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Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 499

May 3, 2017

Waymo has ‘no smoking gun’ in Uber self driving car case: U.S. judge

Posted by in categories: law, transportation

SAN FRANCISCO A U.S. judge on Wednesday said he had not seen clear evidence that Uber Technologies Inc had conspired with an engineer on its self driving car program to steal trade secrets from Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Waymo, and that he was wrestling with whether to issue an injunction against the ride service.

At a hearing in San Francisco federal court, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said it was undisputed that the engineer, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded about 14,000 documents shortly before he stopped working for Waymo.

If it were proven that Levandowski and Uber conspired in taking Waymo’s information, that could have dire consequences for Uber, say legal and ride-hailing industry experts.

Continue reading “Waymo has ‘no smoking gun’ in Uber self driving car case: U.S. judge” »

May 2, 2017

A gym, spa, and restaurants…on a plane

Posted by in category: transportation

We’re LIVE at the San Jose airport checking out Airbus’ new swappable jet interiors. Can’t get enough?

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May 1, 2017

Elevating Unity — Episode 3: First Feather

Posted by in category: transportation

On May 1st, 2017 VSS Unity’s “feather” re-entry system was activated in flight for the first time. In this video, VSS Unity Project Engineer Gabe Williams describes the vehicle’s unique feathering re-entry system.

VSS Unity was piloted by Mark Stucky and Mike Masucci, with pilots Nicola Pecile and CJ Sturckow as well as flight test engineer Dustin Mosher in carrier aircraft VMS Eve. This test flight was the fourth glide flight (and eighth flight overall) of VSS Unity.

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May 1, 2017

India to make every single car electric by 2030 in bid to tackle pollution that kills millions

Posted by in categories: energy, transportation

It’s over for oil.


Every car sold in India will be powered by electricity by the year 2030, according to plans unveiled by the country’s energy minister.

The move is intended to lower the cost of importing fuel and lower costs for running vehicles.

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Apr 30, 2017

Dubai is to test the feasibility of hyperloop trains

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, robotics/AI, transportation

FOR years Elon Musk, a South African-born tech entrepreneur, has been telling anyone who will listen that the future of travel is the hyperloop. (Although he thinks it might also be driverless cars. Or perhaps affordable space travel.) Dubai may be about to test the limits of Mr Musk’s imagination.

The hyperloop is a train that moves along a tube that is kept at a thousandth of the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level. Because air resistance is one of the biggest obstacles to high-speed travel, all but eliminating it means that hair-raising velocity becomes possible. The proposed technology could shunt passengers along tunnels at perhaps 745mph, which is faster than a jet plane.

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Apr 29, 2017

Larry Page’s flying car goes on sale this year

Posted by in category: transportation

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Apr 29, 2017

Futuristic chauffeur

Posted by in categories: futurism, transportation

This cool-looking car could be your future chauffeur…

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Apr 29, 2017

Uber wants to test its network of flying taxi planes by 2020

Posted by in category: transportation

Uber wants to test its network of VTOL aircraft in Dubai by 2020.

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Apr 29, 2017

Google Maps can now tell you where you parked your car

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, transportation

A new Google Maps feature to find your parked car just went live on Android and iOS.

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Apr 29, 2017

ChargePoint is ready for flying EVs

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Yesterday I wrote about a poll conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan that found people were interested in flying cars if they were autonomous, shared and electric. As soon as I posted that, I found an email in my inbox saying that ChargePoint and Uber Elevate, among others at the recent conference on flying vehicles, had partnered to prepare for just that exact scenario.

ChargePoint announced the Express Plus charging platform at CES 2017, which allows for faster, more powerful charging and modularity. That means that owners of the stations can expand their charging options as they need to — which includes charging electric flying cars. The latest estimates say that it will take a minimum of 300 kW to charge a flying car 25 percent in 5 minutes, or 25–90 percent in 15 minutes. ChargePoint’s Express Plus stations can deliver up to 400 kW per port right now, so operators could add a station for flying vehicles in the future without ripping out infrastructure that’s already in place.

ChargePoint already knows that charging quickly generates a lot of heat, which is why it developed liquid-cooled hoses for its Express Plus stations. But charging a flying vehicle would likely require extended cooling, even around the battery pack itself during fast charging. The vehicle needs to be able to ascend to altitude within about 90 seconds, and the batteries need to be cool enough to take that strain.

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