Photo: Ethan Lott/Pittsburgh Business Times
With Google getting the green light to drive their first homemade autonomous vehicles on public roads this summer, some transport companies CEOs are already having a hard time sleeping at night. It’s not like the automotive industry was not aware of the IT giant’s project, but getting the government’s approval is a whole different thing. Uber seems to know that since they are already conducting research on the street.
In case you haven’t heard yet, we’ll take the time to tell you that transportation companies all over the world think (and are right to do so) that a car without a driver costs less money. Whether that vehicle is a lorry carrying food from a city to the other or it’s a cab, the service gets a lot cheaper when the automobile drives itself.
It’s obviously bad news for all the professional drivers since it means a lot of jobs will eventually be cut off. We can only hope governments will think of a solution when the time comes.
Meanwhile, corporations are working hard and spending big to develop a functional, safe and friendly system to make things happen. Google is almost there. As we previously mentioned, their first self-driving car fleet will start hitting the road this summer.
It could be the self-driving car Uber and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have partnered up for. It was this February when they announced they were creating a robotics research center in Pittsburgh, near the university’s campus. Dubbed the Advanced Technologies Center, the giant ride sharing service claims it will focus on the development of critical long-term technologies that “advance Uber’s mission of bringing safe, reliable transportation to everyone, everywhere”.
The fact the San Francisco company is not willing to offer too many details makes sense considering the competition factor. After all, Uber is about five years behind Google when it comes to the research and development stage. However, it doesn’t mean they can recuperate.
Image courtesy of: Pittsburgh Business Times
It’s obviously bad news for all the professional drivers since it means a lot of jobs will eventually be cut off. We can only hope governments will think of a solution when the time comes.
Meanwhile, corporations are working hard and spending big to develop a functional, safe and friendly system to make things happen. Google is almost there. As we previously mentioned, their first self-driving car fleet will start hitting the road this summer.
Uber's self-driving car?
The latest to join the ride is Uber. A Ford Mondeo that had “Uber Advanced Technologies Center” emblazoned on the side of the vehicle with a device rotating on the top of the car was recently spotted by Pittsburgh Business Times.It could be the self-driving car Uber and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have partnered up for. It was this February when they announced they were creating a robotics research center in Pittsburgh, near the university’s campus. Dubbed the Advanced Technologies Center, the giant ride sharing service claims it will focus on the development of critical long-term technologies that “advance Uber’s mission of bringing safe, reliable transportation to everyone, everywhere”.
The fact the San Francisco company is not willing to offer too many details makes sense considering the competition factor. After all, Uber is about five years behind Google when it comes to the research and development stage. However, it doesn’t mean they can recuperate.
Image courtesy of: Pittsburgh Business Times
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