Wired reporter Jack Stewart highlights how MIT researchers have developed a 3-D printed autonomous boat that could be used to ferry goods or people. The boats could eventually, “use their onboard GPS sensors and inertial measurement units to precisely position themselves in packs, forming instant floating bridges, or stages, or platforms for pop-up food markets on the water.”
In this Bloomberg radio segment, Prof. Daniela Rus discusses her work developing a fleet of autonomous 3-D printed boats that could not only transport goods and people, but also self-assemble into bridges and other structures. Rus explains that she is, “very excited about the idea of taking the autonomy technologies we have in driverless cars and applying them to other vehicles.”
MIT researchers have developed a virtual reality system that can train drones to fly faster while also avoiding obstacles, reports Lauren Barack for Salon. Barack explains that the “researchers are programming the drones so they think they're in a living room or bedroom while they fly. They virtually see obstacles around them, but those impediments aren't really there.”
Research Specialist Hillary Abraham speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Adrienne Roberts about a new AgeLab study examining why car dealers often have trouble explaining a car’s advanced safety technology. “Ultimately, it seemed to come down to lack of training, high turnover and the expectation of more work post-sale,” Abraham explains.
Xinhua news agency reports that MIT researchers have developed a robotic glider based on an albatross that can skim along the water’s surface “while surfing the waves like a sailboat.” “The researchers hope that in the near future, such compact and speedy robotic water-skimmers may be deployed in teams to survey large swaths of the ocean.”
MIT researchers are using virtual reality to train autonomous drones to fly in a variety of environments, writes Steven Melendez for Fast Company. Future tests may train the drone to fly safely around humans “as if they were in the same area, enabling it to practice sharing a space without actually endangering any human lives,” Melendez notes.
Using LiDAR sensors, MIT researchers have developed an autonomous vehicle navigation system for rural roads with “no detailed, three-dimensional map for the vehicle to reference,” reports Rob Verger of Popular Science. “The solution for urban mapping really doesn’t scale very well to a huge portion of the country,” explains graduate student Teddy Ort.
MapLite, a system developed by CSAIL researchers, allows autonomous vehicles to drive on roads they’ve never driven before without 3D maps, writes Andrew Hawkins of The Verge. If it becomes commercial, MapLite could ensure “that the safety benefits from autonomous driving [are] extended to residents in rural communities,” suggests Hawkins.
CSAIL researchers have developed a system that uses LIDAR and GPS to allow self-driving cars to navigate rural roads without detailed maps, writes Tracey Lindeman of Motherboard. Autonomous ride-hailing or car-sharing is important in rural communities because “the carless in these areas have few transportation options; many small communities don’t even have public buses,” notes Lindeman.
Eric Mack writes for Forbes about a new system from MIT researchers that uses GPS in conjunction with LIDAR and IMU sensors to power self-driving vehicle navigation. Graduate student Teddy Ort says the system “shows the potential of self-driving cars being able to actually handle roads beyond the small number that tech companies have mapped.”
MapLite, a new system developed by CSAIL, aims to help autonomous vehicles navigate uncharted areas, writes Jesus Diaz for Co.Design. “[I]f autonomous cars can reach the millions of people who live beyond the city and are unable to pilot their own vehicles,” said graduate student Teddy Ort, “they will be uniquely capable of providing mobility to those who have very few alternatives.”
In an essay for The Daily Beast, researchers at the MIT AgeLab explore the extent to which driving is a “secondary” activity when piloting a vehicle, and caution that automation on its own cannot protect drivers from distractions. “While these technologies can nudge us in a safer direction, the decision to practice safer phone habits ultimately lies in the hands of drivers,” they write.
Emily Matchar of Smithsonian details research out of the Media Lab, which seeks to help both autonomous and standard vehicles avoid obstacles in heavy fog conditions. “You’d see the road in front of you as if there was no fog,” says graduate student and lead researcher Guy Satat. “[O]r the car would create warning messages that there’s an object in front of you.”
In a commentary for Nature, Ashley Nunes, Bryan Reimer and Joseph Coughlin of the MIT AgeLab discuss how current legislation does not sufficiently account for the risks associated with operating autonomous vehicles. “Policymakers need to work more closely with academics and manufacturers to design appropriate regulations,” they write. “This is extremely challenging because the research cuts across many disciplines.”
MIT Media Lab researchers have created a system that can detect obstacles through fog that are not visible to the human eye, writes Darren Weaver for CNBC. “The goal is to integrate the technology into self-driving cars so that even in bad weather, the vehicles can avoid obstacles,” explains Warren.