state parallelized FMCW 5D+ LiDAR system based on Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC). First fully solid-state parallelized FMCW 5D+ PIC Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology is becoming widely used in various applications such as navigation, robotics, remote sensing, advanced... Read more →

Aeva, a developer of next-generation sensing and perception systems, announced that its Aeries 4D LiDAR sensors are now supported on the NVIDIA DRIVE autonomous vehicle platform. Aeva’s Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) 4D LiDAR sensors detect 3D position and instant velocity for each point at distances up to 500 meters,... Read more →

Toyota’s second-generation Mirai, a premium rear-wheel drive fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) with coupe-like design, is offering Toyota Teammate advanced driver assistance technology for model year 2022. Toyota Teammate is built around the philosophy that people and vehicles can work in partnership to achieve safe, convenient and efficient mobility. Toyota Teammate,... Read more →

Uhnder, a developer of digital imaging radar technology for automotive and next-generation mobility applications, will soon become the first company to mass-produce a fully automotive qualified, 4D digital imaging radar-on-chip. The S80 is a fully integrated 77 GHz, 4D Imaging Radar-on-Chip (RoC) with Digital Code Modulation (DCM) certified for use... Read more →

Ford in Europe is testing smart driver alert technology that could indicate the direction from which people and objects are approaching. The engineers are also testing intuitive sounds such as bicycle bells, footsteps and vehicle noises to warn drivers when other road users or pedestrians are nearby. Initial tests revealed... Read more →

Jaguar Land Rover has formed a multi-year strategic partnership with NVIDIA to develop jointly and to deliver next-generation automated driving systems plus AI-enabled services and experiences for its customers. Starting in 2025, all new Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles will be built on the NVIDIA DRIVE software-defined platform, delivering a... Read more →

Volvo Trucks has introduced a new, patented safety feature for electric trucks: Active Grip Control. The new technology significantly improves stability, acceleration and braking in slippery conditions. Due to the fast response of the electric motors, the force generated between the wheels and the road can be controlled in an... Read more →

Tel Aviv-based TriEye, a fabless semiconductor company that developed the first CMOS-based Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensing solution, is collaborating with Tier 1 automotive supplier Hitachi Astemo to enhance the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for adverse weather and low-light conditions by accelerating the commercialization of TriEye technology. TriEye’s... Read more →

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is developing a new ratings program that evaluates the safeguards that vehicles with partial automation employ to help drivers stay focused on the road. The safeguards will be rated “good”, “acceptable”, “marginal” or “poor”. To earn a good rating, systems will need to... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz and Luminar Technologies announced a partnership to accelerate development of future automated driving technologies for passenger cars. A central component of this is the optimal access to new technologies and global competencies. The intent of this partnership is to leverage the foundational lidar technology from Luminar with the aim... Read more →

The Fisker Ocean all-electric SUV is equipped with an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) called Fisker Intelligent Pilot. The ADAS platform integrates four types of sensors: a surround-view camera suite; a camera-based driver-monitoring system; ultrasonic technology; and a Digital-Imaging Radar System that Fisker expects will be first to market when... Read more →

GM’s next-generation hands-free driver assist system, Ultra Cruise, will be powered by a scalable compute architecture featuring system-on-chips developed by Qualcomm Technologies. GM will be the first company to use the Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon Ride Platform for advanced driver assistance technology, which features an industry-leading 5-nanometer Snapdragon SA8540P SoC and... Read more →

Seeing Machines, the advanced computer vision technology company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems to improve transport safety, announced a collaboration with Ambarella, an AI vision silicon company, to bring integrated Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and occupant and driver monitoring system (OMS and DMS) solutions to the market. This... Read more →

Ambarella, an AI vision silicon company, announced the CV3 AI domain controller family at CES. This fully scalable, power-efficient CVflow family of SoCs provides the automotive industry’s highest AI processing performance, at up to 500 eTOPS, representing a 42x increase over Ambarella’s prior automotive family. Featuring up to 16 Arm... Read more →

RoboSense (Suteng Innovation Technology Co., Ltd.), a developer of smart LiDAR system technology, announced a strategic investment agreement and a strategic cooperation framework agreement with BYD. RoboSense’s technology portfolio comprises LiDAR sensors, AI algorithms and IC chipsets. RoboSense says that it will keep pace with BYD, continuously upgrade its technology... Read more →

A new report from Juniper Research has found that the automotive sensors market will grow to more than $92 billion by 2026—a 30% increase over 2021. This growth will be driven by sensors that enable automated vehicles and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). Sensors monitoring various vehicle safety parameters in... Read more →

GlobalFoundries (GF), a global leader in feature-rich semiconductor manufacturing, and Ford Motor Company announced a strategic collaboration to advance semiconductor manufacturing and technology development within the United States, aiming to boost chip supplies for Ford and the US automotive industry. The companies have signed a non-binding agreement that opens the... Read more →

China-based EV maker XPeng unveiled a series of technology innovations at its annual 1024 Tech Day, including the latest and most sophisticated version of its in-house developed advanced driver assistance system XPILOT 3.5 and XPILOT 4.0; the design of a new generation road-capable flying car; high-voltage supercharging technology; and robotic... Read more →

Volkswagen of America announced that the ID.4 RWD electric SUV has earned a 5-Star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which runs the government’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). NHTSA has provided consumers with vehicle safety information since 1978. The ID.4 RWD joins the 2021... Read more →

A new study from AAA finds that moderate to heavy rain affects a vehicle safety system’s ability to “see”, which may result in performance issues. During closed course testing, AAA simulated rainfall and found that test vehicles equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB) traveling at 35 mph collided with a... Read more →

Honda plans to apply the next generation of its advanced suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies—Honda Sensing 360—to all new Honda and Acura models in the US by 2030. With an expanded sensory range around the entire vehicle, Honda Sensing 360 removes blind spots to enhance collision avoidance, while also... Read more →

Crash avoidance features and teen-specific vehicle technologies have the potential to prevent or mitigate up to three-quarters of fatal crashes involving teen drivers, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). We know these technologies don’t stop 100 percent of the crashes they’re designed to... Read more →

Volkswagen launching refreshed MY 2022 Jetta in US; engine upgrade, IQ.DRIVE For the 2022 model year, Volkswagen of America will launch a refreshed Jetta family with new technology and styling to elevate both the value-oriented Jetta and the sporty Jetta GLI. Despite the shift towards SUVs, cars still account for... Read more →

Lincoln is introducing the new 2022 Navigator—the first Lincoln vehicle to offer ActiveGlide. An evolution of Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop-and-Go, Lane Centering and Speed Sign Recognition, Lincoln ActiveGlide adds a new level of convenience for drivers. Signature blue light cues appear on the digital cluster and head-up display... Read more →

Audi is extending its Traffic Light Information (TLI) coverage to Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. An Audi-first in-vehicle technology, TLI communicates between vehicles and traffic signals to provide Time to Green, Green Light Optimized Speed Advisories and can help drivers minimize stop-and-go driving. Audi first brought Traffic Light... Read more →

Woven Planet Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, has acquired CARMERA, Inc., a US-based spatial AI company, which specializes in bringing next-generation road intelligence to automated mobility at scale. This is the second major deal for Woven Planet in North America, following the April 2021 announcement to acquire... Read more →

There could be an average of around 790,000 risk events per year on roads in the European Union (EU) in 2029 that are attributable solely to reduced performance of lane-keeping assistant systems, according to a study on the “Lifetime performance of advanced driver assistance systems” by researchers from TÜV Rheinland... Read more →

Researchers at the Nebraska Transportation Center have developed a new model to help predict when vehicles will change lanes. Their efforts could ultimately help give advanced driver-assistance systems more lead time to react. The researchers detailed the development and results of their model in the journal Transportation Research Record. If... Read more →

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a Standing General Order requiring manufacturers and operators of vehicles equipped with SAE Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or SAE Levels 3-5 automated driving systems (ADS) to report crashes. NHTSA’s core mission is safety. By mandating crash reporting, the agency... Read more →