Autonomous

In a significant step forward for the autonomous vehicle industry, the US Department of Transport (DOT) has granted its first ever self-driving vehicle exemption to startup Nuro, meaning its autonomous delivery pod can now push ahead on public roads.

While underwater remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) certainly are useful, manually controlling the things via a console can be quite a painstaking task. That's why researchers have now enabled one to autonomously gather samples from the ocean floor.

BMW has hit the CES concept car scene with an imaginative duo of chauffeured vehicles that ride like living rooms, taking care of passengers' every whim and need. Forgive the clunky names, and you see an attractive vision of future commuting.

After a few years worth of tinkering, Stanford researchers have now equipped their autonomous DeLorean with some serious driving chops, sending it sideways around a kilometer-long drifting course all on its own.

If you've heard of SoftBank Robotics, it's likely been in regards to the company's Pepper and NAO humanoid robots. This Tuesday, however, SoftBank announced North American availability of its new Whiz robotic vacuum sweeper.

MIT engineers have developed a system that looks at shadows on the ground to help autonomous vehicles avoid collisions with objects like cars or pedestrians appearing from around corners or behind buildings.

After showing off an early developmental version back in 2017, Piaggio Fast Forward has wheeled out a consumer-ready courier robot built to carry up to 40 lb of everyday items for folks traveling on foot.

Although camera drones can already automatically circle or follow a subject, they don't know what sort of shots actually "look good" artistically. That could be about to change, as a new system turns drones into self-directed aerial cinematographers.

Boston's Sea Machines Robotics has developed and launched the Sharktech 29 Defiant autonomous patrol boat with shipbuilder Metal Shark.

Bell has joined the cargo drone space with its APT 70, which has just nailed its first autonomous test flight.

In the not-too-distant future, folks dealing with oil spills may have a robotic helper to call on.

​Tesla is poised to add yet more entertainment options for owners of tis electric vehicles, with CEO Elon Musk confirming that Netflix and YouTube streaming will soon be enabled on its generously-sized in-car displays.