NVIDIA has unveiled the world's first artificial intelligence computer, codenamed Pegasus, which is designed to drive fully autonomous robotaxis that can transport passengers to their destinations, and provide mobility to everyone.
Designed for ASIL D certification—the industry's highest safety level—Pegasus extends the NVIDIA DRIVE PX AI computing platform to handle Level 5 driverless vehicles.
NVIDIA says that the NVIDIA DRIVE PX Pegasus will “help make possible a new class of vehicles that can operate without a driver -- fully autonomous vehicles without steering wheels, pedals or mirrors, and interiors that feel like a living room or office.”
Software
Software
Canada's Morinville Fire Department launches UAS program
Thanks to a new partnership and collaboration with Transport Canada certified Canadian UAV company A3UAV, the Morinville Fire Department in Morinville, Alberta, Canada will begin using the Aeryon SkyRanger UAS to assist in several of its operations.
The UAS, which will be ready for deployment 24 hours a day, will be used as an additional resource for the fire department, thanks to fire department pilots and A3UAV spending the last few months taking courses, training, and conducting hours of flight time.
According to Fire Chief Brad Boddez, the idea behind using UAS in firefighting operations originated a little over two years ago after the department responded to a large condo fire.
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Boeing announces plans to acquire Aurora Flight Sciences
In an effort to advance its autonomous technology capabilities, Boeing has announced that it will acquire Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, a company that specializes in autonomous systems technologies to “enable advanced robotic aircraft for future aerospace applications and vehicles.”
Once it is officially acquired, Aurora, which is headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, will be a subsidiary under Boeing Engineering, Test & Technology, and will be known as Aurora Flight Sciences, A Boeing Company.
Through this acquisition, Aurora will keep an independent operating model, while taking advantage of the resources provided by Boeing.
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approves bill on self-driving cars
On Oct. 4, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved a bill to help get self-driving cars on the road.
While the bill still has to clear a Senate vote, it appears to be on the road to passage.
Via Reuters, John Thune, the Republican who chairs the Commerce Committee, says, the bill “underscores the bipartisan desire to move ahead with self-driving vehicle technology.... The safety and economic benefits of self-driving vehicles are too critical to delay.”
Insitu and Esri collaborate to test UAS for fighting wildfires
Insitu, along with Esri, which is a company that builds mapping and spatial analytics software, has successfully completed test flights using state-of-the-art software to support the firefighting efforts of firefighters and first responders.
The flights, which were held at the Warm Springs, Oregon FAA UAS Test Range, were aimed at helping firefighters suppress the Eagle Creek fire in Oregon, using Insitu’s INEXA Solutions professional aerial remote sensing teams, and the company's ScanEagle UAS.
FlightWave to announce MAPIR as first partner in its Payload Partner Program
When FlightWave Aerospace Systems, Inc. introduced its premier system, the FlightWave Edge UAS, back in August, the company highlighted its “Payload Partner Program,” which is an initiative to “open-source an integration kit for the Edge’s payload/nosecone.”
With the goal of the program being to give customers their own unique flight experiences and functionalities while using the Edge UAS, FlightWave will announce its first partner in the program, a company named MAPIR, during the Drone World Expo on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
“We picked MAPIR as our very first partner because their company shares our approach to serving the UAS marketplace,” says FlightWave CMO Edmund Cronin.
Ford and Lyft partner to work on self-driving vehicles
Ford and Lyft have announced a new partnership that will “help both companies progress toward a more affordable, dependable and accessible transportation future” using self-driving vehicles, according to Sherif Marakby, Ford Vice President, Autonomous Vehicles and Electrification.
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From Xponential to UTM framework: ICAO seeks harmonized approach
Continuing a process that kicked off at AUVSI’s Xponential conference in Dallas earlier this year, the International Civil Aviation Organization is seeking to develop a global concept of operations for an unmanned aircraft traffic management system.
ICAO’s remotely piloted aircraft program manager, Leslie Cary, issued a request for information for UTM systems at Xponential, and ended up receiving 76 proposals from industry, academia and others.
That led to the Drone Enable conference, held Sept. 22-23 in Montreal, at ICAO’s headquarters, where the developers of many of those proposals gathered to discuss what a global UTM framework should include.
