May Mobility, a company founded by MIT alumnus Edwin Olson, will begin offering a free shuttle service on autonomous electric minibuses in Rhode Island, reports Hiawatha Bray for The Boston Globe. Bray explains that the company “mapped the shuttle route with lasers, which are extremely accurate, and uses an onboard laser-based guidance system that constantly confirms the bus is on track.”
Writing for Nature, research affiliate Ashley Nunes cautions that the role of driverless cars in society must be closely investigated before they are integrated into mainstream modes of transportation. “Driverless-car technology might have the potential to improve public health and save lives,” Nunes writes, “but if those who most need it don’t have access, whose lives would we actually be saving?”
The Economist highlights a study co-authored by research affiliate Ashley Nunes that examines the economic feasibility of driverless taxis. The researchers found that riding in a driverless taxi is more expensive per mile than driving your own car.
A new paper by MIT researchers examines the economic feasibility of autonomous taxis, reports Jamie Powell for the Financial Times. The study, writes Powell, finds that at current prices, “an automated hive of driverless taxis will actually be more expensive for a consumer to use than the old-world way of owning four wheels.”
Writing for Forbes, research engineer Bryan Reimer examines Elon Musk’s recent comments about the future of driverless vehicles. Reimer explains that while there likely won’t be a fully self-driving vehicle system available in the next few years, there will be “an evolution of features that utilize drivers as a backup to the automation in situations requiring intervention.”
Writing for Axios, Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, argues that technological advancement is needed to allow autonomous vehicles to operate outside well-traversed areas. “AVs still can’t function in many scenarios, including unmapped roads,” writes Rus. “Additional advances in sensor technology, mapping, algorithms for perception and more will move AVs closer to full autonomy anywhere.”
Guardian reporter Dominic Rushe highlights research affiliate Ashley Nunes’ research showing that the cost of fully self-driving vehicles may be the biggest roadblock to integrating automated vehicles into the transportation system. “People want to talk about the tech, people want to talk about the ethics. No one wants to talk about the cost,” says Nunes.
In an article for USA Today, research affiliate Ashley Nunes explores the feasibility of creating fully self-driving vehicles. “Unless these systems are proven faultless (which they aren’t), ceding control of public safety to algorithmic rather than human intuitions is an unlikely prospect at best,” writes Nunes. “There goes the let-the-robot-drive future we were promised.”
WHDH-TV spotlights how research engineer Dane Kouttron has created a self-driving snow blower “powered by a lithium battery that can keep the robot running for four hours continuously.”
CBS Boston highlights how research engineer Dane Kouttron has developed a snow blower that can be operated remotely. Kouttron explains that the idea behind the machine is to, “sit out with your cup of tea and remotely pilot your snow moving machine from the comfort of your own home.”
Forbes reporter Chuck Tannert spotlights alumnus R.J. Scaringe, founder and CEO of the electric vehicle company Rivian Automotive. Scaringe explains his motivation to build electric vehicles: “It was frustrating knowing the things I loved were simultaneously the things that were making the air dirtier and causing all sorts of issues, everything from geopolitical conflict to the smog to climate change.”
In an article for Axios, Prof. Carlo Rati writes about how developments in automated vehicles and smart infrastructure could be used to help make cities safer. “Developing technology for AVs to communicate with other vehicles as well as infrastructure like streets, traffic lights and road signs could both improve safety and decrease congestion,” writes Ratti.
New Yorker contributor Caroline Lester writes about the Moral Machine, an online platform developed by MIT researchers to crowdsource public opinion on the ethical issues posed by autonomous vehicles.
New York Times reporter Steve Lohr writes about the MIT AI Policy Conference, which examined how society, industry and governments should manage the policy questions surrounding the evolution of AI technologies. “If you want people to trust this stuff, government has to play a role,” says CSAIL principal research scientist Daniel Weitzner.
Writing for Forbes, research engineer Bryan Reimer examines how success can be measured as automated vehicles are introduced to our transportation system. “While automation may be the future,” writes Reimer, “the enabling technologies we are seeing today are pieces of a complex puzzle being assembled to build a picture of how automation will change the future of how we live and move.”