Lifeboat Foundation

We’re a lot closer to flying cars that we think. In fact, Dubai has already begun testing a prototype of a self-driving hover-taxi with the hope of launching an aerial shuttle service by July.

“The autonomous aerial vehicle exhibited at the World Government Summit is not just a model. We have already experimented (with) the vehicle in a flight in (the) Dubai sky. RTA will spare no effort to launch the AAV in July 2017,” shares director general of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Mattar Al-Tayer.

To avail of the taxi service, passengers will simply select a destination before they board the vehicle with the help of a ground control center. The EHang 184 quadcopter can travel on a programmed course at 100 km an hour (60 mph) at an altitude of 300 meters (1,000 feet), the authority said in a statement.

Continue reading “The World’s First Flying Taxis Will Take to the Skies in Five Months” »

These self-driving tractors could make farming easier and greener.

The a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) rocket named after Austrian-Romanian medieval rocket pioneer Conrad Haas (1509−1579), can launch 100 kg (220lbs) of payload to low earth orbit. The rocket has one stage that is fueled by hydrogen peroxide and kerosene. ARCA Space Corporation secured preliminary partnerships with NASA’s Kennedy, Ames, Wallops, Marshall, Stennis and Johnson Space Centers aiming to increase the flight readiness of the vehicle that is scheduled for the first flight in 2018 from Wallops Flight Facility. ARCA has also started the FAA licensing process and is currently seeking to secure a partnership with an US defense agency. The SSTO launcher configuration, using the Executor Aerospike engine, is designed to deliver the following results:

“Now, Xiao said, he imagines a future where kids don’t have to depend on their parents to drive them around, for instance, and can instead summon a self-driving ride.”

Read more (video in post is from 2016; access 2017 video via link)

A curated list of blog posts, eBooks, reports and ecosystem experts that might be useful to founders and investors interested in the Australian tech startup ecosystem.

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Driverless vehicles operated by Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] were back on the road in San Francisco on Monday after one of its self-driving cars crashed in Arizona, the ride-hailing company said.

Uber’s autonomous vehicles in Arizona and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, remained grounded but were expected to be operating again soon, according to a spokeswoman for the company, who refused to be identified.

“We are resuming our development operations in San Francisco this morning,” she said in an email.

Continue reading “Uber resumes self-driving car program in San Francisco after crash” »

Well this! Great advertising as well :-).

It’s not electric and it doesn’t look futuristic. Japan aims at practicality with this self-driving minibus.

For many, learning how to drive is a rite of passage that teenagers pine for. Getting behind the wheel for the first time, passing drivers ed, getting your license, and buying your first car symbolize your first steps towards independence.

But one expert believes it’s a milestone that teens of the future won’t experience.

“My own prediction is that kids born today will never get to drive a car,” says Henrik Christensen, who heads UC San Diego’s Contextual Robotics Institute. “Autonomous, driverless cars are 10, 15 years out. All the automotive companies–Daimler, GM, Ford–are saying that within five years they will have autonomous, driverless cars on the road.”

Continue reading “Expert Asserts ‘Kids Born Today Will Never Get to Drive a Car’” »