Important Innovations Collection

 MERCEDES WINTER READY G-WAGEN                                                  Source:  Mercedes At the 2023 London Fashion Week, Mercedes and French luxury fashion brand Moncler debuted their unique, winter-ready 4x4 - Project Mondo G or the G-Wagen Mercedes calls the vehicle resulting from their 1-year collaboration with Moncler "a sculpture on wheels", which combines luxury motors with luxury fabric The G-Wagen is a 3-door, 4x4 SUV that is more of a work of art than a functional vehicle This is a huge SUV that's over 9 feet tall and 11 feet wide The vehicle has a removable top and the wheels are composed of Moncler's trademark fabric Mercedes calls the G-Wagen a work of art, molding the "strong geometry of the G-Class with organic forms of Moncler's puffed jackets" It is not known yet if a form of this radical car prototype will g...

Solar Car With Power and LIDAR                                                   Source:  Polestar 5 Automotive Innovation & Breakthrough Tech from Sweden Sweden-based solar car company Polestar has unveiled its newest prototype car, Polestar 5, that pumps out nearly 700 hp and features LIDAR.  Here are the key tech facts: 4-door GT sedan that is all-electric and solar powered Highly advanced, LIDAR, 3-D laser scanning developed by Luminar, which is cuttting-edge tech for levels of semi-autonomous driving 800 volt powertrain architecture with 2 electric motors delivering 664 lb-ft of torque and 873 hp Designed to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds Lightweight, bonded, strong aluminum body designed for maximum aerodynamics, efficiency and range Polestar 5 is more powerful than a Porsche Taycan Turbo S in hp Polestar 5 is...

Israeli Scientists Teach Gold Fish to Steer & Control a Robotic Vehicle                         Source:  Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Fish Are Smarter Than You Think! This is not a fish tale; it is real science.  Israeli scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have trained six gold fish to individually drive, control and steer a robotic vehicle to receive treats.  They have developed an FOV or fish operated vehicle.  It consists of a mounted, plexiglass water tank, motorized wheels, a camera to track the fish's location and a computer and lidar to collect data on the vehicle's ground location. It is an awesome example of the intersection of robotic and AI enabled technologies, animal cognitive capabilities and the power of positive reinforcement on the brains of six goldfish. Breakthrough Technology and Incredible Results The fish gets control of the vehicle via the computer...

LIDAR Standard Equipment in Electric XC90 SUV in 2022                             Source:  Volvo & Luminar Technologies                    Volvo's Long Standing Commitment to Life Saving Technologies Sweden based Volvo, now owned by China's Geeley, has a long history of being the first with life saving automotive technologies.  It was the first automaker to make side impact airbags standard equipment.  It was also the first to make 3 point seatbelts standard.  Now, it is the first to make LIDAR sensors standard, no extra cost equipment, starting with its next generation electric XC90 SUV in 2022.  This is a major commitment by Volvo to automated and autonomous driving.  LIDAR uses laser light pulses to provide precise images of the environment surrounding the car to avoid obstacles, pedestrians, other vehicles and p...

Roboats Loaded with Tech to Communicate and Connect                                             Source:  MIT C-SAIL In Service, Self-Navigating Amsterdam Canals From the world famous MIT C-SAIL a team of engineers and roboticists created the Roboat, a robotic boat that uses the same autonomous self-driving technology for cars but adapted for the water. That adaptation was extremely innovative.  Roboat II has been under development for five years.  It is now large enough to carry passengers through the tricky canals in Amsterdam. It does so autonomously.  Importantly, the Roboats are capable of communicating and connecting with each other because of greatly advanced control algorithms and navigation systems.  That capability opens up new forms of transportation possibilities on water. Tremendous Tech Layered In The Roboat has four prop...

German Tech Giant Bosch's Lidar Sensor Source:  Bosch Putting Autonomous Cars in the Fast Lane German tech giant Bosch has developed a sensor that enables autonomous cars to see a 3-dimensional view of the road as part of the autonomous system.  The company adds the lidar sensors are not expensive.  This technology breakthrough could accelerate the development and widespread use of self-driving cars.  Bosch believes this sensor could make mainstream cars self-driving a lot sooner than predicted. Sensor Sees Short & Long Distances, Providing 3D View of Highway Bosch says it will launch the lower cost lidar sensors and showcase the breakthrough technology at the annual CES in Las Vegas next week.  The sensors "see" both short and long range distances on the highway and work in tandem with camera and radar technologies.  Lidar uses light to generate a 3D view of the road.  Bosch is not providing timing on the actual launch date other than ...

Virtual Reality Tours of Global Heritage Sites Source:  CyArk 3D VR image of ancient stone temples in Thailand  Google & CyArk Collaboration:  Digitizing Iconic Moments You can visit some of the world's heritage sites using Virtual Reality without leaving home.  It's called the Open Heritage project.  And, it's a collaboration between Google and the California non-profit CyArk.  It's a magnificent effort to digitize iconic moments and heritage sites. Online 3D Models of Ancient Sites They've posted online 3D models of 26 plus heritage locations in 18 nations.  Some of the 3D models include parts of the Roman city of Pompei; the 1000 year old Mayan Temple of Kukulcan in Mexico; and Native American cliff dwellings in Colorado. Open Heritage Website CyArk has documented more than 200 historic locations using digital photography, aerial drones and 3D laser scanning technology or LIDAR.  You can view 360 degree photographs on the Ope...

Vehicle Intelligence Behind the Wheel Source:  InnovizOne Enabling Mass Commercialization of Self-Driving Cars It's the vehicle intelligence system that enables the autonomous vehicle to detect, classify and track objects.  A LiDAR technology and perception software system called InnovizOne has been cited as the highest rated technology in the vehicle intelligence category by CES 2019.  Innoviz Technologies is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.  The company says the combination of LiDAR and computer vision software is accelerating the commercialization of autonomous vehicles. BMW 2021 BMW is integrating InnovizOne sensing technology and computer vision software for serial production of its autonomous vehicles coming out in 2021.  The LiDAR will be integrated into BMW vehicles through an autonomous driving system from Magna.  The InnovizOne LiDAR generates a 3D point cloud of the vehicle's surroundings in real time.  That enables lane detecti...