Connected and Autonomous Vehicles:
👍 Caterpillar Taps Luminar’s Lidar for Self-Driving Construction Equipment. “Caterpillar CAT -0.24%↓ is adding lidar to its heavy-duty construction equipment after striking a deal with Luminar LAZR 7.75%↑ which makes the laser sensor for a number of automakers and self-driving car operators. Caterpillar says it will integrate Luminar’s hardware into its Cat Command autonomy platform, which it uses to power self-driving features in its trucks and other vehicles.”
👉 Everyone’s Missing the Point of the Tesla Vision vs. Lidar Wile E Coyote Video. “It was essentially a comparison test between Tesla’s TSLA 1.99%↑ camera-only autopilot/FSD system and lidar systems, with the lidar vehicle running Luminar’s LAZR 7.75%↑ system. The test results showed the lidar doing better overall, primarily due to its better performance in fog and rain. For more realistic light fog or lighter rain, the cameras likely would have fared better.”
🚕 Lyft to Roll out Robotaxis in Atlanta. “The ride-hailing company said last week that users will be able to take rides in self-driving cars starting this summer, with autonomous vehicles first hitting the streets of Atlanta. The rollout will be done in partnership with May Mobility.”
🤨 Waymo Plans Robotaxi Launch in Washington, DC in 2026. “But it will need to change the law prohibiting fully driverless vehicles first.”
🚘 Waymo to Begin Testing Autonomous Vehicles in Nashville. This week…
🙄 Tesla’s Self-Driving Dreams Hit a Wall in China–But a Comeback Is Already Brewing. “Tesla TSLA 1.99%↑ is inching closer to launching its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in China but not without navigating a fresh wave of regulatory hurdles.”
🤔 Zoox CTO: Why Self-Driving Cars Are So Hard to Get Right. “Zoox agreed to recall the software on 258 vehicles due to unexpected braking issues following two accidents involving its test vehicles in May 2024, according to Reuters and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”
👉 Former Cruise CEO Vogt’s Robotics Startup Valued at $2 Billion in New Funding. “It reflects investors’ confidence in a company that has yet to release its product and has no revenue, as the appeal lies in the potential of robotics powered by AI models that can learn to do new tasks, which have captured Silicon Valley’s imagination.”
🌍 UAE Emerging as a Leader in Autonomous Vehicle Innovation, Says Arthur D. Little. “Dubai and Abu Dhabi, especially, have worked to become testing grounds for autonomous vehicle technology.”
👌 Nexar Teams with NVIDIA to Advance Autonomous Vehicle Innovation. “Nexar has partnered with NVIDIA NVDA -0.57%↓ aimed at transforming the automotive landscape to combine NVIDIA’s AI and computing capabilities to help process Nexar’s vision data.”
