Toyota followed in Uber’s footsteps Tuesday, pausing tests of its driverless car system “Chauffeur”.
The decision came even after authorities said Uber was “likely not at fault” for one of its autonomous vehicles striking and killing a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday. Still, it’s a move one advocacy group exec likely agrees with.
“Is getting them out faster the best idea, or is getting them out right the best idea?” Center for Auto Safety executive director Jason Levine told Cheddar before the Toyota news broke.
Police investigating the Uber incident claim the car, in self-driving mode with a human behind the wheel, was travelling at 38 mph and made no attempt to brake when a woman walked onto the street.
But the pedestrian “came from the shadows right into the roadway,” according to Tempe’s Police Chief, making the accident difficult to avoid in any case.
It was the first known fatality caused by a self-driving car, prompting Uber to halt its own pilot programs and raising questions about the future of the nascent technology, with many calling for a slowdown in development.
“There should be some step between the computer lab, the completely controlled test track, and releasing them into the communities,” said Levine.
The pace of development in this space is moving at a speed that makes it hard to build regulations and safety procedures, he added.
“There, right now, are no regulations before putting these things on the road...there’s no pre-investigation or examination of whether the technology meets the same standards as a non-self-driving vehicle.”
Autonomous cars have been seen as the futuristic antidote to the tens of thousands of deaths caused by traffic accident deaths every year in the U.S. So far the technology’s track record suggests the error levels are far lower than in traditional autos.
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the Uber incident.
Nicolas Halftermeyer, Communications & Product Branding Director, SoftBank Robotics, and Emile Kroeger, Robotics Engineer, Humanizing Technologies, join Cheddar Reveals to unveil Pepper and NAO, the humanoid robots designed to interact with humans.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Christopher Atkeson, roboticist and a professor at the Robotics Institute and Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses what the robots of the future will look like, the role they will play in society and different industries, and if they will they ever reach human-level sentience; Nicolas Halftermeyer, Communications & Product Branding Director, SoftBank Robotics, and Emile Kroeger, Robotics Engineer, Humanizing Technologies, unveil Pepper and NAO, the humanoid robots designed to interact with humans; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'iHuman.'
Christopher Atkeson, roboticist and a professor at the Robotics Institute and Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss what the robots of the future will look like, the role they will play in society and different industries, and if they will they ever reach human-level sentience.
When it comes to diversity in children's toys, we have come a long way as a society but we still have a ways to go. One group of students decided to take matters into their own hands. Truly You! Character Creator is a fashion illustration activity set made for youth by youth. Lindsay Buckingham, one of the toy’s creators, sat down with Cheddar News to talk all about it.
Apple revealed its plans for new IOS software, products, and more at its Worldwide Developers Conference. However, new features added to iMessage, including options to delete and edit already sent text messages, stole the show.
Meta's announcement that COO Sheryl Sandberg will be stepping down from her role after 14 years with the company has left investors wondering about the tech giant's future. Doug Astrop, a managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners (an investor in Meta), joined Cheddar News to discuss what the personnel change to Javier Olivan means for investors and the future of the Meta. "They are bringing somebody up who's been there a long time, who has been the chief revenue officer, and so I don't think it means major changes," he said. "but symbolically it's important and significant."
