Autonomous Vehicles

Chinese technology giant Baidu has launched what is says is the country's first commercial robotaxi service, which will see its Apollo self-driving vehicles shuttle paying customers around Beijing's Shougang Park without a safety driver onboard.

After first unveiling the Trombia Free fully autonomous electric street sweeper last year, Finland's Trombia Technologies has now taken to the streets of Helsinki as part of the Jätkäsaari Mobility Lab.

The UK's Department of Transport has announced that it's moving to conditionally legalize self-driving cars in which the driver doesn't have to pay attention to the road or keep their hands on the wheel, in a move that it expects will save lives.

There was nobody in the driver's seat when a Tesla Model S ran off the road and crashed this week, killing two. No other manufacturer would be blamed for an incident like this, but does Tesla's audacious Autopilot rollout bear some responsibility?

Israel's Mobileye has teamed up with startup Udelv to get an autonomous electric delivery pod called the Transporter on the streets by 2023, with a plan to produce 35,000 of the self-driving electric cargo haulers by 2028.

Japanese firm Teijin has teamed up with Australia's Applied Electric Vehicles to reimagine the role some cars might play in the future of urban mobility, developing a solar-topped electric vehicle that is low on speed and high on energy efficiency.

Europe's ubiquitous camper van base vehicle, the Fiat Ducato took a step toward camping future last year when it got an electric drive. Now it takes the next step as Fusion Processing uses it as a test bed for Level 4/5 autonomous driving.

If you want to gather oceanographic data over long distances, an "underwater glider" is often the best way to go. A novel system from California-based company Seatrec should soon power such vehicles, utilizing the temperature gradient of ocean water.

Although we've been hearing about various agricultural robots that are still in development, there's at least one which is already commercially available. It's called the Slopehelper, and it's made mainly for use in vineyards.

Volkswagen is taking a step toward an idyllic future in which leisure vehicles become even more leisurely. It plans to begin testing autonomous tech in the upcoming ID. Buzz electric van, the spiritual successor to the world's favorite camper vans.

Due to the current pandemic, people are shopping online like never before. This means that distribution warehouses have become very busy places, where goods need to be transported quickly but safely – and that's where the LoadRunner comes in.

When scientists wish to gather oceanographic data over long distances, autonomous "underwater gliders" are often used. A new one is claimed to be highly maneuverable, yet it has no external propulsion or steering systems.